Silicon Valley and The Big Sick star Kumail Nanjiani has been offered a starring role in Sony’s Men in Black sequel-slash-reboot, That Hashtag Show reports.
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Hashtag says Nanjiani has been offered the role of Pawny, who is described as “the third side kick” and a “funny, wise-cracking, sex-driven alien from a civilization that exists on a Chess board.”
If he boards the sci-fi comedy, Nanjiani will appear alongside Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Infinity War) and Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok), who star as secret organization agents tasked with policing Earth’s alien population and combating extraterrestrial threats.
It was learned last week Taken star Liam Neeson is in talks to join the spinoff as the head of the U.K. branch of the galaxy defenders, in a role similar to the position filled by Rip Torn in the original trilogy.
Sony and Amblin Entertainment co-produced the original Malibu/Marvel comic book-inspired trilogy, launched in 1997, followed by sequels in 2002 and 2012.
The Steven Spielberg-produced franchise revival comes seven years after trilogy-closer Men in Black 3, which teamed Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) for a third and final time. Over the course of its lifetime, the series grossed more than $1.6 billion in global box office ticket sales.
F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton, The Fate of the Furious) directs from a script by Iron Man and Transformers: The Last Knight screenwriters Matt Holloway and Art Marcum.
The revamp was originally developed as a 23 Jump Street / Men In Black crossover that would have seen Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum reprise their roles as undercover cops who would have integrated into the MiB.
In recent months, Nanjiani and The Big Sick co-writer Emily V. Gordon received a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the 90th Academy Awards for the semi-autobiographical romantic comedy drama.
Nanjiani also has The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle in the works, where he voices Plimpton, an ostrich. There he belongs to a star-studded cast that includes Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland, Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water) and John Cena (Blockers).
The still unnamed Men in Black spinoff opens May 17, 2019.
