Anna Daniels
Most actors are lucky if they get to be in only one gigantic franchise. A few, like Harrison Ford and Samuel L. Jackson, have appeared in more than one. Now there are unconfirmed reports that Harry Potter AKA Daniel Radcliffe may join their ranks.
These reports say that Radcliffe, now, 30, might be appearing as Wolverine in the MCU’s rebooted X-Men. So far, Radcliffe has dismissed these reports, but some fans are concerned he may be putting on a front — that is to say, lying.
Will Daniel Radcliffe join the MCU?
Having already been Harry Potter, and having been determined to shake off that image, Radcliffe would seem to be an unlikely candidate for the MCU. That hasn’t stopped fans and various websites from speculating that Radcliffe wants in on that superhero life.
One report quoted in NME suggests that Radcliffe would be the new Wolverine in the MCU version of the character, with Hugh Jackman having hung up that role with Logan. And another report in CInemaBlend states that Radcliffe is being eyed to be in the Marvel series Moon Knight, which doesn’t even have a premiere date yet.
One reason that talk seems to be just talk is that Marvel chief Kevin Feige has said it would be several years before the MCU could adopt the X-Men. Another reason is that Radcliffe has been drawn more to indie than mainstream fare. One of his roles was that of a farting corpse in the movie Swiss Army Man. And once you play a farting corpse, can you really go back?
It seems that any actor with a pulse is up for Marvel
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydnzilTiBcY?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Radcliffe is hardly the only actor this happens to. Emily Blunt had been filming Jungle Cruise (the movie, not the ride) for Disney, leading to unconfirmed reports that she was in talks with Marvel about some secret role or other.
Blunt had been strongly considered to play Black Widow back in the late 2000s, but scheduling issues prevented her from taking the role, so Scarlett Johansson gets to enjoy her standalone movie in May. Meanwhile, Blunt’s Jungle Cruise is scheduled for a July 24 release.
Blunt has already become quite familiar with Disney, appearing in the adaptation of Into the Woods and as the most famous nanny of all time, Mary Poppins, in 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns. One might imagine Mary sternly putting fans in their place with all this unconfirmed gossip about moon knights or wolverines.
What does Radcliffe say about these reports?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpWAyQQSm_k?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
According to NME, Radcliffe was only joking when he talked about playing Wolverine. He had said, “There’s going to be a new Wolverine movie, in which it starts off with Hugh Jackman being put into a hot wash. “And then when he comes out, it’s me.” As NME put it, ‘Despite the comments sounding decidedly tongue-in-cheek, Radcliffe soon learnt that sarcasm doesn’t translate to the internet too well.’
Fans on Reddit alternately tried to rationalize his comments to make it sound like he wouldn’t join Marvel, or they would rationalized his comments to make it sound like he would. One said, “He’s stammering like a man who’s signed a Disney NDA.”
Another responded, “He always talks like that.”
Either way, Radcliffe can currently be seen in the TBS series Miracle Workers, about two low-level angels who try to convince God not to destroy the earth. Maybe that’s the kind of persuasion that Radcliffe would need to get in the MCU.
If anything, Radcliffe thinks it’s more likely we’ll see a Harry Potter reboot than him being in a Marvel movie. Perhaps the best fans could hope for is a spot in the Marvel animated series What If?
Written by: Cheat
