A video game based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo was once planned for development.
During a recent interview with ComicBookMovie, actor Kumail Nanjiani, who played Kingo in Marvel’s Eternals, revealed that he had once signed up for a Marvel Cinematic Universe video game. However, plans were scrapped after the movie’s lukewarm reception from critics and the wider audience. “It came out, it got really bad reviews, and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much. That was when I was like, ‘Oh, I need to go to therapy to figure this out.”
Nanjiani was set to play the role of Kingo across a series of movies as well as a video game, but fate had other plans. “I was like, ‘This is going to be my job for the next ten years.’ I signed on for six movies. I signed on for a video game. I signed on for a theme park ride. They make you sign on for all this stuff. You’re like, ‘Okay, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year, and in between, I’ll do my own little things. Whatever I want to do.'”
It’s worth pointing out that while the MCU has had a number of video game tie-ins over the years, no major console or PC titles have been released since its first phase. The last of those was Captain America: Super Soldier, which launched in 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and 3DS, accompanied by the mobile title Sentinel of Liberty to promote Captain America: The First Avenger. An Avengers game was also in development at THQ and originally planned to coincide with the release of The Avengers movie in 2012, but it was ultimately scrapped. Other than Ubisoft’s Battle for Earth in 2012, the MCU’s second phase shifted its gaming presence almost entirely to mobile platforms. During the third phase, video game tie-ins were mostly limited to promotional content, such as themed costumes and character skins, which were added to freemium mobile games like Marvel Strike Force and Marvel Contest of Champions.
