For many actors, the idea of appearing in a Marvel Studios production might be seen as a career peak: a significant payday, and the potential for a recurring high-profile role for years to come, if everything works out. Jeremy Allen White, star of the Emmy Award-winning The Bear, however, doesn’t see it like that.

“I am confused at how the pinnacle of an actor’s career has ended up in that place,” the actor recently said about Marvel Studios in an interview with UK GQ's Cam Wolf. Later on he also added (more diplomatically), “They get really good filmmakers to do those movies and obviously they get really good actors to do those movies.”

Which is fair. Marvel Studios has vacuumed up a whole lot of talent and catapulted them out into stardom, but it's also loaded a lot of really talented actors with fairly mediocre material. Still, White's confusion on The Marvel Question that every up-and-coming actor is saddled with is also just as well, since White apparently landed one of those Marvel meetings and didn't quite knock it out of the park. According to White, he said to the execs he was meeting with, "Tell me about why should I do your movie," and they responded, "Fuck you."

Not all actors are made for the Marvel machine. While we've gotten some actors from it and a lot of actors have catapulted to stardom because of it, it isn't the be all end all of movies. And it's good to see up-and-coming actors and filmmakers begin to shy away from rushing headfirst into the blockbuster path.

As for what was most interesting about this Jeremy Allen White profile (at least to this writer) is the realization that White has always been aiming for Broadway and may be heading there as soon as early 2025.

Sure, it's not Reed Richards, but maybe Mr. Fantastic doesn't need Jeremy Allen White, and after winning the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (alongside series wins for Outstanding Comedy Series, Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series), it certainly looks like White doesn't need Mr. Fantastic.

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