One doesn’t become an Avenger by backing down from opponents or in order to play diplomat and Paul Bettany shows he has the moxie to hang with the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes during an appearance on ‘The Conan O’Brian Show.’  Bettany, who plays the android hero The Vision in Marvel’s juggernaut movie franchise, appeared on the late night chat show to promote his upcoming movie ‘Legend’ when he was asked about some less than flattering comments made by action star Jason Statham regarding the popular Marvel movies.  And Bettany rose to the challenge.

Back in June, Statham, the rugged and extremely physical star of ‘The Transporter’ franchise jabbed that the makers of the Marvel movies “could take my grandma and put her in a cape, and then put her in a green screen and then have stunt doubles come in and do all the action.  Anybody can do it.”

The timing of Statham’s barbs is suspicious as just days prior, the internet exploded with buzz that Statham was being courted to play Bullseye in Season Two of Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’ Netflix series.  Fans seemed unanimously thrilled by the potential casting, but things fell apart literally overnight when it was announced that despite the fact that he was inches away from signing the deal, Statham would not be joining the show.  No reason was given, but there was talk that upon word of the negotiations leaking online and being greeted with such rousing fan support, Statham and/or his reps attempted to press for more money.  The famously frugal Marvel Studios simply bid the star adieu and went in a different direction.  That’s the rumor anyway.

Back to the present, when the subject was broached on ‘Conan’, Bettany had this to say about Statham’s remarks:

“He’s brilliant at what he does – I couldn’t do it. I try to do as many of the stunts as I can, but there are times when it’s too dangerous or it’s too tricky. But if there’s a really, really tricky scene with some very tricky dialogue, one might consider bringing in an acting double for Jason Statham.”

Jason Statham isn’t someone I’d want to piss off, but it’s admirable that Bettany wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and went to bat for his team.

Watch the segment for yourself below:

Statham’s anti-Marvel quotes can’t help but seem like sour grapes after whatever happened behind-the-scenes with ‘Daredevil.’  Then again, Statham’s brand of “check your brain at the door” testosterone-fueled b-movies has its own legion of fans.  No, he isn’t likely to star in a billion dollar-grossing epic… or play ‘King Lear’ onstage, but something tells me Statham isn’t crying himself to sleep over it or over verbal swipes from Bettany or any other Avenger that cares to come out swinging.

Whose side are you on?  Team Statham?  Or Team Marvel?  Or is this even worth choosing sides over?  Comment below!

Source: Comic Book Movie