17 Actors And Directors Who Hated Working For Marvel

The MCU may have a huge fanbase, but these folks aren't a part of it

Kylin

• Published in Disney
• June 25, 2022

In 2008, the first Iron Man movie was released, being the first of many, many Marvel movies from the Marvel Comic Universe. Bringing to life an 80-year-old comic book world, and igniting a wild pop-cultural love for superhero movies and shows.

Over the last decade and a half, the MCU has cranked out 28 movies relating to the very popular Marvel Comics franchise. Between stand-alone films like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and crossover films, like The Avengers saga, the MCU has had countless inspirations, and plenty more to draw from.

And they’re not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon. As there are currently another 12 movies either in post-production or in various stages of development.

It would seem like getting to work on a Marvel movie would be an enjoyable endeavor, based on how much fun the finished movies have been, but it turns out that not everyone who has had that chance had any fun at all.

We collected a list of actors and directors who ultimately regretted working on Marvel movies. Films like Iron Man, Thor, and Spider-Man made this list, and it may be surprising as to why those who worked on them hated doing so.

Keep reading to see what and why.

1. Sally Field

Sally Field was not shy about her true feelings regarding her role as Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man. She hated her role because "it's really hard to find a three-dimensional character in it, and you work it as much as you can, but you can't put 10 pounds of shit in a 5-pound bag."

Field claims she took on the role as a favor

While on The Howard Stern Show, she said that she only accepted the role as a favor to her friend and producing partner Laura Ziskin, who passed away a year before the film was released.

2. Sam Raimi

Director Sam Raimi expressed deep regret over Spider-Man 3 on a Nerdist podcast, saying that it was "a movie that just didn't work very well" because he "didn't really believe in all the characters."

Raimi reflected on his mistakes

He continued, "I should've just stuck with the characters and the relationships, and progressed them to the next step and not tried to top the bar. I think that was my mistake."

3. Patty Jenkins

Director Patty Jenkins was originally going to direct Thor: The Dark World, but she left the production because she "did not believe that [she] could make a good movie out of the script that they were planning on doing" and "it would have looked like it was my fault."

"It would’ve looked like, ‘Oh my god, this woman directed it and she missed all these things.’”

Jenkins was quoted as saying in an interview with Vanity Fair.

4. Jessica Alba

While filming her character's death scene for Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer director Tim Story told Jessica Alba that she needed to "cry pretty."

She almost quit acting because of Story

Alba said being directed to "just look pretty" when she was crying while DYING made her question her talent when she should've questioned the talent and skill of the raging misogynist she was forced to work for.

5. Wesley Snipes

Wesley Snipes ended up suing New Line Cinema and writer-director David Goyer and Toby Emmerich for $5 million after the release of Blade: Trinity. His lawsuit claimed that they withheld part of his salary, and were in violation of his contract when they forced him to work with a cast and crew that made him feel isolated, and that they harassed him due to his race.

He was also distressed by claims made by costar Patton Oswalt

In an interview with The Guardian, he is quoted saying, “This is part of the challenges that we as African Americans face here in America – these microaggressions. The presumption that one white guy can make a statement and that statement stands as true! Why would people believe his version is true? Because they are predisposed to believing the black guy is always the problem. And all it takes is one person, Mr. Oswalt, who I really don’t know. I can barely remember him on the set, but it’s fascinating that his statement alone was enough to make people go: ‘Yeah, you know Snipes has got a problem.’”

6. Avi Arad

 Producer Avi Arad has taken on the blame for how the character of Venmo played out in Spider-Man 3, saying that he regretted "forcing" director Sam Raimi to include Venom.

Arad later produced the stand-alone Venom movie

In an interview with Screen Rant Arad said, "In all fairness, I'll take the guilt because of what Sam Raimi used to say in all of these interviews feeling guilty that I forced him into it. And you know what I learned? Don't force anybody into anything."

7. Terrence Howard

Howard originally held the role of Rhodey / War Machine in the 2008 film Iron Man, but he refused to come back for the sequel. This was because the studio wanted to drastically cut the pay that had previously been promised him for his three-picture deal in order to pay costar Robert Downey Jr. more.

"I think they could have a huge franchise off of it, but fuck 'em."

That was what he said when a fan called into Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and asked if he'd reprise the role.

8. Mickey Rourke

Apparently, Terrence Howard wasn't the only star who had issues working on Iron Man. Mickey Rourke worked alongside the Iron Man 2 writer and director in order to make Ivan Vanko / Whiplash more than just "a complete murderous revenging bad guy," but "unfortunately, the [people] at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy so most of the performance ended up [on] the floor.”

