Bupkis' Ray Romano Pitches A Wild MCU Villain For Himself - Exclusive

When people hear the name Ray Romano, they don't necessarily think of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which goes for the actor and comedian, too. That is, unless you're Pete Davidson. Romano cameos in Davidson's new show "Bupkis," which chronicles Davidson's rise to fame with a fictional twist. Romano appears in the series when Davidson has a drug-induced fever dream and hallucinates Romano after binge-watching "Everybody Loves Raymond." Naturally, things get weird.

Between Thanos references and the fact that Davidson uses Sebastian Stan's streaming account, the sequences have a natural nerdy rhythm. Romano has yet to make his MCU debut, and the actor wasn't well-versed on the subject before getting his role on "Bupkis."

Looper spoke to Romano and "Everybody Loves Raymond" co-star Brad Garrett about their time on "Bupkis." During this, Romano discussed his MCU-heavy content on the show and even pitched a hilarious MCU villain he could take on in the future.

"I guess I got to be a villain," Romano said, "because what kind of hero am I going to be? I think villain."

At the mention of Ray Romano's MCU reference on "Bupkis" and if he'd be game to join the MCU, the actor asked if Looper meant joining Marvel. After confirmation, he expanded on his lack of knowledge initially about the MCU.

"That's how far out of the loop [I am]," Romano said, "but I know I had to research when I got the part." Romano wasn't confident in an MCU future, but he is not opposed to joining. "If you think I can be a superhero, I'm all for it. I don't know what my power would be." Romano then bounced around a few ideas like fear and smell, and Brad Garret seemed in favor of the latter. "I'm neurotic, so I'm always smelling gas somewhere." 

"That could be the thing," Garret mused. "You fly through the city, and anyone that has their propane tank on or anything like that, you land in their yard. You scratch your nose like you're doing now." Romano was all for this superhero, as he could sniff out crime, and Garrett even dubbed this hero "The Sniffer." 

Though the MCU isn't Romano's forte, he's all for joining the franchise; although, if he had a choice, he'd be villain. Meanwhile, Garrett would rather be a random bystander. 

"I want to be the guy standing on the street pointing at the sky," Garrett said. "'What's that?' I want to be that guy — something small."

The MCU references are just the beginning of Ray Romano's chaotic cameo on "Bupkis." On how much of a hand Romano had in developing this unhinged version of himself, Romano said he enhanced what was already there for him by adding a few quirks himself.

"Well, they wrote the role, and I juiced it up a little — a couple of moves, a couple of physical things. It was just unleashing the inner bad guy," Romano said. "But again, [Pete Davidson] was imagining it all. It was in Pete's brain, and that's the coolness of the whole show. It's inside the mind of Pete."

Of course, this experience was very different from both actors' time on "Everybody Loves Raymond."  

"It does not compare," Romano said. "It's totally different. That's what drew us to it. It was fun to go off the plantation, as we say, and do something totally unexpected for the audience and for us. That's what drew me to it." Brad Garrett shared this sentiment, noting the uniqueness of the project is what spoke to him.

"It was a great opportunity. It's definitely something out of the box for me too," Garrett said. "They say, 'Try to do what scares you,' and it scared me." 

"Bupkis" is now streaming on Peacock.