How Idris Elba Really Feels About The Marvel Cinematic Universe

At this point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is practically overflowing with recognizable actors. After kicking things off in 2008 with "Iron Man," Marvel has steadily built out the MCU with multiple different superhero franchises — all of which are filled with movie stars of varying degrees of fame — which then come together periodically for the studio's various crossovers and team-up films. For the most part, the actors of the MCU seem to be pretty happy with their place and what it has done for their careers.

There are other actors, though, who are a bit more ambivalent about the MCU and its impact on popular culture. It looks like one of those actors is none other than Idris Elba, who has starred in multiple Marvel films over the years, beginning with 2011's "Thor." The actor, who plays Heimdall in the "Thor" and "Avengers" films, doesn't always seem all that impressed with the scope and scale of the MCU.

During an interview with Yahoo! Movies back in 2018, Elba was asked about the MCU and revealed that he didn't know what the term meant, asking, "What's MCU?" When he was told what it stood for, he said, "Oh right, I have never heard that before! I thought it was Manchester United... but don't worry about it." 

Prior to that interview, Elba had previously gone on record in 2014 about his frustration working on 2013's "Thor: The Dark World," saying, "I was like, 'This is torture, man. I don't want to do this.' My agent said: 'You have to, it's part of the deal.'" Elba did, however, have a better time working on 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok," telling Entertainment Weekly, "The last one was fun. The others weren't fun. They're work. But on this one, (director Taika Waititi) was great."

While his character, Heimdall, was killed in the opening sequence of 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," there are rumors that Elba could return to reprise the role in next year's "Thor: Love and Thunder." The actor doesn't seem opposed to that happening either and seemed to speak more highly of his experience working with Marvel while talking with Metro in 2018, saying, "It's been amazing playing in the Marvel family. I'm sure they decided to get rid of as many characters because they've run their natural course. I loved playing him, he was my G, my guy."

In other words, although he may not be quite as enthusiastic about the MCU as some of his Marvel co-stars are, it looks like Elba has come around a bit on his part in the superhero world. Just don't expect him to always know what the MCU is.