Wyatt Russell Says Replacing Dad Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken Would Be “Career Suicide”

Thanks to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell is becoming a household name. Before he played John Walker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Russell was seen in an array of projects like Ingrid Goes West and Overlord. However, before he was known as an actor, Russell was known as the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. You can certainly see a lot of Kurt in Wyatt, so it’s no surprise he was recently asked about taking up the Snake Plissken mantle in the long-discussed Escape From New York reboot. Back in 2019, reports emerged that The Invisible Man writer/director, Leigh Whannell, was attached to write a reboot. There haven’t been many updates about the project in the last year, but one thing is for certain… it won’t star Wyatt Russell.

While doing an interview with Esquire, Russell responded to a fan question about the rumored Escape From New York reboot which asked if he’d be interested in the role or if he could convince his father to “go the Logan route and make a new one.”

“Although that’s very kind, that will not be happening,” Russell replied. “There will be no Snake reboot from me, that’s like career suicide 101. That’s like what not to do. I don’t know if anybody else could be Snake Plissken. Good luck, go get ’em, I sincerely wish you the best of luck. I just don’t know how it’s possible. And for me, if I really wanted to get people sending me hate mail, I think that’s what I should do. I will not be ever doing anything like that.”

While speaking to ComicBook.com last year about The Invisible Man, Whannell shared an update about the Escape From New York reboot.

“It’s funny, I’ve been so busy working on this film where I haven’t had time to circle back around on that project,” Whannell shared. “Sometimes these press releases go out before you’re ready, you’re like, ‘Don’t tell the world!’ I don’t actually know, I really don’t. That is an iconic character and I think that Snake Plissken is a part of people’s childhood and their adolescence. It’s near and dear to them. So I would tread very carefully with that.”

While Russell has no interest in taking up the Snake Plissken mantle, there is another famous character he didn’t mind becoming: Captain America. Russell is very aware of the hate his character is getting on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In fact, he doesn’t mind it. “It would be an honor, I guess, to be disliked in the Marvel universe,” Russell previously told USA Today.

Watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.

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