Kraven the Hunter star Aaron Taylor-Johnson has admitted he “didn’t really care” for some of his earlier comic book movie roles.
In an interview with Esquire, the Marvel actor revealed he wasn’t exactly a fan of some of his earlier roles, including Kick-Ass and Avengers: Age of Ultron. “There was Kick-Ass,” he said, “and then there was Godzilla and Avengers, and all those things lined up for me. But I didn’t really care for them.”
Taylor-Johnson famously starred as Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver in Age of Ultron, as well as bagging the titular role in the subversive comic book movie, Kick-Ass. He was also up for other roles “that nobody knows about — big, huge franchises that were in play”. However, he instead chose to spend more time with his wife and children.
“I wanted, purely, to be with my babies,” he said. “I didn’t want to be taken away from them. I battled with what that would be like. I would say I was probably not ready to be in that position anyway — it was too early. But yeah, I also slightly didn’t give a f–k.”
Clearly, he’s had a change of heart, and is now starring in Sony’s upcoming Spider-Verse movie Kraven the Hunter as the iconic Marvel villain. “I mean, quite honestly, I thought I’d actually been done with these sorts of movies,” he said.
Kraven the Hunter also stars Russell Crowe and Ariana Debose, and will further expand Sony’s Spider-Man franchise, which stepped away from the legendary web-slinger with the likes of Venom, Venom 2, and Morbius.
“You can’t step into this role, you can’t step into what this franchise is, with a f–king half-assed, let’s see how it goes attitude. You have to be mentally prepared for what could come with that. I think I’m secure in my life now to know that I’m happy to deal with that.”
Kraven the Hunter debuts in theaters on August 30, 2024.
Want to read more about Kraven the Hunter? Check out the film’s recent trailer as well as why Sony is trying to turn Kraven into an antihero.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.