Correction: There Is No Multiverse In Which Bob Odenkirk Will Be in the MCU
Back in November, we wrote that Bob Odenkirk was in talks to play a part in the upcoming Marvel Studios TV series Wonder Man, co-starring Ben Kingsley and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Well, the man himself has proved us wrong – next he’s going to tell us that ice cream machines work in cold weather after all.
In a recent interview with The Independent, the Lucky Hank and Better Call Saul star reflected on his career post-heart attack and the continued success he enjoyed as he transitioned from the Breaking Bad spinoff show to his latest warmly received AMC series. Odenkirk also took time during the talk to shoot down the hopes of us who foolishly craved a comedic comic book TV series that heavily featured one of the best comedic-turned-dramatic actors of the 21st century, saying of the MCU that he isn’t “built for that world.”
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“I always like to keep things grounded, relatable and smaller,” Odenkirk said when asked about a potential debut in the Disney property, “I’m built for characters that make you feel like that guy could live next door.” If he was looking for smaller, he could have taken Bill Murray’s spot in the most recent Ant-Man movie, and if he’s going for unassuming characters, Wonder Man would have been a perfect fit – the unknown, D-tier Avenger could have been our neighbor for years and we wouldn’t have noticed.
Odenkirk noted that, though he has significantly branched out in his recent career including a foray into action flicks with the 2021 film Nobody, he’s not looking to make the next logical leap from action hero to superhero anytime soon. Unlike the superpowered aliens of the MCU, Odenkirk’s character in the film, government-assassin-turned-suburban-dad Hutch Mansell “is still a family man, but his relationship to violence is different. He’s changed, but he’s still got a long way to go to find real balance in how he’s living his life.”
“I care about this more than you could imagine,” Odenkirk said of the human element in Nobody, “You’d think it’s the personal story of my life, and not an action-genre movie.” Though his dedication to grounded emotional truths is admirable, the idea that an actor couldn’t commit that deeply to their character in a superhero film does feel slightly off-base – Ezra Miller has been attacking people then sprinting away from the consequences ever since The Flash wrapped.
