Mel Gibson Claims He Turned Down Playing Odin In Thor
Turns out beggars CAN be choosers.
Don't worry , everyone, we've finally got to hear Mel Gibson's opinion of comic book movies. You can now sleep at night soundly. Two Mel Gibson stories in one day, you lucky devils.
The former Lethal Weapon star and current star of Blood Father (nope, me neither) has revealed to The Guardian that he was once offered a role in the MCU, but turned it down for some reason.
The part? Odin in Kenneth Branagh's 2011 Thor flick:
"Yeah, long time ago, to play Thors dad. But I didnt do it.
Obviously.
If the rumours are to be believed, Robert Downey Jr wants Gibson to direct Iron Man 4 (so says Shane Black anyway). But he might not get a positive reaction from the actor/director anyway, because it's not exactly his favourite genre:
"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. Its a different kind of business these days. 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 thats 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.
That's not the kind of mentality Marvel would seek from a director they'd need to slot into their overall creative approach. They don't want auteurs, they want malleable, talented minds. That's why Edgar Wright left Ant-Man, and why so many of their hires seem so odd.
Still, in a different world it would be great to see Mel Gibson as Odin. He'd certainly look a lot more fearsome and a lot more believable as the All Father than Anthony Hopkins did.
Would you have enjoyed seeing Gibson as Odin? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.