There’s no doubt that Thanos is the star of the show in the crossover epic Avengers: Infinity War, but another villain earned a lot of fans with his menacing portrayal in Marvel Studios’ movie.
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Ebony Maw earned praise from fans for his devout sermons on Thanos’ genocidal nature, urging that everyone in death has become children of the Mad Titan. Actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor loved his role in the film, and hopes his death in Infinity War isn’t the last we’ll see of the Maw.
“I think he’s a great character and fun to play,” Vaughan-Lawlor told Red Carpet News TV. “It’s a brilliantly written character, some of the language and the dialogue that I got to say was just so much fun. Those parts are kind of gifts to actors. Also the physicality, it’s a very playful character. And yeah, it was wonderful to do, and given the opportunity I’d love to revisit it if possible.”
The Black Order, Thanos’ lieutenants in his quest to retrieve the Infinity Stones, were all done through CGI work with motion capture technology on the set. But while Vaughan-Lawlor had to wear a body suit with reference dots while filming, his audition was a little different. The actor admitted that he dressed up as the Maw for the tape he sent into casting.
“I have an American agent who sent me the details that it was an audition for [Marvel] and I sent off a tape,” Vaughan-Lawlor said. “I filmed it in my house, and feeling very silly dressed up as something resembling the character, and you feel very silly when you do it, so you send it off. I had to do a couple of tapes for them. And then they, a few months [later], they said they liked what I did, so they’d like me to be involved.”
Ebony Maw went through some changes in his journey to the big screen, and the Avengers: Infinity War directors revealed their reasons for altering Maw and the rest of the Black Order in the commentary track paired with the home video release.
“The Black Order, in particular, we worked hard to adjust them to the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” explained co-director Joe Russo. “In the [Jonathan] Hickman run, I thought the characters were too powerful. And nobody wants the sub-villain to outshine the villain. And we adjusted their power sets so that they lined up in a way that was more interesting with our heroes. Which is why Maw’s a ‘wizard.’”
Ebony Maw can currently be seen in Avengers: Infinity War, now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital HD. We’ll see if he returns for Avengers 4 next year.
