Over the years Marvel has come up with many iconic villains such as Ultron, Thanos, Green Goblin, Red Skull, and more. And all these antagonists are unique in their own way. However, The Mad Titan became one of the best and cruelest villains because his intentions were different from the villains featured in the previous Marvel movies, and he is not motivated by selfish desires to simply quench his thirst for power.
Due to his complex desires and intimidating presence, fans crowned him as the most ruthless villain in the history of Marvel. However, James Gunn believes that Chukwudi Iwuji’s role as High Evolutionary in the upcoming sequel of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would be the most inhumane and cruel villain in the history of the MCU, making the heroes shiver with fear.
Chukwudi Iwuji To Play The Cruelest Villain in The History of MCU
Recently, Chukwudi Iwuji gave an interview to BlackTreeTV alongside his co-star Will Poulter. During the interview, he discussed how he made his villain different from the past villains featured in the MCU. The actor shared that he let go of the emotion of sympathy, because at some point in the film, the villain would start becoming sympathetic, so that the audience would like them, something MCU has done with Erik Killmonger and Thanos.
“I leaned into the opposite of judging and embraced it big time and said, ‘Look, this guy’s a villain.’ I mean often certain [villains] in this universe, we lose the sight of them as villains because we are trying to find a way of making them sympathetic, you know? But that was something that James and I knew we weren’t going to do with this guy. We were going to ride it until the end.”
The actor shared that his character would be emotionless, however, if at some point in the film he tries to redeem himself, then it would “almost be accidental” and he does not try to pull the emotions of the MCU fans.
“And if there is any subtle redemption, it should almost be accidental or because we are all humans and flawed. As opposed to me striving to draw that from the audience. So I really enjoyed commenting to the zealotry and the narcissism and the single-mindedness of the character.”
Chukwudi Iwuji added that while his portrayal of a villain seems to be too extreme, some of the worst people in the history of humankind had those similar emotions and ideologies, which have made him advance in the same way with his character in the film.
“As extreme as that seems, when you think of some of the most horrific figures in human history, there is a sense of zealotry and narcissism and single-mindedness. So James told me right at the start, ‘Ground this character.’ And I grounded him in that way.”
Recently, at the world premiere event for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn shared some new details to ExtraTV on Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary. The director of the sequel called Iwuji’s character “the cruelest MCU villain” that the viewers would have seen in the history of the franchise, as he will make a negative impact on Rocket Racoon as his backstory is explored in the film.
“This guy over here [Chukwudi Iwuji] plays the cruelest MCU villain we’ll ever see. So you get to see how he negatively impacts Rocket, his little friends.”
While Marvel’s movies are loved throughout the world, the franchise has lost its quality in recent times as they are inconsistent at the Box Office because the projects lack quality, making them uninteresting. While Marvel Studios try to come up with great heroes, they tend to make their villains some sort of joke. However, it looks like, after ages, James Gunn and Chukwudi Iwuji are coming together to make another iconic villain that would be an absolute fan favorite.
How Will High Evolutionary Stand Out in Comparison to Other MCU Villains?
Even though Marvel has some iconic villains in its collection who are known for their complex nature and being deep, characters like Josh Brolin’s Thanos, Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger, and even Tom Hiddleston’s Loki are some of the evil guys who have shown themselves as a brutal force of nature with no remorse for their actions.
Fans would argue, how Red Skull used the power of Tesseract to feed his own selfish desires and prove his superiority over the Nazis. Or they can even say how William Dafoe’s return as Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home was inhumane, as the crazy villain was responsible for the death of Aunt May and unleashing hell on all three Spider-Men, showing an intense thirst for blood and chaos.
While most of the High Evolutionary’s story is still a secret to fans, critics say, the actor has won their hearts for being an iconic villain that has never been shown before on the big screen, and the MCU fans would love to see him once the film is globally released.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will release in theatres on 5 th May 2023.
Source: BlackTree TV
