Kingo Sunen is a character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. He first appeared in '' The Eternals'' #11 (May 1977) and was created by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

. He is depicted as a member of the Eternals, a fictional race in the

universe. The character appears in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

in the 2021 film '' Eternals'' and the 2024 '' What If...?'' episode " What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?", played by

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ; Urdu: کمیل علی نانجیانی; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-writi ...

Publication history

Kingo was created by

. He first appeared in '' The Eternals'' #11 (May 1977). Just like all the other Eternals, Kirby created him as a mixture of science fiction mixed with classic mythology. Similarly to what he did when he created the

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

for

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

in 1971.

Fictional character biography

Like all other Eternals, Sunen was created by the Celestials around a million years ago on earth in early humanity. Like others of his species he was created as a result of the many genetic experiments the Celestials did on

Earth-616 In the fictional Multiverse (Marvel Comics), Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 is the primary continuity (fiction), continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place. Origins of the term The designation "Earth-616" has its origins in ...

. Another of these experiments, is the devious Deviants who are also the primary antagonists of Eternals. Kingo spent centuries in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

learning the ways of the

Samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

, and is one of the most skilled

swordsmen Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to an ...

on the planet. In the present day and age, he has parlayed his skills into becoming a major

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

star in Japan. He later reappeared, after Sprite's mindwiping of the Eternals, once again, as a major Japanese film icon, now an actor, director, and producer, who is making a film in San Francisco starring the Blob, finding himself drawn to the

Dreaming Celestial Tiamut is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Eternals'' vol. 1 #18 (December 1977). He is a renegade member of the race of god-like Celestials. ...

Powers and abilities

Kingo Sunen presumably has all the typical powers of Eternals—immortality, super-strength, flight, energy projection, and molecular manipulation. However, he eschews the use of these powers in battle, preferring to fight in the traditional manner of the Samurai. Kingo uses a sword forged by the Eternal

Phastos Phastos is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Peter B. Gillis and Sal Buscema, the character first appeared in '' The Eternals'' (vol. 2) #1 (October 1985). He is a member of the Etern ...

that can cut through nearly any material.

In other media

* Kingo appears in the 2021 film '' Eternals'', portrayed by

. This version was sent to Earth with other Eternals to save humanity from the Deviants, but they disbanded when they felt that the Deviant threat had abated. Subsequently, Kingo became a popular

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film star, and to hide his immortality, portrayed himself as the descendants of the "original" Kingo over the course of multiple generations. He reunited with the Eternals when the Deviant threat returned. When

Ikaris Ikaris is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''The Eternals'' #1 (July 1976) and was created by Jack Kirby. The character is depicted as a member of a race known as the Eter ...

revealed their true mission was to protect the Earth so that it could function as a womb for the Celestial Tiamut, whose emergence would destroy the Earth, Kingo abandoned the mission. However, after this catastrophe was averted, Kingo,

, and

Sersi Sersi () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a member of the Eternals, a race of superhumans. She was also a member of the Avengers and God Squad. Sersi first a ...

were kidnapped by the Celestial Arishem, who intended to analyze their memories to judge whether humanity is worthy to live. * Kingo returns in the 2024 '' What If...?'' episode " What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?". Set in an alternate history 1930s Hollywood, as Kingo is making his English language debut in the

Howard Stark Howard Stark is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a background character in stories featuring Iron Man and stories featuring Captain America. He is the founder of Stark ...

-directed ''Cosmic Queen'', after

Agatha Harkness Agatha Harkness is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #94 (October 1969). Agatha Harkness is a powerful wi ...

absorbs the rest of the Eternals, Kingo initially fights her before agreeing to give her his power to prevent the Emergence, with Agatha absorbing Tiamut and thereafter Arishem, becoming a

Celestial Celestial may refer to: Science * Objects or events seen in the sky and the following astronomical terms: ** Astronomical object, a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe ** Celest ...

herself. After revealing her true plan of using this power to conquer the world, Kingo instead convinces Agatha to return to Earth to live as a celebrity with him and "inspire" humanity. * Kingo appears in '' Marvel: Future Fight''.

References

{{Jack Kirby Characters created by Jack Kirby Comics characters introduced in 1977 Eternals (comics) Fictional actors Fictional swordfighters in comics Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male superheroes