There are probably entire books that could be written on the almost got ‘em casting decisions in the MCU that didn’t quite happen, for one reason or another. One of the biggest surprises to come out in recent times was that there was a Marvel character Mel Gibson was eyed up for (there’s a pun there, but we’ll get back to that) but turned down. We finally know who.
While promoting his latest film Blood Father – whose lead Gibson refers to as the “dad version of the action guy” – in an interview with The Guardian, via our good friends at Squareeyed.tv, the conversation turns to the current wave of superhero movies we have on the big screen.
Quizzed about whether or not he had been approached in the past to play someone in a superhero film, Gibson keeps his answer short and sweet; “Yeah, long time ago, to play Thor’s dad. But I didn’t do it.”
No messing around with that answer.
As you’ll know, Thor’s dad is Odin, and ended up being played in the MCU by Anthony Hopkins. See, we told you there was an eye pun in there.
When asked about the current state of the superhero flick, he says “Some are good. Some are kind of funny… Guardians of the Galaxy. Or the first Iron Man. And some of them are just like retreats. I mean you can watch them do Spider-Man five times… There is a slight shift in film.”
When relating it back to how things ‘used to be’ with action films in the 80s, Gibson muses “But, then again, I think all films are suffering from people not being able to now open them with their name. It’s a different kind of business these days.”
Don’t forget though that Sane Black name dropped Gibson as a potential director for Iron Man 4 if Robert Downey Jnr gets his way (here), so we may yet see his name on the credits on an MCU movie.
In a sentimental mood while asked about the old school action movies of old, when the question of whether or not he misses that kind of filmmaking comes up he says “Yeah, in a way. I think you used to get more variety of stories, films and performances. You had more of a chance of a profound film experience.”
He isn’t slating modern films though, far from it; “But that’s not gone. I think that has been relegated to the independent world – but they have to do it twice as fast for half the money.”
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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