Marvel Star Admits Starring Role Wasn’t Different Or Interesting
Back before Eternals disappointed us all, there was general excitement about the prospect of Game of Thrones star Kit Harington playing a role in a Marvel movie. Certainly, the film treated his character as a relatively big deal: he only played a supporting character, but he was being set up to play the Black Knight in the upcoming Blade movie. Now, though, even the star is willing to admit that he found the movie about as exciting as the rest of us, saying that he didn’t take the role because the movie was “different and interesting” but because “if Marvel calls, you gotta do it.”
Jon Snow
Long before Kit Harington appeared in this Marvel role, he played the important character Jon Snow in Game of Thrones. That was a life-changing role for the young actor: he went from being a relatively unknown talent to being a household name, someone at the heart of countless memes and online debates.
Arguably, that show’s success proved that he was a bankable blockbuster star, and ever since Game of Thrones ended with more fizzle than sizzle, audiences everywhere had been waiting to see what the actor’s next big project would be.
The Black Knight
When it was first announced that Kit Harrington would be starring in a Marvel movie, it was a fair assumption that he had a decade or more of easy jobs ahead of him. After all, the MCU has very few “one-hit wonder” stars, and even the actors playing supporting characters like Pepper Potts or Happy Hogan can look forward to as many appearances as they want.
Certainly, Eternals looked like it was setting up great things for Kit Harington, with his minor character being set up to play the Black Knight in Marvel’s upcoming Blade movie, presumably the first of many more appearances.
There May Be No More Black Knight
Now, though, Kit Harington’s Marvel future seems highly uncertain: Eternals was a relative bomb (for these movies, even $402 million is a disappointing worldwide box office), and Disney isn’t currently developing a sequel.
On top of that, Blade seems like it may never get off the ground, and the combination of its production woes and Marvel’s recent spate of box office bombs (the success of Deadpool & Wolverine notwithstanding) makes us wonder if that movie will ever see the light of day.
Marvel Is Top Dollar For Minimal Effort
Because of that, you might think Kit Harington is very disappointed at his Marvel future going up in smoke, but the actor seems relatively sanguine about all of it. In a recent interview, he “joked” about feeling obligated to take Marvel’s offer, seeing it as something he felt obligated to do because they opened the door for him.
Honestly, though, I don’t think this was a joke, and I think it might help explain the failure of Eternals and other Marvel bombs.
In short, it seems to be an open secret that getting into the MCU is the modern-day Hollywood sinecure: talented actors get to pull down huge paychecks for doing very little work.
If they really want to, they can even double-dip, appearing at comic conventions around the world and signing autographs and merch for a hefty fee.
It’s a pretty sweet gig, and back when these movies seemed like each would be a huge success, it was a win/win: phone in a performance for a role you aren’t passionate about in exchange for a decade or more of huge paydays.
The Quiet Part Out Loud
Now, we won’t pretend to know Kit Harington’s heart, and his Marvel performance didn’t seem notably worse than anyone else in Eternals (take that as you will).
Nonetheless, the actor seems to be saying the quiet part out loud that he took the job out of obligation rather than genuine interest or passion. And there’s only one thing we can say to someone going into the world’s biggest franchise without being very interested in it: you know nothing, Jon Snow.
Source: GQ
