John Boyega shares he’s had talks with Marvel for a potential Marvel Cinematic Universe role. Following his breakout role as Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the English actor continues to build his acting portfolio with another potential franchise under his belt in Pacific Rim Uprising – where he plays Jake Pentecost, son of the original movie’s General Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba). However, it seems like Boyega’s on-screen roles of saving the Earth (or even the galaxy) will continue as fans could eventually see him don a superhero suit in the MCU.
Last month, Boyega answered few fan questions during a Reddit AMA while promoting Pacific Rim Uprising where he was asked about his thoughts on playing the new version of Blade. The actor was seemingly stoked with the idea, further motivating fans to campaign about it. However, in a subsequent interview with Screen Rant, the actor revealed that he believes that “Wesley [is] for Blade. I would want to see Wesley,” referring to Wesley Snipes, who first headlined the superhero role in the late ’90s.
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Over the weekend, Boyega once again addressed the topic during an appearance at Awesome Con where Bounding Into Comics was also present at. Doubling down on his previous comments on the matter, the rising star says he’s “all for Wesley [Snipes] playing Blade,” and him taking on the role is like a “spit in the face of Wesley [Snipes]” – something that he doesn’t want to do. However, he also tells fans not to count out the possibility of seeing him in the MCU down the road, revealing that “he’s had meetings with Marvel about potentially taking on a Marvel superhero” but cautions that nothing will come to fruition any time soon.
There are few key factors that would’ve positively affected Marvel Studios reaching out to Boyega regarding a possible stint in MCU’s future. First, other than being a great actor, he’s also a good brand ambassador, something that seems to be a key element for Feige and his team. Second, he’s already in the Dinsey family, being part of Lucasfilm’s current Star Wars trilogy as one of their new main characters. This makes crossing-over easy. There have been many instances of the two Disney pockets sharing talents, such as Benicio del Torro (The Collector and DJ) and Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaue and Supreme Leader Snoke). Boyega potentially doing double duty won’t be unprecedented.
Third, he’s got personal ties to Robert Downey Jr. – the poster boy and the grandfather of the famed cinematic franchise. Over the years, there have been plenty of stories about how RDJ helped in choosing some of the thespians who have boarded the franchise, so it’s possible he can do the same for Boyega. After all, Boyega previously shared that before Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out in 2015, he personally reached out to the veteran actor in preparation for the imminent stardom that comes with headlining a Star Wars film, which RDJ obliged to. Given their relationship, it won’t be outside the realm of possibility that Downey Jr. could champion Boyega’s cause.
With the MCU’s forthcoming revamp following the culmination of the 22-film narrative via Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 (and presumably the start of a brand new one in Phase 4), there’s a plethora of other Marvel characters that Boyega can bring to life, especially with the impending return of the X-Men and Fantastic Four rights to Marvel Entertainment. If anything, perhaps the actor can debut as a superhero in the franchise once his stint as Stormtrooper-turned-Resistance-fighter Finn ends (or at least takes a break) in the ongoing Star Wars narrative.
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Source: Bounding Into Comics
- Avengers: Infinity War / The Avengers 3 release date: Apr 27, 2018
- Ant-Man & The Wasp release date: Jul 6, 2018
- Captain Marvel release date: Mar 8, 2019
- The Avengers 4 / Untitled Avengers Movie release date: May 3, 2019
- Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel release date: Jul 5, 2019
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