The Unexpected Character Fans Are Loving In Marvel's Eternals

The newest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Eternals," has nothing if not lots of characters. Of course, the same could be said about "Avengers: Infinity War," but the difference here is that the characters in "Eternals" are newcomers to the MCU. The film gives audiences ten new superheroes (AKA Eternals) to meet, along with future Black Knight Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) and the giant intimidating red Celestial, Arishem (voiced by David Kaye). In case that wasn't enough, a couple of unexpected and surprising characters also show up in the first "Eternals" post-credits scene.

Although many of the film's characters have been around for years in the comics, they appear in the movie as totally new versions of themselves and, as a result, have to win over both comic book readers and those who only engage with the MCU. Luckily, viewers seem to be totally embracing many of the film's characters — especially Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) and Druig (Barry Keoghan).

However, even though he's surrounded in the film by so many flashy, superpowered new heroes, it's actually the most unassuming character in "Eternals" that seems to have captured the hearts of all Marvel fans.

Marvel Studios may have only just now given valet-turned-cameraman Karun (Harish Patel) his own character poster, but when the studio posted it on its Instagram account, fans had nothing but love to share for Karun. Some commenters even went so far as to call him the best "Eternals" character.

In the film, Karun is a personal valet and assistant to Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), an Eternal who's been leading a successful Bollywood career for the past century. Karun knows Kingo is an Eternal — he first thought his employer was a vampire and tried to stake him — so when Sersi, Ikaris, and Sprite meet up with Kingo, Karun joins them on their quest to meet up with the other Eternals. He acts as both the token mortal of the group and, at Kingo's request, the cameraman for a documentary about the Eternals. Karun's filmmaking antics insert some delightful humor into the movie, especially through a running gag about him always having another, smaller camera to replace each one that gets destroyed.

In a Reddit thread about Karun's new character poster, u/LegoStevenMC wrote, "This character could've easily been annoying but he stole the show every time. He got a laugh from my theater EVERY TIME." Elsewhere in the thread, u/stelvak quipped, "I choose to believe he has the same powers as Hela, except instead of manifesting pointy things out of thin air, he creates cameras." 

For many, Karun was the breakout character of the movie, with u/an_evil_budgie, writing, "He was the perfect foil to show humanity's perspective on these immortal gods."

Marvel fans don't just love Karun for his comic relief, but also for the emotional chord he strikes in the movie's later scenes. In particular, fans adored that he led a Hindu funeral for Gilgamesh (Don Lee) and that he thanked the Eternals while saying goodbye to them.

u/metros96 wrote that Gilgamesh's funeral scene is "an underrated fascinating and beautiful moment," and that Karun is a big reason why it works. "He's basically surrounded by the gods of myth, and really everything he knows and learns should probably lead him to question the purpose of prayer or any religious ceremony," the user noted. "For a film that you can argue takes a skeptical eye of gods, grand designs, and religion — or at least of blind faith — this scene feels like such a true display of humanity and human culture/compassion/belief/perseverance." It's a brief moment in the movie, but to this Redditor, it underscores what "Eternals" does best.

As for Karun's farewell, u/Agorbs called it one of their favorite scenes in the movie, writing, "As far as this guy knew, the weight of oblivion was about to crush down on all of them, and yet he still thanked them for simply trying. Too good." It's a scene that clearly brought many viewers to tears, and just made them love Karun even more.

With that in mind, fans are hoping to see more of Karun in the future. One Redditor even offered an amusing way to bring Karun back, writing, "I didn't love the movie, but I loved every scene with Karun. I hope we see more of him. Could be an ally to Blade since he tried to stake Kingo when he thought he was a vampire."