Simon Pegg already has a firm foot in franchises like Mission Impossible, Star Trek, and Star Wars but now he might want to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When asked by JoBlo last week what superhero he might want to play one day, Pegg said, “Captain Britain was this Marvel superhero that I loved growing up, ‘cause he was the British member of that community.”
“I even had a Captain Britain mask when I was a kid, but I fear I would probably be slightly too old now,” admitted Pegg, who is currently 48. Compared to Chris Evans — who at 36 still plays Captain America — 48 could mean that Pegg is a bit old for the role. But Robert Downey Jr. is still going strong as Iron Man at 53, so who’s to say it’s outside the realm of possibility? At the very least, given his performance in Hot Fuzz, Pegg can definitely sell superhero-like hyper-competent enthusiasm.
Captain Britain would have fit in nicely during 'Avengers', right?
Captain Britain, real name Brian Braddock, is sort of the British equivalent of Captain America in the Marvel Universe. But his powers come from a mystical amulet that Merlin gives him rather than a German-made super-soldier serum. In that sense, he’s perhaps more accurately described as Marvel’s British-themed Shazam. Considering the live-action DC Comics film universe has a Shazam movie currently in development, maybe this would be perfect timing.
But even if Pegg is deemed too old, he’d still want to be part of the film. “If a Captain Britain movie comes about,” he said, “they’re gonna need a British cast, so…” So even if it’s not the lead character, Pegg would probably be up for playing another role. What if we got to see Simon Pegg play Merlin in the MCU? That would certainly make for a bold new direction for the next decade of Marvel movies.
Pegg’s next movie is Mission:::: Impossible — Fallout due out July 27, in which he plays Ethan Hunt’s comic relief tech support. But Pegg has also been working on a new Star Trek script separate from the film Quentin Tarantino is working on. Whether or not that film happens, Pegg will probably still play Starfleet engineer Scotty in the franchise.
At the very least, considering Simon Pegg for Captain Britain makes you wonder why there aren’t more British superheroes in the MCU (British actors playing Americans, a la Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, don’t count).
