Marvel’s The Eternals will feature a Bollywood dance sequence

The Eternals is one of the first big tentpoles of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it has a lot of pressure to set the tone for a post-Thanos world. Unlike Black Widow, which will be set prior to the events of Avengers: Endgame, The Eternals — which is about an ancient race of being who silently protect Earth through the centuries — will be tasked with moving the MCU forward. And that means it needs to stand out from the previous movies while maintaining the action, emotion and humor that made its predecessors so beloved.

On that front, it seems the film is already doing a decent job, as it’s going to feature many firsts for Marvel. For one, it’ll be the first Marvel movie with an openly gay superhero and an LGBTQ+ kiss, a feat that’s groundbreaking all on its own. It’ll also be the first Marvel film to contain a Bollywood dance number. Yes, you read that right.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 24: (L-R) Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Angelina Jolie, and Barry Keoghan of ‘The Eternals’ took part today in the Walt Disney Studios presentation at Disney’s D23 EXPO 2019 in Anaheim, Calif. ‘The Eternals’ will be released in U.S. theaters on November 6, 2020. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

According to Collider, footage played during CCXP in Brazil late last year suggested as much, but the New Hollywood podcast got a chance to speak with star Kumail Nanjiani, who plays Kingo in the film, about the vibrant dance sequence viewers had only seen a glimpse of. Nanjiani said that the Eternals team need some way of hiding their true identities, and so they have false lives outside of their superhero ones. “My character, for instance, is like ‘OK we’re supposed to keep a low profile, no one should know.’ So I become a Bollywood movie star, that’s my secret identity. We’re supposed to keep quiet, and I’ve become the biggest Bollywood movie star.”

That Kingo’s plan backfires so spectacularly is hilarious, but this portion of the film offers an opportunity for even more representation. According to Nanjiani, the dance number contains around 50 South Asian actors, another exciting first for Marvel. “I took months of Bollywood dance classes to prepare for that,” he explained. “It’s really a workout … and you know, there’s like 52 dancers, and 51 of them are professional dancers, and then there’s me!”

Pause for possible look at our movie-going future:

We can only hope.

All in all, this Bollywood dance number just gives Marvel fans even more reason to look forward to The Eternals (like we needed another one). The movie hits theaters on November 6.

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