Matthew McConaughey Open To Superhero Role With Marvel Or DC, Probably Rejected ‘Doctor Strange’ And The Joker

Matthew McConaughey has admitted that he’s previously read several Marvel and DC comic movie scripts but he never felt as if he could excel in one so he turned them all down. This doesn’t mean that he has ruled out portraying one of these characters in the future though. In fact he’s just waiting for the right script to appear.

McConaughey made the admission while talking to Variety, via Comic Book, where he teased that he’s been offered some major roles but refused to confirm which they were.

“I’ve read some Marvel and DC scripts and I’ve talked about working with them on some scripts, none of which I’ll share with you what are – or were. Yeah I’ve circled some of those. Nothing has been right for me yet. But I’m sure open to it.”

But McConaughey, whose latest film The Sea Of Trees was met with boos and laughter when it premiered at Cannes earlier this week, admitted that he’s still interested in appearing in a comic-book movie. But, as with everything that he considers, it just needs to be the right script.

“It’s very simple for me. I look at the script. Is the opportunity exciting? Is the money that comes with it exciting? Sure. Is it the possibility of going, ‘Hey you can get on a train and it can be a franchise and you could do 3, 4, 5, and have a great time as some kind of superhero or anti-hero.’ But I would also look at something like that and say, ‘Hey, in success that means you are on the train for a while.’

“Contractually, you’re going to return to the character over and over. It’s something I asked myself is it something I’d want to return to. Would I be excited to go back and put the shoes on the character again? Going and doing the press tour with that group of people again? I always ask myself those questions again. It starts with the story and character.”

But which characters and films have Matthew McConaughey previously turned down?

Looking at the batch of movies that have been released during the McConaissance — the term given to his recent renaissance which culminated in him winning a Best Actor Academy Award following years of performances in rom-coms — it looks as though the Marvel film he probably rejected was the lead in Doctor Strange, while it’s also likely that he was provided the script for Suicide Squad where he would have played the Joker too.

Back in October, 2014, it was speculated that he was on the shortlist for Doctor Strange, while fans and movie critics were clambering for McConaughey to portray the Joker in Suicide Squad, as his gangly, but physical appearance and intense yet still darkly comical personality would have perfect fit with the character.

McConaughey did admit that he’s read DC scripts, and even though there have never been rumors that he’s been approached for the villain, out of the current spate of characters that are set to appear in DC’s burgeoning cinematic universe, the Joker is arguably that the only one that he would suit to play. He’s not bulky enough to portray Superman or Batman, while the other superheroes are too young. He’d have made a nifty Alfred though.

[Image via The Film Stage]