Paul Bettany has certainly been talking a lot lately. Don’t get me wrong though. It’s definitely not a bad thing, especially when he’s defending Marvel Studios and all the True Believers out there against Jason Statham. But the award-winning British actor has moved on from discussing missed bullseyes and has gone back to promoting his next appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While appearing at the AsiaPop Comic-Con over the weekend where brand new footage of ‘Captain America: Civil War’ was debuted, Bettany discussed reprising his role of The Vision from ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ alongside (or in some cases against) a gathering of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. According to Philippine Entertainment Portal, the actor started off by telling the Filipino audience about the atmosphere on set:
“It was a lot of work! We all had a bit more fun. You know, there were more improvised jokes between me and [Robert] Downey Jr., and me and Chris Evans, and it was a really loose atmosphere on-set. It was one really loose set, it was great! I would totally lie to you if it wasn’t, but I don’t have to lie. And we all get on. They’re all a really nice bunch of boys and girls. They’re all happy to be there. They’re being terribly well paid, so they should be happy to be there. And work’s really creative and fun, you know? I got to be born on camera, you know, that’s unlikely to ever happen again.”
From there, he got more specific about Vision and how things changed from the first time that he portrayed the Avenging Android in the follow-up to Joss Whedon’s acclaimed Phase One finale:
“I was given comics. I also was looking to think about what could be edifying for me to learn. I took the opportunity—you see my character get born… something unlikely to ever happen to me again. He must be both omnipotent and yet totally naive at the same time. And experiencing the world in real time and his place in it. Is he going to be a force of good or a force of evil? It was really interesting, fun to play with, because he is dangerous, you do not know if he’s going to go one way or another. And I’m continuing that theme in ‘Captain America 3’.”
The question of good and evil will be an interesting one since the Avengers will be divided in Steve Rogers’ next solo film as some join the Sentinel of Liberty while others side with Iron Man. I’m looking forward to seeing how Vision rationalizes which side he’ll take in this superhuman civil war on the horizon for the MCU.
What do you think about Paul Bettany’s comments about ‘Captain America: Civil War’? Are you excited to see the Vision back on the big screen again? Sound off in the comments.
‘Captain America: Civil War’ starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Emily VanCamp, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Martin Freeman hits theaters on May 6, 2016.