Marvel has become a film-making empire that will not be toppled anytime soon. Actors and directors involved with them have gone on to become the biggest stars on the planet. That being said, not everyone has been happy with them.
1. Terrence Howard
Howard played Tony Stark’s best friend James “Rhodey” Rhodes in 2008’s Iron Man, the film that kicked off the MCU. According to reports, he was apparently paid $4.5 million for the role, which was more than Robert Downey Jr. at the time.
But the movie’s success meant that Downey demanded more money for the role and apparently this caused Marvel to cut corners, reducing Howard’s remuneration. He was only offered $1 million despite having a contract for two more films that would have seen him earn $8 million. He has since gone on to say that Iron Man killed his career.
2. Joss Whedon
Whedon was already a god for the geeks. His stature only increased when he directed The Avengers in 2012. But the sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron proved to be his undoing. The movie was a commercial success but was not liked by fans and critics alike. Following this Whedon said that he would never direct a Marvel movie again as the pressure was too much.
Given the recent accusations against him made by actors of Justice League and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, it would appear that MCU really dodged a bullet there.
3. Jessica Alba
Alba’s struggles while making the Fantastic Four movies are well documented. During the sequel, Alba was reported told by director Tim Story if she could cry pretty.
It looks too real… Can you be prettier when you cry? … Don’t do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in.
Alba has then gone on to say that the experience was so traumatic for her that she almost considered quitting acting altogether.
4. Idris Elba
Thor: The Dark World was a bad experience for everyone, fans and those involved with the project, alike. While Elba has stayed with the franchise, in an interview, he had said that it was torture to do the films and he didn’t want to continue. Apparently, the biggest reason for this was the lack of development for his character, Heimdall. Given that by this time Elba was an A-List star in Hollywood, one wouldn’t blame him for it.
5. Mickey Rourke
Iron-Man 2 remains to be one of the worst MCU movies to date. And actor Mickey Rourke, who played Whiplash couldn’t agree more. He full-on hated the film. In an interview with Seth Meyers, he had said:
I did, once, a movie for Marvel… and they cut the whole fucking thing out.
Well, the film did very little with an actor of his calibre. So fair point to him for hating it.
6. Edward Norton
Norton’s beef with Marvel is the stuff of legends. When he first took on the character of Bruce Banner for The Incredible Hulk, he demanded that he write certain parts for his own character. Norton was a big deal and he is still an incredibly talented writer. So it wasn’t unusual. However, he came up with an entirely different movie just a couple of weeks before production.
Despite being in a tough spot, the director chose to shoot a combination of both scripts which didn’t turn out to be as good as one had hoped. Marvel Studios also had to fund in a lot of money for reshoots to make sense of the film and Norton wasn’t too pleased with that. So when the time came, Marvel recast Banner’s character with Mark Ruffalo despite Norton being open to returning.
7. Hugo Weaving
In case you were wondering who you saw as the Red Skull in Infinity War and Endgame, it wasn’t Weaving. Weaving has the poster boy for big sci-fi/mystical fantasy films like The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Transformers, and Captain America: The First Avenger.
But in an interview with Collider, he had said:
It’s not something I would want to do again… I did sign up for a number of pictures and I suppose, contractually, I would be obliged to, if they forced me to, but they wouldn’t want to force someone to do it, if they didn’t want to. I think I’ve done my dash with that sort of film
8. Ryan Reynolds
Reynolds had always wanted to play Deadpool. Actually, it won’t be far fetched to say that this was the role he was born to play. But when he first got the opportunity to do so in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he absolutely fucking hated it, much like everyone else who watched the film.
He has gone on to say that it was extremely frustrating and blamed a lot of the debacle on the writers’ strike. FYI, the Deadpool whose mouth’s shut off is not actually played by Ryan Reynolds but Scott Adkins. So…
9. Andrew Garfield
Much like Tom Holland, Garfield had also always wanted to play Spider-Man. So when the opportunity came knocking, he grabbed it with both hands and it showed in the first film. However, by the time of the sequel, the studio’s priority had changed and they were more focussed on making more sequels and setting up spin-offs, which reportedly broke the actor’s heart.
10. Edgar Wright
Wright had been wanting to make an Ant-Man movie since 2006, before the MCU even began. He spent 8 years with the idea and had the script and cast ready to go. But when Marvel finally got him on board, they hired other writers to change the script, which he said made him feel like the film wasn’t his anymore.
11. Christopher Eccleston
Eccleston has been involved with some pretty impressive projects in his lifetime. From The Leftovers to Gone in 60 Seconds, he has worked on a wide range of projects. However, he wasn’t particularly happy with playing Malekith on Thor: The Dark World.
And Thor? Just a gun in your mouth. Gone in 60 Seconds was a good experience. Nic Cage is a gentleman and fantastic actor. But GI Joe and Thor were … I really paid for being a whore those times.
12. Sam Raimi
East or West, Tobey Maguire’s Spidey is the best. Yup yup yup. Actually, it was Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man and he was great for the first couple of films. With the third one, however, Raimi said that he didn’t believe in the characters and so the movie didn’t do well. He is most likely talking about Topher Grace’ Venom, which pushed the character back at least a decade!
Looks like all of them had valid reasons. We could have the other side of the story for I don’t think Kevin Fiege wants to talk to me. So, later!