Fans were surprised when Game of Thrones star Iwan Rheon was cast as Maximus in Marvel’s latest TV show Inhumans. The role of Black Bolt’s insurrectionist brother was superficially so similar to the Irish actor’s infamous turn as the villainous Ramsay Bolton on the HBO hit that it seemed a strange choice for Rheon to pick for his first major production after GoT. It turns out these thoughts were echoed by the actor himself as well before he signed on for the show.
As EW reports, Rheon opened up at San Diego Comic-Con about his initial thoughts when offered the part, saying the following:
“My fear was I’d be doing the same thing again. It’s that fear of being typecast and you just end up repeating yourself, but as we discussed it more and more, I realized that wasn’t at all what we were trying to create with the show.”
Comic book fans will also be interested to know that Maximus will be altered in one significant way for the TV show. In the comics, he gained powerful telepathic abilities after the Terrigenesis process that gives Inhumans their powers. In the TV show, however, he won’t gain any powers at all, leading to a serious inferiority complex.
“[He’s this] young man who went through Terrigenesis and he became nothing. In this society, which is all about what power you have, he’s the lowest of low. The only reason he’s not working down in the mines is because he’s the brother of the king — even though he feels like he’d be a much better king — and he’s a man of the people.”
Rheon went on to say that he sees Maximus as an antagonist rather than a villain, as he wants to make things better for his people.
“[We] try to show the side of him that he’s trying to genuinely change the world and try to help out the people who he believes are living in terrible conditions in the caste system. He believes his brother is not doing anything, so he believes he has to do something himself. He’s perhaps more of an antagonist than a villain. It’s just two opposing ideas. He’s a passionate politician who wants to change things for the better for the people — and maybe for himself.”
So far, fans have mostly criticized Rheon’s portrayal of Maximus, at least what they’ve seen of it in the trailers, but the actor is clearly passionate about his character. Let’s hope that comes across when Inhumans airs in IMAX theaters on September 1st and on ABC from September 29th.