Rourke didn't want to be a part of a "mindless comic book movie"

He told Crave Online, "If they want to make mindless comic book movies, then I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have to care so much and work so hard, and then fight them for intelligent reasoning, and just because they’re calling the shots they… You know, I didn’t work for three months on the accent and all the adjustments and go to Russia just so I could end up on the floor.”

9. Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston who played Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, expressed his regret for taking on this role in an interview with The Guardian, as he did it primarily for financial gain.

He said working on Thor was like "a gun in your mouth"

It didn't help that his role required him to sit in the makeup chair for up to six hours a day, and a lot of the scenes explaining his character's backstory had to be cut.

10. Edgar Wright

Writer/Director Edgar Wright co-wrote a treatment for Ant-Man all the way back in 2003 and then continued to deliver script rewrites over a decade of production delays. After all his hard work put into this project, Marvel Studios ended up commissioning a draft script without his input.

Wright ended up leaving the project two months before production began

He told Variety, "I wanted to make a Marvel movie but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie... Suddenly becoming a director-for-hire on it, you’re sort of less emotionally invested and you start to wonder why you’re there, really.”

11. Idris Elba

Thor: The Dark World apparently sucked for everyone. Idris Elba said that returning to the set for "contractually obligated reshoots" was "torture."

He had just finished filming "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom."

In an interview with The Telegraph Elba said, "I’m thinking, 24 hours ago, I was Mandela. When I walked into the set, the extras called me Madiba. I was literally walking in this man’s boots... Then there I was, in this stupid harness, with this wig and this sword and these contact lenses."

12. Josh Trank

Josh Trank, director of the 2015 Fantastic Four film had much higher aspirations and goals for the film than what actually panned out. He says he felt "bitter" about the experience but also recognized that he was "so arrogant for somebody who hadn’t really gotten the handle of his own skill set as a filmmaker."

"It felt like it was this mythological version of this out-of-control person"

Trank told the Hollywood Reporter, "What I had just experienced after Fantastic Four came out and in the five months leading up to Fantastic Four being released, I was at home reading articles about myself, and to me, it felt like it was this mythological version of this out-of-control person who has the same name as me and who I didn’t quite relate to. I understood this character, Josh Trank, that was being portrayed on film Twitter, blogs, and other outlets, but the fact that he had the same name as me and had apparently been to the same places as me was just weird and surreal."

13. Jennifer Garner

Garner thought that Elektra was "awful," and wished that it would've been filmed after Kevin Feige took over the MCU.

"It's such a shame, honestly, because once Kevin took over everything there was elevated: the writing, the direction, the comedy inside of the stories they were telling. And I did not have that experience."

Jennifer Garner

She only returned to do the Daredevil spinoff because she was bound to it by contract.

14. Alan Taylor

After Patty Jenkins stepped away from Thor: The Dark World, director Alan Taylor was chosen to take over. He said that "the Marvel experience was particularly wrenching because I was sort of given absolute freedom while we were shooting, and then in post it turned into a different movie. So, that is something I hope never to repeat and don’t wish upon anybody else."

Yikes.

"I think I would like my version.”

Taylor told the Hollywood Reporter, “The version I had started off with had more childlike wonder; there was this imagery of children, which started the whole thing... There was a slightly more magical quality. There was weird stuff going on back on Earth because of the convergence that allowed for some of these magical realism things. And there were major plot differences that were inverted in the cutting room and with additional photography. People [such as Loki] who had died were not dead. People who had broken up were back together again. I think I would like my version.”

15. Natalie Portman

Portman was excited to return to her role as Jane Foster when Patty Jenkins was initially slated to direct Thor: The Dark World, but after Jenkins was replaced by Taylor, Portman only stayed because of the contractual obligations she had to the franchise.

She declined to return for Thor: Ragnarok

However, after one meeting with director Taika Waititi, and she agreed to return for the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder.

16. Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds said he only played Wade Wilson/Deadpool in X-Men Origins because the studio threatened to replace him in the solo Deadpool movie if he didn't.

"It's the wrong version."

Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly, "I just said, ‘I’ll do it, but it’s the wrong version. Deadpool isn’t correct in it.'”

17. Robin Williams

The late and beloved Robin Williams was originally cast as the lead character's voice in Howard the Duck. He quit within the first week of recording, saying he felt confined within the parameters of the role, "I am being handcuffed to match the flapping duck's bill."

The scenes featuring Howard had already been filmed

Williams would have been forced to record his lines to match the footage, forgoing his famous improvisational style.

I literally had no idea how much everyone working on Thor: The Dark World really did not want to be there, but it makes a lot of sense seeing as how it’s been a really unremarkable film in the MCU. And how disappointing that Robin Williams ended up feeling so restricted that we didn’t get him in Howard The Duck.

Did anyone on this list surprise you, or did we mention a movie you loved that you didn’t know was such a bummer for those working on it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Kylin