Ben Mendelsohn is well known for playing some of our favorite villains: Orson Krennic in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, John Daggett in The Dark Knight Rises, and Nolan Sorrento in Ready Player One. But there’s one iconic big bad the Australian actor has his eye on: Victor Von Doom a.k.a. Doctor Doom.
In an interview with GQ, Mendelsohn said “I would almost give my eyes and teeth to play Doctor Doom. I think Doctor Doom is the great unread Marvel character that could and should be done. But it is what it is. I got to work with Spielberg, and I got to work with Terrence Malick, and I got to work with Ridley Scott. It’s been incredible. I didn’t think this ship was coming.”
Unfortunately for Mendelsohn, he’s already a recurring figure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor played Talos the shape-shifting Skrull in Captain Marvel. While framed as a villain, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) discovers that Talos is actually a refugee searching for a new home for his kind. Talos went on to appear in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Secret Invasion. He becomes fast friends with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as the two try to build a safe community for Skrulls on Earth.
But Mendelsohn’s run as Talos ended with Secret Invasion after his character was killed off in episode 4. The actor could return to play Doom. After all, Gemma Chan played Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel before getting recast as Sersi in Eternals.
But Mendelsohn makes a big impression on screen, and fans aren’t likely to forget his time as Talos, even if he spent much of that time under heavy green prosthetics. Sadly for Mendelsohn, he is unlikely to bring Doom to the big screen.
Victor Von Doom previously appeared in Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) where he was portrayed by Julian McMahon. Toby Kebbell played Doom in the 2015 remake of Fantastic Four.
Fans expect Doom to be the Big Bad in the upcoming Fantastic Four film, but no casting announcements have been made yet. The only confirmed cast member for the film so far is Pedro Pascal, who will play Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic. If Marvel is still looking for actors, we’ve got some suggestions.
(via GQ, featured image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
