Watch 'Thor' Star Idris Elba React to Learning What the MCU Is

An interview with Thor: Ragnarok's Idris Elba is going viral after the actor revealed that he had never heard the phrase "MCU" before.

The acronym, short for "Marvel Cinematic Universe," is widely used by fans and entertainment journalists who discuss and dissect Marvel Studios' litany of hit movies — but apparently it is not quite so regularly used on the sets of the Thor films.

"What's MCU?" he asked the interviewer, and then replied with, "Oh right, I have never heard that before. I thought it was Manchester United."

Elba has appeared in five of Marvel's movies so far — all three Thor films as well as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers: Infinity War — in the role of Heimdall, the guardian of the Asgardian byfrost and one of Thor's closest friends and allies. He seemingly met his fate alongside Loki in the opening sequence of Avengers: Infinity War, although up to this point, there have been relatively few Asgardians who died and stayed dead.

It may be, as much as anything else, an object lesson in how insular fandom can be, and how big the wider world of entertainment is. Hardly anyone regularly reading stories on ComicBook.com would say they do not recognize the meaning of "MCU," but an actor who has appeared in about 20 percent of its films had no idea.

The language of these things is an in-group exercise, as demonstrated last year when it came out that DC had never intended to call its interconnected series of films the "DC Extended Universe," which just became accepted terminology after a reporter semi-sarcastically used the phrase in a story about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Of course, "Marvel Cinematic Universe" is indeed approved terminology and has appeared on various marketing elements, so it is more likely than not that "MCU" is simply not used behind the scenes, where they are making Marvel movies and rarely have to be super-specific about the fact that they are doing so. And, as Elba notes, "Manchester United" is a pretty reasonable read on what the acronym could stand for if you were casting about blind.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on digital platforms, DVD, and Blu-ray. Ant-Man and the Wasp is in theaters now. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019 (with a first look apparently coming tomorrow); the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019; and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.