Dan Stevensplayed a Marvel role in the mostly forgotten TV seriesLegion, but in the late 2010s it was rumored that he would be joining the MCU in a then-unknown movie project. It later turned out that the project was the unfairly criticizedEternals. However, the truth of the matter was that Stevens was never attached to the project, even though he tried his best to convince everyone that he was.
Speaking withThe Playlist, Stevens explained why he chose to play the dicey game of messing with Marvel fans and suggested several times that he could be playing the role of the villain Kro in Marvel Studios’ 2021 release. As Stevens recalled, the rumors were all started by one image shared online. He said:
“What happened was, I was in London shooting Eurovision Song Contest when my good friends Brian Tyree Henry and Kamal Nanjani were in London shooting ‘Eternals,’ and we went for a curry, and as sometimes happens when you’re hanging out with actor friends, everyone’s like, ‘let’s take a selfie,’ and someone posted it, and in the way that only the internet can, it just was like, ‘He must be playing [Kro].’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And so, we just had fun teasing fans for a while.”
That teasing included Stevens hinting at his involvement inEternalsin several interviews, including one withColliderin which he responded to questions about the rumors with the line,“Kro comment.”However, Stevens realized his error when every interview he attended turned into a conveyor belt of non-stop questioning about his supposed MCU role. He continued:
“It did get kind of out of hand where, like, I would sit in junkets like this with something completely unconnected, and people would say, ‘So, you know, what’s it like working with Chloe Zhao?’ And I’d be like, ‘Oh, listen, let me stop you right there. This has gotten way out of hand.’ But, yeah, all that happened is we went for a friendly dinner in London.”
Dan Stevens Has Seen His Career Soar Without the Help of the MCU
While it was the FX Marvel seriesLegionthat brought Stevens to the attention of many fans and studios, he has been able to find plenty of success without following up that role with a trip into the MCU – at least for now.
Stevens has continued to be a regular on TV, following up his early Downton Abbey role with a prolific run on Netflix, starring in the anthologiesLove, Death & Robotsand Guillermo del Toro’sCabinet of Curiosities, and taking over as the main star ofSolar Oppositesfollowing the sacking of Justin Roiland. He will be one of the stars lending his voice to the upcomingAmong Usseries, and he will be back on Netflix in the political thriller seriesZero Day.
Dan Stevens Would Revive Overlooked X-Men Adaptation in the MCU
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is still expanding, and Dan Stevens would be open to bringing back his almost forgotten X-Men character to join it.
Meanwhile, Stevens has also appeared in some big movie releases recently. Along with voice roles inThe Sea Beast, and the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki’sThe Boy and the Heron, he joined Legendary’s MonsterVerse with an appearance inGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, starred in the smash horrorAbigail, and is nowback in the new horror movieCuckoo. With several other movies already on the horizon, including the Al Pacino horror,The Ritual,Stevens certainly isn’t short on roles, and it is questionable whether he would have room to fit a Marvel role into his schedule if it did come along.
Of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon be looking for a whole new roster of mutants in the coming years, and that could see Stevens actually getting to join the franchise for real. If he did, this would probably lead to a strange flip of hisEternalslie, as he would probably find himself having to deny his MCU involvement rather than hinting at it.
Eternalsis streaming - without Stevens - on Disney+. Meanwhile, all episodes ofLegioncan also be found on Hulu/Disney+ depending on your territory.
