Harrison Ford’s was very challenging to work with on Captain America: Brave New World, making the already difficult production even more tense.
Being a part of a Marvel movie is no small feat. From actors to crew members, everyone must put in immense effort to bring these massive productions to life. Given the scale and complexity of superhero films, the margin for error is significantly high. While this is a usual scene at Marvel Studios, such obstacles became even more challenging when it came to the recently released film, Captain America: Brave New World.
Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World | Credits: Marvel Studios
From reshoots to other issues that touched upon politics as well, the production crew reportedly had issues with the legendary, yet infamous curmudgeon, actor Harrison Ford.
Harrison Ford was terrible to work with on Captain America: Brave New World
Harrison Ford as Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World | Credits: Marvel Studios
Harrison Ford is making his Marvel debut in the recently released Captain America: Brave New World. Starring as the infamous Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross aka Red Hulk, this is the actor’s first role in a superhero flick.
Also playing the President of the United States, whose character traits have been linked with the 47th POTUS, Donald Trump, Ford was not fun to have on the sets. Throughout his brilliant career spanning decades, there have been many stories and rumors of him being hard to work with, with adjectives like broody to proud often being found used in the context.
And as per an insider, who is a regular at the Marvel sets, the actor was allegedly hard to work with and made matters worse for the inexperienced-in-large-productions filmmaker Julius Onah.
Harrison Ford was one of the crankiest performers I ever dealt with. Which was sad. I’m a fan. But he was very much a diva. I don’t know if you remember, but he got in a plane crash. He couldn’t even raise his left arm above his chest. We have to suit up 80-something Harrison Ford in these motion-capture dots. To me, it seemed like he hated it and didn’t want to do it. And when Harrison was done, he was done. Everyone was trying to scramble to make him happy. That made for a very awkward work environment.
Stated the ‘source’ to Vulture. While the film had several issues, dealing with A-list egos, which was mainly just Harrison Ford, was a significant issue that made things even more tense for the production which is already facing several challenges, from political ones to financial ones.
Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World was not an easy film to make
Giancarlo Esposito in Brave New World | Credit: Marvel Studios
Captain America: Brave New World is the second standalone MCU film centered on a Black superhero. Helmed by Anthony Mackie as the new Captain America, the film has faced numerous challenges, from high expectations to last-minute creative shifts.
Arriving after the mess-up that were The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine, the film carries both financial and cultural weight. As Vulture details, one of the most significant hurdles was the extensive reshoots, which lasted 22 days and dramatically increased the budget beyond its initial $180 million estimate.
Moreover, early test screenings were reportedly underwhelming and the late addition of a new supervillain played by Giancarlo Esposito raised significant challenges for the film. While Harrison Ford was another ‘challenge,’ Marvel hiring Nigerian American Sundance Film Festival veteran Julius Onah also posed an issue since he was comparatively inexperienced when it came to making films like a Marvel flick. Moreover, the likeliness between the film’s theme and Ford’s character with the current political climate and Ross being linked to Donald Trump turned out to be another headache for the studio.
However, these are just the tip of the iceberg for the film has more to overcome as it hits theatres today. One of the worst-reviewed Marvel films (via Forbes), the film has received significant backlash over lead star Anthony Mackie’s ‘America’ comment (see Variety) and has been facing boycott calls from Pro-Palestine groups for Disney’s alleged link with Israel and the presence of Israeli actress Shira Haas and her ‘Israeli’ character in the film (via Newsweek).
Captain America: Brave New World is in theatres now.