Despite Marvel Cinematic Universe’s success through the decades, the franchise is currently facing issues regarding “superhero fatigue” and is failing to hold onto viewership. Amid such tumultuous times, the MCU started witnessing another major problem with actors quitting their films, even before production.
Stepping down from their Marvel franchise roles for various reasons, stars like Ayo Edebiri are making headlines for quitting the MCU. But surprisingly it’s not just her, according to reports, there are currently two more renowned actors who quit Marvel, before they even began filming. Steven Yeun and Aaron Pierre are among the few who recently quit Marvel.
1. Ayo Edebiri
Among Marvel’s few of the most anticipated projects, Thunderbolt is currently making headlines, which is set to go into production in spring. Being a part of Phase Five of the MCU, the film has become the talk of the town for introducing a fresh concept to the live-action wing of the comics. But what made fans even more interested in the film was Ayo Edebiri’s involvement.
However, according to Variety, The Bear actress recently opted out of Thunderbolt, causing the highly anticipated film to suffer a massive blow. Although her potential role was yet to be disclosed, outlets revealed that Ayo Edebiri quit MCU even before the film went into production. Following Edebiri’s exit, Geraldine Viswanathan has replaced the star in Thunderbolt.
According to speculations brought to the light by ScreenRant, Ayo Edebiri’s exit was blamed on Thunderbolt’s weak script. Meanwhile, Variety noted scheduling issues as the real reason behind her step down.
2. Steven Yeun
While Ayo Edebiri’s exit from Thunderbolt came as a major shock to audiences, she isn’t the only star who quit the movie. As per the Los Angeles Times, even Steven Yeun broke up with MCU. Pushing the highly anticipated movie to the brink of production halt, Yeun quit the project before they could start filming.
Set to play Sentry in Thunderbolt, even Steven Yeun’s exit was blamed on a scheduling conflict, much like Edebiri. Hired to play a high-flying antihero with the power of “a million exploding suns”, Yeun told Variety how he spent a lot of time trying to write the break-up message to the production.
Originally slated to release in July 2024, as the film got pushed back to 2025 due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA double strike, Steven Yeun admitted how “time passing and things shifting kind of pulled me out of it.” Meanwhile, although MCU struggled a bit to land Yeun’s replacement as Sentry, they eventually hired Lewis Pullman for the role.
3. Aaron Pierre
Amid the MCU losing two back-to-back stars from their Thunderbolt movie, there’s another actor who dropped out of their Marvel franchise role even before production. According to Variety, Aaron Pierre, who was previously associated with Marvel’s Blade reboot alongside Mahershala Ali, recently stepped down from his role.
Although Aaron Pierre’s role in the movie was not disclosed, it was supposed to be a major part. But yet again, Marvel lost another renowned star from their list, following multiple production delays. Currently slated for 2025 release, after several hurdles, Blade reboot has now been confirmed for Phase Six. However, the movie is now set to release without Pierre, as he confirmed that he is no longer involved with the project since it “evolved”.
“Early on, there were conversations. As the project evolved, I’m no longer part of that — attached.”
Without explaining his reasons any further, Aaron Pierre simply added that he still has other projects to work on. So it can be speculated that the character Pierre was meant to play in MCU was perhaps diminished or possibly removed from the story altogether.
