Richard Madden Is Reportedly In Talks To Join A New Marvel Franchise
The Marvel Cinematic Universe as we've known it for the last 11 years isn't quite dead yet—there's still Spider-Man: Far From Home to come, as well as that Black Widow film—but its body is certainly in the chapel of rest, waiting to be hoiked to the nearest crematorium and given the old ash-and-dash.
Which is all very sad and everything, but Marvel is apparently deep into planning the next of its big franchises, The Eternals, and is reportedly in talks with Game of Thrones and Bodyguard's Richard Madden over a role.
According to Variety, Madden's talking to Marvel about potentially playing Ikaris, who's a member of a not-human-but-also-sort-of-human race and blessed with super-speed, strength, healing, flight and all the rest of it. They were created millions of years back by a race called the Celestials and end up fighting a bunch of bad lads called the Deviants across the centuries.
And yes, his name does nod at noted waxy hang-glider Icarus—in the comics he's Icarus' dad, which you've got to assume must have led to a knock on the door from whatever the Ancient Greek equivalent of social services was. Ikaris is also known as Ike Harris to his human mates, which isn't quite as exciting.
Other names broadly rumoured to be involved include Angelina Jolie and The Big Sick's Kumail Nanjiani, though Marvel hasn't ruled anyone in or out just yet.
This story originally appeared on Esquire.co.uk.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
