There are very much two completely different sides to the career of Mark Wahlberg, and they’ve combined hugely effectively to see him become one of the biggest and highest-paid movie stars in the industry over the last two decades. The 49 year-old is often accused of being a very limited actor, but with the right material in the right project, he’s dispelled those doubts on countless occasions.
One side of Wahlberg’s established screen persona is as the star of a series of mediocre and forgettable action thrillers that includes the likes of Shooter, Max Payne, Contraband, Mile 22, Spenser Confidential and the fourth and fifth installments of Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise. As a general rule, his mid-budget genre output tends to be mediocre at best.
On the other hand, there’s also a dedicated and committed talent, not to mention a hugely underrated comedian, that we’ve seen in titles like Boogie Nights, Three Kings, The Other Guys, The Fighter, Ted, Patriot’s Day and The Departed, the latter of which earned him an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
You can usually tell from a synopsis alone what kind of Wahlberg performance you’re going to get, and it seems the star is looking to get in on the comic book movie craze next. Yes, according to trusted insider Daniel Richtman, the regular Peter Berg collaborator has held talks with Marvel Studios about potentially joining the MCU.
The role in question remains unclear, but you certainly imagine him showing up as either one of the many minor supporting characters played by big names or even possibly a major villain. And while he’d no doubt be a welcome presence, some fans may find it hard to shake the idea that Mark Wahlberg would seem a bit out of place sharing the screen alongside the MCU’s roster of superheroes.
In any case, Richtman notes that these talks were held a few months back, so it’s unclear if anything will come from them. But you can imagine that Marvel wouldn’t mind adding another one of the world’s biggest movie stars to their cinematic universe.
