Kumail Nanjiani Is Buff Now And It's Causing Some Internet Debates

Kumail Nanjiani got buff for his role in the upcoming Marvel movie, Eternals and his physical appearance has sparked a debate on Twitter.

You may recall that at the end of 2019, Kumail posted a thirst-trap gallery to his Instagram, showing off his transformation:

Captioning the gallery, Nanjiani was very self-aware, writing:

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 someday. #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!)

The gallery even became a meme, and not just with the internet at large, also his dad got in on the action.

Visiting the parents. My dad has these socks. pic.twitter.com/35o1rbPeu5

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) February 8, 2020

Fast forward to 2021, Kumail posted a Christmas dinner picture where he was looking maybe even more buff than last year.

The internet exploded, naturally.

Some critics are saying it’s racist that he is getting flak for it getting jacked, while other white Marvel cast members didn’t face the same pushback. They’re not wrong for pointing out this inconsistency, but this guy’s jaw can suddenly cut glass so it makes sense that people have jokes, whether he’s roided out or just worked hard.