Jacked Kumail

About

Jacked Kumail refers to pictures of actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani shirtless and very muscular which he shared on his Instagram. He worked on his muscular figure in preparation for his role in Marvel's The Eternals. The pictures shocked social media users who did not expect Nanjiani to look that way. Nanjiani was also praised for being honest about his process of getting that fit.

Origin

On December 16th, 2019, Kumail Nanjiani posted two shirtless pictures of himself to Instagram, showing off the body he had attained in preparation for The Eternals.^[1] In the caption, he wrote his thanks to those who helped him, and he acknowledged it would not have been possible without the resources and time he was afforded by being a celebrity.

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 some day. #thirstyshirtless (Photo by @markupson.)

Spread

The pictures quickly shocked social media users who were not use to seeing the comedian that way. Twitter user @davidmack^[2] tweeted in praise of Nanjiani's caption, gaining over 780 retweets and 3,200 likes (shown below, left). User @beerquena^[3] also tweeted praise of the caption, gaining over 70 retweets and 400 likes (shown below, right).

Others made jokes about the pictures. Twitter user @chrisgayomali^[4] tweeted a Gonna Tell My Kids joke showing a buff depiction of Jesus, gaining over 80 retweets and 900 likes (shown below, left). User @Californalovers^[5] tweeted a Scarlett Johansson Cast As joke with the pictures, gaining over 60 retweets and 490 likes (shown below, right).

Pornhub Acknowledgment

The day after Nanjiani revealed the pictures, Pornhub made his picture the icon for their "Muscular Men" category on the site.^[7] Nanjiani posted about this on his Instagram^[6] on December 17th (shown below). The news was covered by AV Club.^[8]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References