As beautifully put-together as the career of the versatile Charlize Theron may be, actors these days have all been defined by either their attempt or rejection of entry into the coveted CBM franchises of today. Be it DC, Marvel, or Fox, the expansive, stacked, and multi-layered stories navigated within these universes have constantly been in demand of more actors, and it was only logical that Theron would find herself being pulled into one of them after so many years.
Charlize Theron’s Transition From FoxVerse to Marvel
The age-old dictum of good things coming to those who wait may be redundant in today’s world that operates solely on the principle of first come, first serve. And Charlize Theron was one of the first to have served an inimitable role of the superpowered mutant Jean Grey in the Fox branch of the Marvel comic universe. However, the role was not meant for her.
When Brian Singer came aboard the fledgling universe of mutants and superheroes, the director and screenwriter David Hayter flew to Vancouver in order to offer her the part of the telepath. At the time, the actress turned it down, the role going to Famke Janssen instead. But when asked years later about being offered a part in the ubiquitous CBM franchises of today, the actress claimed:
“I swear to God. I’ve never gotten anything. No, I’m not lying to you. But that’s OK. You know what? I am paving my own way. I’m creating my own opportunities. So it’s alright.”
Last year, however, that changed when The Old Guard actress finally made her debut in the MCU as Clea in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in a small post-credits scene alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.
Marvel and Foxverse: A Chaotic Future in the Making?
Despite the long-standing and commercially successful run of the X-Men universe, its recent acquisition by Disney also means the unification of the Foxverse into the mainstream and expansive banner of the MCU. Under one umbrella, the interconnected universe can truly and finally live up to the fullest possible potential that it has to offer, honoring the Marvel comics and its century-long literature along the way.
But, a recent trend suggests more swaying away from the tangent of comic accuracy and more toward imprinting a statement of a director/writer’s own on a film, as seen by the narrative of Ragnarok. A dangerous trend was also noticed where multiple projects that are simultaneously in-development butcher the same character’s developmental arc due to no communication between the separate writers’ rooms. This was most recently seen in the case of Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda whose tragic arc built patiently over the course of 9 episodes in WandaVision regressed violently in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
As such, for obvious reasons, the ever-expanding MCU needs to not sway violently off the mark, creating events to suit its own impatiently progressing plotlines and hurried developments of one movie after another. Instead, the creators across the enormous studio, working on multiple projects at once, need to collaborate and dissect ideas to be at par with the quality of projects previously seen at Marvel and charter the best path ahead for the studio.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now available for streaming on Disney+
Source: Variety
