Why The Bear Star Jeremy Allen White Regrets His Meeting With Marvel
by Jeremy Smith · /FilmUp until this year, it felt like no movie star was too big to resist the pull of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The superhero blockbuster factory has lured everyone from Oscar winners like Cate Blanchett, Anthony Hopkins, and Angelina Jolie to Hollywood legends like Harrison Ford and the late Robert Redford. Sooner or later, it seemed, every big name in the industry would appear in a Marvel movie.
Now that MCU movies are no longer $1 billion worldwide grossers, though, the studio has lost its allure for A-list actors. At least, that's how Jeremy Allen White feels.
In an appearance on the "Happy, Sad, Confused" podcast, the star of "The Bear" and "Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere" explained that this was behind his previous dismissive comments about Marvel Studios in a 2023 GQ interview. Though White is a fantastic actor, and Marvel would be lucky to have him, he came off as slightly arrogant when he said he told the studio's executives to "tell me why I should do your movie." White regrets this now, but he's still candid about why being in a Marvel film just isn't for him (sorry to all the folks who want him to take over Wolverine from Hugh Jackman) and why many other actors may feel the same way.
Jeremy Allen White thinks the MCU's lost its luster
White was quick to tell "Happy, Sad, Confused" host Josh Horowitz that his behavior during his Marvel meeting was "out of line," adding that he could've handled differently, but it was a reaction to being offered something that wasn't a full-on MCU role. Per White, "That was, again, me sort of not being entirely invited to the party, and being, like, 'I don't even wanna go anyway.'"
White may not be a superhero guy, but he wants to be clear that there's no animosity toward people who love the genre. He's just not sure what appearing in a Marvel project could do for his career. As he told Horowitz:
"[I]t's not a bag on the genre, as much as it is, like, I don't know what I can give to it, really, or how I fit into it. And also, I think there was a period where being in one of those films guaranteed you [could] get any movie made. And if you find a script on the street and you take that around to people, and you love it, you can get it made, and I just don't know if that's how it's working anymore."
Now that he's won two Primetime Emmys for his performance on "The Bear," I'm not sure how much of a boost White would get from playing an MCU character even if Marvel was still the biggest game in town. The majority of moviegoers who flock to MCU flicks are typically not in the market for a moody indie drama or an offbeat comedy. Also, while White's a major talent, he doesn't strike me as a future superstar à la Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
Now watch White turn around and join James Gunn's DC Universe.