Look, I get it. It’s incredibly hard to deny that the Marvel Cinematic Universe boasts one of the most spectacular achievements in the history of cinema. And credit has to be given where it’s due, specifically to the leadership and guidance of Marvel head Kevin Feige.
It’s furthermore hard to deny that the “Marvel Method” (aka pre-planned reshoots for the sake of pivoting with the MCU’s ever-evolving canon) played a role in the culturally impactful one-two punch of Infinity War and Endgame. It’s imperative to point out, however, that said reshoots should be used for just that purpose. The reshoots shouldn’t be used to de-fang a performance like Ray Winstone as villainous General Dreykov in Black Widow.
Speaking recently to Radio Times, the actor reflected on what he called a “soul-destroying” experience during the Black Widow reshoots. Winstone revealed that some of the producers told him to tone down his performance, an egregious demand for such a storied actor.
“It was fine until you have to do the reshoots. Then you find out that a few producers have come down, and your performance is too much, it’s too strong … That’s the way Marvel works. It can be soul-destroying because you feel like you’re doing great work.”
Reshoots are one thing, but this seems like a case of Marvel sanitizing their movie for the sake of Disney’s dire commitment to banality. No one in their right mind would cast Ray Winstone (of all people!) and then tell him to “tone it down.” Nor would any sensible producer neuter a film’s potential because they wanted nothing more than a brand-committed product.
Moral of the story? Follow Barbie‘s lead, and stop letting the non-artists have so much say in the art.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
