After years of chiefly being known as a comedic talent, Bob Odenkirk got to stretch his dramatic muscles for many years playing Saul Goodman, a.k.a. Jimmy McGill, in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and he entered the action genre in 2021 with Nobody. Recently though, there have been rumors swirling about him being cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, it doesn’t sound like we can count on this actually happening, as Odenkirk has explained why working on a superhero project doesn’t interest him.
The actor has reportedly been looked at to join Wonder Man, which will star Yahyah Abdul-Mateen II as the title character, a.k.a. actor Simon Williams. The Illuminerdi was told that Odenkirk is wanted for a “special role” in the Disney+ series, which led the outlet to speculate that the character could be Neal Saroyan, Simon’s agent. Whether or not that’s the case, when Independent spoke with the Mr. Show alum, he had this to say about if he’s game for anything superhero-related:
I always like to keep things grounded, relatable and smaller. I don’t think I’m built for that world. I’m built for characters that make you feel like that guy could live next door.
With an answer like that, that makes it pretty clear that we won’t be seeing Bob Odenkirk in either the MCU or the DC Universe. Sure, he could change his mind somewhere down the road, but for now, he’d rather stick with smaller-scale projects and continue emanating that more “grounded” feel through the characters he plays, as opposed to playing a larger-than-life personality in a blockbuster. It is worth noting, though, that Odenkirk does have a little superhero media experience under his belt, as he voiced Winston Deavor in Incredibles 2 (which he says was a rush job), although that character didn’t have any powers.
So Bob Odenkirk won’t be present in Wonder Man, but it’s possible another actor has already been found to fill the role he was supposedly being eyed to play. Word came in at the end of March that Ed Harris has joined the series to play Neal Saroyan, who was introduced to the comics in 1991’s Wonder Man #1. This has yet to be confirmed, but if Harris has indeed been added to the show, he’s the fifth actor to be revealed so far. Along with him and Mateen, Ben Kingsley will reprise Trevor Slattery from Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Demetrius Grosse is reportedly playing Simon’s brother Eric (better known in the comics as Grim Reaper) and Lauren Glazier has been cast in an undisclosed role.
Wonder Man began filming on April 5 in Los Angeles, but it hasn’t been announced yet when it will be released to Disney+ subscribers. As for Bob Odenkirk, he’s currently starring in the AMC series Lucky Hank (which he also executive produces), and he’ll also be seen later this year leading a remake of The Room.