Matthew McConaughey reveals that he’s read a few Marvel and DC scripts and he’s open to doing a superhero film but only if the script and character make sense to him….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Following a career resurgence with his roles in ‘True Detective’ on HBO and ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ — the latter of which earned him an Oscar for best actor — Matthew McConaughey is one of the most sought after names in Hollywood right now although he’s remained in the shadows opting for lower budget fare in recent projects outside of his part in last year’s outer space thriller ‘Interstellar’.
McConaughey is currently promoting his latest indie film ‘Sea of Trees’, which was directed by Gus Van Zant and also stars Naomi Watts and Ken Watanabe while prepping for his next role in the Civil War drama ‘The Free State of Jones’.
Throughout his career, McConaughey has always been a bit of an enigma with his movie roles. From doing serious dramas like ‘A Time to Kill’ to his run of romantic comedies, McConaughey could never be pinned down for one genre or another but attaching him to a superhero franchise at Marvel or DC seemed like the furthest thing from the realm of possibility for the 45-year old actor.
But according to McConaughey, he’s actually read for a few parts — although he wouldn’t confirm which ones or whether or not they were Marvel or DC — and it’s something he would consider if the part was right for him.
“I’ve read some Marvel and DC scripts and I’ve talked about working with them on some scripts, none of which I’ll share with with you what they are — or were. Yeah, I’ve circled some of those,” McConaughey confirmed when speaking to Variety. “Nothing has been right for me yet. But I’m sure open to it.”
So what would it take for McConaughey to actually consider taking a part in a superhero franchise for one of the major comic book film houses?
“It’s very simple for me. I look at the script,” McConaughey said. “Is the opportunity exciting? Is the money that comes with it exciting? Sure. Is it the possibility of going, “Hey you can get on a train and it can be a franchise and you could do 3, 4, 5, and have a great time as some kind of superhero or anti-hero.” But I would also look at something like that and say, “Hey, in success that means you are on the train for a while.” Contractually, you’re going to return to the character over and over.
“It’s something I asked myself is it something I’d want to return to. Would I be excited to go back and put the shoes on the character again? Going and doing the press tour with that group of people again? I always ask myself those questions again. It starts with the story and character.”
Story and character were at the heart of why McConaughey didn’t return to star in ‘Magic Mike XXL’ after playing a large part in the original film.
Following the revelation that McConaughey might be interested in playing a role for Marvel or DC, rumors began springing up almost immediately that there were already feelers out about him starring as a villain in an upcoming project.
Several sources stated that McConaughey was being targeted by Sony and Marvel to play the new Norman Osborn in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot film that’s being co-produced by both companies in a new join venture. Asa Butterfield is the leading candidate to play Spider-Man, but there has never been any word on what villain he might face in his return to the big screen.
Norman Osborn has been Spider-Man’s arch nemesis for decades but no portrayal on screen has gotten the character exactly right. Willem DeFoe played Osborn in the ‘Spider-Man’ film starring Toby Maguire while Chris Cooper portrayed Osborn in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and the subsequent sequel (although he never took on his alter ego, The Green Goblin).
Would McConaughey actually consider playing Osborn in the new Spider-Man movie? It certainly seems like a role he would be good at, but with no director or script currently attached to the movie it’s unlikely he would have any interest at this stage of the game. Still the possibility to get him involved with a project like that is definitely exciting because McConaughey remains one of the best actors in the world today.
