At one stage or another, almost every single recognizable star in Hollywood tends to pitch up in a superhero blockbuster for either a main role, supporting part or brief cameo. There’s simply so many big budget comic book adaptations in the works at any given time, the majority which typically require a sprawling ensemble, that it’s getting more and more difficult to find a reasonably well-known name that hasn’t taken the plunge.
It looks like we can add Thandiwe Newton to that list, though, after the actress explained why she’s not interested in diving into the world of spandex-clad crimefighters. Looking at a filmography that includes Mission: Impossible 2, The Chronicles of Riddick, Roland Emmerich’s 2012, Solo: A Star Wars Story and HBO’s Westworld, the Emmy winner clearly isn’t above some big budget escapism, but she doesn’t feel the need to scratch the superhero itch.
Newton recently blasted the decision to kill off her character in Solo, admitting that she didn’t sign on to the project just to be abruptly taken out of play in a rewritten version of the script, so she’s evidently not one for mincing her words. The 48 year-old does make a point of praising the superhero genre’s ability to fit itself into so many boxes, but it’s just not one she’s particularly keen to get involved in.
“We have superheroes on the ground right now, and they’re the ones that we should be celebrating and supporting. This idea that there are these fantasy superheroes just disconnects us from really finding the superheroes that are actually here. I am loving the re-imagination of comic books that we’re seeing right now, like Thor: Ragnarok, which is more comedic but at least is shaking up that kind of franchise and f*cking with the system.”
Even though it’s remained the most popular and bankable form of cinema for 20 years and counting, nobody’s required to love what the likes of Marvel and DC are putting out, something that Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola have made abundantly clear. Newton can watch the films, and even enjoy them on occasion, but it sounds as though she wouldn’t entertain the idea of starring in one herself.
