kumail-ripped-reax-top.jpg
Ali Paige Goldstein for HBO
Viral

Everyone Is Loving Kumail Nanjiani’s New Ripped Look For Marvel’s ‘The Eternals’

Earlier today, the Internet discovered that comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani, the star of Silicon Valley and The Big Sick, got jacked. And in case you forgot what the dude who once looked like a leafless twig while standing next to Dave Bautista’s girthy tree trunk, check it out below.

View this post on Instagram

I never thought I’d be one of those people who would post a thirsty shirtless, but I’ve worked way too hard for way too long so here we are. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I found out a year ago I was going to be in Marvel’s Eternals and decided I wanted to transform how I looked. I would not have been able to do this if I didn’t have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world. I’m glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time. So big thanks to @grantrobertsfit who started working with me at the beginning of the year and made me understand true physical pain for months and months. Then, once we started shooting, a massive thanks to @davidhigginslondon and his team (@ellispartridge, @thebeardypt, @tomcheesemanfitness) for training me almost every day and making me strong, limber and injury free. I can almost touch my toes now. (And thank you for forcing me to do cheat meals David.) Matthews Street Catering for their delicious and healthy meals. And finally, the biggest thanks goes to @emilyvgordon for putting up with me complaining and talking about only working out and dieting for the last year. I promise I’ll be interesting again some day. #thirstyshirtless (Photo by @markupson.) (edit: I left off one very important person: @lancecallahan who trained me for 6 years and helped me build the foundation I could use to do this. Thank you!)

A post shared by Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) on

So, why all the new muscle? Evidently, Nanjiani has packed all this mass onto his otherwise small frame because of his commitment to Marvel’s upcoming film The Eternals, in which he plays the nearly-immortal non-human warrior Kingo Sunen. (He’s also starring alongside the likes of Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, and more.) Whether or not this is actually the case is unknown, but considering the rather beefy assortment of male actors whose frames have expanded due to their Marvel contracts, it’s an easy bet to make.

Anyways, Kumail’s radical transformation didn’t actually happen overnight, but since the photos he shared on Instagram were the first public indication that anything had happened, people just couldn’t deal with it. As a result, the wide array of reactions that popped up on Twitter and elsewhere on social media were as thirsty as they were funny.

Though, to be honest, the best response came from Emily V. Gordon, co-writer of The Big Sick and Nanjiani’s wife.

Second place goes to Edgar Wright.

×