Kumail Nanjiani pulled a Chris Pratt and got ripped for his Eternals role

Say it with me, okay? Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, dude!

Kumail Nanjiani today shared a couple of photos to his personal Instagram account that reveal just how JACKED the Pakistani-American comedian, podcast host and actor has gotten for his role as Kingo for Marvel's THE ETERNALS. It goes without saying that Nanjiani has undergone a major transformation for his MCU debut, at which time he'll share the screen with stars the likes of Angelina Jolie (Thena), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Salma Hayek (Ajax), Gemma Chan (Sersi), Kit Harrington (Dane Whitman), Barry Keoghan (Druig), Lia McHugh (Sprite), Brian Tyrese Henry (Phastos), Dong-seok Ma (Gilgamesh), and Lauren Ridloff (Makkari), among others.

"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," Nanjiani says in the caption for his latest (and thirstiest) Instagram post.

Based on the 1976 comic book series created by Jack Kirby, The Eternals are often described as an offshoot of the transformative process that created sentient life on Earth. As the story goes, The Eternals were intended to be defenders of Earth by their creators, The Celestials. In time, an opposing force known as the Deviants were introduced as a way to secure the destruction of the goodly-natured beings. Marvel has hired Chloe Zhao (THE RIDER, SONGS MY BROTHER TAUGHT ME) to direct the tentpole superhero venture from a screenplay penned by RUIN scribes Matthew and Ryan Firpo.

Great Stan Lee's ghost! If you would have told me a year ago that Nanjiani would one day post what can only be described as "thirst trap" photos for his Marvel transformation, I would not have believed you. It just goes to show that with the right diet, a quality training program, and some good old fashioned sticktoitiveness, that just about anyone can go from zero to hero. That's not to say that Nanjiani was a zero before signing onto THE ETERNALS, mind you. Far from it. I'm actually rather fond of his snappy comedic style and smartly-written scripts. In fact, the only that's changed is that I now know for certain that he can kick my ass any day of the week.

Marvel's THE ETERNALS is currently filming for a planned theatrical release on November 6, 2020.