While many Marvel fans are eager to see the Thor: Ragnarok team of Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth reunite in Men in Black: International, one of the big draws of the film is the big (or, rather, little) debut of Kumail Nanjiani in the film. The Big Sick writer and actor will play a tiny alien in a franchise known for tiny aliens, but this one seems to have a big role in the action.
Nanjiani is playing a new alien named Pawny, who comes from a race with a chess-based class system in which he’s a nameless pawn; hence the name. Take a look at his introduction in Men in Black: International in the new clip above!
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While we now know pretty much everything we need to about Nanjiani’s character, Tessa Thompson’s role as Molly is still quite intriguing. The trailers make it clear that she had a run in with the clandestine organization in her past, but that they forgot to wipe her mind afterwards. She spent most of her adult life tracking them down, and in doing so convinced them to let her into the fold.
“The genesis of the whole thing is a young girl whose life had been altered by an encounter with Men in Black,” Thompson said to Entertainment Weekly. “And the idea is that unlike Will [Smith] in the original films, she’s a protagonist who hasn’t been recruited but has found them.”
Thompson went on to explain the appeal of the first movie and why she was drawn to the project.
“The start of the first movie talks about immigration,” Thompson said, “and Will [Smith] has these really searing jokes about race…. I think you do have the chance inside of all this escapism to say something, and make a movie that has heart and that has satire and that holds up a mirror to our stuff. I think that’s possible, without preaching.”
We’ll see how it all comes together when Men in Black: International premieres in theaters on June 14th.
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