Keith David Wants To Join Marvel As A Fan-Favorite Hero
The They Live star wants to join the MCU!
This article is more than 2 years old
At 66-years-old, Keith David remains one of the busiest actors in Hollywood. Along with some of his unforgettable live-action roles in films like They Live and The Thing, his unmistakable voice has made him a hotly sought after actor for animated projects, video games, and CGI-rendered characters. Now, it looks like David is ready to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the character he wants to play is none other than one of the first characters other than Thor to prove worthy to wield Mjolnir — Beta Ray Bill!
That’s what Keith David told a fan on Twitter recently. The fan posted a picture of Beta Ray Bill from one of Marvel’s comics and asked the actor if he would voice the hero if offered the role. David’s answer left no room for ambiguity: “In a NY minute!” You can see that tweet below.
Are you listening Marvel Studios? Keith David wants to play Beta Ray Bill! Make it happen!
Who is the character Keith David wants to play? Well, the guy with arguably the best name in comics was created by Thor writer and artist Walt Simonson — without a doubt the single most influential creator in the history of Marvel’s Thor, excepting only Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. First appearing in 1983’s Thor #337, Bill proves worthy of Mjolnir, ironically, while fighting Thor. They have a misunderstanding as Bill — a Korbinite, fleeing from Surtur’s demon horde — enters the Milky Way galaxy.
While Beta Ray Bill has not physically appeared in the MCU yet, his influence has been felt in a number of different ways. The name of the hammer Eitri (Peter Dinklage) makes for Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War comes from the name of the weapon Odin makes for Bill in the comics after he proves worthy of Mjolnir. CBR notes that the character Keith David is ready to play was supposed to make a cameo in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, but the scene was cut. However, the character does kind of show up. He’s one of the champions whose face is sculpted into the Grandmaster’s (Jeff Goldblum) tower. In the screenshot below, Bill’s face is the topmost face on the left.
Actually, to the more minutiae-driven Marvel fan (and there are more than a few), having Keith David or any other actor play Beta Ray Bill could constitute a contradiction because of the Easter egg pictured above. The faces are all supposed to be of champions of the Grandmaster’s Contest of Champions. While it isn’t fully pictured in this screenshot, Hulk’s face is on top because he was the current champion. Since we’re led to believe most fights in the arena are to the death — Thor survives, but Korg (Taika Waititi) mentions plenty others who have “perished” — in most likelihood all of the faces under the Hulk are supposed to be of former champions who have since been killed. Of course, even if you consider what’s meant to simply be an Easter egg as concrete continuity, that doesn’t mean Beta Ray Bill is dead in the MCU; the sculpture pictured above could always be simply another member of Bill’s race, the Korbinites.
According to CBR, it’s possible we’ll know in a few months whether or not Keith David will play Beta Ray Bill. There are rumors and theories that — much as the Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions of Spider-Man were digitally erased from the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailers — a character has been erased from the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer. If that’s the case, we’ll know who it is on July 8.
