The Marvel Cinematic Universe can do a lot for an actor’s career these days, but it can also leave them creatively unsatisfied. In a recent interview with Variety, Jude Law admitted that he didn’t have as much fun making Captain Marvel as he’d hoped. He said that he didn’t have the freedom to make the part of Yon-Rogg his own, and to experiment with the role.
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Law confirmed that he had a one-picture deal with Marvel, signing on to play Carole Danvers’ friend and mentor, and (spoilers) ultimately, her first big villain. Law felt that his character met his full potential, saying: “I don’t think there was much more they could get out of Yon-Rogg. That, for me, was the height of Marvel.” Still, he felt that he could have given more to the performance under different circumstances.
“It was a really good experience,” he said. “I wish I’d been allowed to have a bit more fun with the part. I wanted [Yon-Rogg] to be more arch. I wanted to lean into the humor more. Also, those suits are hard to move in because they’re thick rubber. You go to stunt camp for a couple of months, where you’re doing all these fight rehearsals and learning to do all this stuff. And then you put the suit on, and you go, ‘Oh! I can’t touch my toes! How am I going to do all that stuff with this thing on?’ You figure it out though.”
Law is far from the first actor to admit he has regrets about his time with Marvel. As the franchise has grown and picked up more momentum, it has presented its casts and creators with fewer choices and greater demands. Still, complaints from the stars tend to be measured, like Law’s. One recent example was Christian Bale’s interview with GQ after filming Thor: Love and Thunder. He said that filming the movie was “monotony,” giving him few chances to get deep into character – especially when doing most of his work in front of a green screen.
To be clear, Law doesn’t seem to have a problem with big franchises or shared universes. The actor spoke highly of his experience working on Star Wars for the upcoming series Skeleton Crew. He said that he was eager to see how the galaxy far, far away was brought to life, continuing: “It was a really interesting process. It’s It’s technically complicated to get those things right — you’re dealing with animatronics and puppets and machines and huge, complicated worlds. I’m the guy that wants to see how the wizard does it.”
Captain Marvel is streaming now on Disney+. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew premieres there on Dec. 3, 2024.
