Reflecting back on the original press tour for the Disney+ series WandaVision, actor Paul Bettany has some conflicted emotions about his joke "teaser" for a cameo on the hit show.
In an interview with The Playlist, Bettany -- who plays Vision in several Marvel Cinematic Universe projects -- was contrite about his off-hand comment that sparked many online discussions. "I’ve had all sorts of feelings about it," he explained. "Initially, it was massive regret, which was people started going because I thought it was a really funny joke and was pleased with myself. And then people were like, 'Is it going to be Patrick Stewart?' And then I went, 'Oh, my God, that’s a good idea. Oh, my God, people are going to be so disappointed when they realize it’s f**king me again.'"
Bettany did eventually get to a good place with it. "But in the end, I spoke to [Marvel Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer] Kevin Feige about it. And he thought it was a really good joke, a really funny joke. And it didn’t backfire too much. For a second there, I was like, 'Oh, no. What have I done?' But yeah. So I had all sorts of feelings regarding that."
The original comments were made by Bettany in January and hinted at an actor that he said he had "fireworks" with when they worked together. He then teased that it had been kept "completely under wraps," which sparked a firestorm of online speculation. Naturally, he was referring to his own appearance as White Vision in the finale.
Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. The full series is streaming on Disney+.
Source: The Playlist