Kingo is such a coward
Kingo is my favourite character in Eternals. Kumail Nanjiani is adorable and hilarious. But Kingo, his character, is ultimately just as pathetic as Ikaris.
- Kingo immediately gives up Thena after the Mad Wyry affects her, because she's potentially dangerous, and he doesn't defend her at all.
- He abandoned Sprite. He didn't tell her he was leaving, he just left. Why? Because he was scared of what the humans would think of Sprite. And instead of apologising he tries to avoid blame by talking about movies.
- When Phastos gets scared of the crunching chips in the Domo, Kingo calls it cowardice. It's just a one off joke line, but it's interesting that he reveals Eternals can be cowardly.
The bravest thing Kingo does is when he instinctively shields Sprite from the Deviant. This shows that Kingo does love his family. He's not heartless, not even close.
He's not malicious, he's not an evil sort of cowardly, but he lacks part of the heroic mindset that Sersi and some of the others have. He's not able to commit to what he believes in but he's also not able to fully love his family.
Kingo claims to love Earth, but he's willing to let it die, because he's scared to make a desicion. He's scared of angering either side of the debate on saving Earth, but by being neutral he alienates both.
In a situation where one end is destruction and the other end is salvation, 'not picking a side' is always serving the side of destruction.
Thena says that Gilgamesh told her "When you love something, you protect it." Kingo does not protect Earth. He probably knows the rest of the Eternals are going to fight Ikaris, and he said he would kill them, but Kingo does not join them. What does that say about him?
If we ever see Kingo again I'd love him to have a redemption arc. I don't think his character would go full villain, he doesn't really have any reason to, but he can't stay the same.
I love Eternals, I think its character dynamics are some of the best in the MCU, and the CGI is really good.
Mini Aside: He calls Ikaris boss, meaning he's always seen the steadfast mission oriented one as a leader while Ajak waivers. When Ikaris suggests he could lead the Avengers, Kingo immediately affirms him. In the Domo, he pledges his loyalty to Ikaris. Is there love there? Is Kingo also attracted to Ikaris? I don't think so, but maybe someone could connect the dots. I don't think Ikaris told Kingo about the Emergence despite Ikaris seemingly knowing about it for a long time, so I'm not sure else why Kingo would follow him 'to the end'. Ikaris says the same words to Ajak, so is it just hierarchy of command?