Though Robert Downey Jr. is reportedly courting Mel Gibson to take the reins of Iron Man 4, the Aussie could have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe all the way back in 2011.
That’s according to Gibson himself, who revealed to The Guardian that he turned down the chance to play Odin in Kenneth Branagh’s standalone Thor movie: “Yeah, long time ago, to play Thor’s dad. But I didn’t do it.” It’s a role that ultimately fell to Sir Anthony Hopkins, who went on to also star as the King of Asgard in Thor: The Dark Word and next year’s Ragnarok.
Further in the interview, Gibson went on to discuss the broad spectrum of superhero movies, who considers the majority of the pack – aside from Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man in particular – to be retreads on the same formula.
“Some are good. Some are kind of funny … ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ Or the first ‘Iron Man.’ And some of them are just like [retreads]. I mean you can watch them do Spider-Man five times … There is a slight shift in film. 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,” Gibson reflected. “I think you used to get more variety of stories, films and performances. You had more of a chance of a profound film experience. 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.”
Currently staging something of a comeback, Mel Gibson is aligning WWII drama Hacksaw Ridge for the upcoming festival season. Thor: Ragnarok, on the other hand, is expected to whisk moviegoers back to the decadent halls of Asgard in 2017.
