Actor Iwan Rheon already earned the ire of Game of Thrones fans with his portrayal of the dastardly Ramsay Bolton, who met his demise at the end of Season 6. Now he’s set to anger a bunch of Marvel fans as Maximus the Mad when The Inhumans premieres on ABC.
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But despite the two being the antagonists of their respective series, Rheon insists that they are completely different characters.
While speaking with Moviefone, Rheon said Maximus “is vulnerable. He has empathy for people.”
“Ramsay doesn’t — or didn’t, I should say,” Rheon added. “I think it’s quite a touching story, the fact that Maximus and Medusa were best friends and then as soon as Terrigenesis happened and it rendered him a human without anything, she kind of ditched him and went off with his brother. Which is kind of harsh, really. I think everyone could empathize with that.”
Rheon said he didn’t want be typecast after Game of Thrones and that’s why he took the role on The Inhumans.
“Initially, I was a bit unsure whether I wanted to do it, because it seemed like maybe I was going to do the same thing again — which I’m not interested in at all,” Rheon said. “But [executive producers] Jeph Loeb and Scott Buck spoke to me, they said, ‘Listen, this guy is different. He’s not vicious. He’s not a psychopath. He wants to change things. He’s a revolutionary. He is a politician who has a really strong idea of how to change the world.’ I guess those were the right things to say to me.”
Rheon later spoke about his character on Game of Thrones, further illustrating how Ramsay differs from Maximus.
“I think the fun thing about Ramsay was that he was so happy doing what he was doing. He enjoyed himself. Not every villain is like that. In the audition, that was the note that David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] gave me, which was, ‘Find the joy. He loves this.’ And that was like, ‘Oh right!’ And that was the key for me.”
The actor sounds excited for his new role and the different aspects of the character from his previous gig. We’ll find out how Maximus impacts The Inhumans and how fans take to him when the show debuts in IMAX on September 1, followed by its ABC premiere on September 29.
Marvel’s Inhumans explores the never-before-told epic adventure of the royal family, including “Black Bolt,” the enigmatic, commanding King of the Inhumans, with a voice so powerful that the slightest whisper can destroy a city. After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself.
