As we know from yesterday’s excerpt from an upcoming episode of The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast featuring Jude Law promoting his forthcoming film period drama “Firebrand” opposite Alicia Vikander (read our review), the actor basically turned down an early version of “Superman” when Brett Ratner was attached to direct.
For years, Law seemed to avoid most franchises. Still, as he’s gotten older, the actor has seemingly mellowed on that stance, joining the “Harry Potter” franchise with the “Fantastic Beasts” movies, Marvel in Brie Larson’s “Captain Marvel,” and now “Star Wars” with an upcoming key role in the Lucasfilm Disney+ series “Skeleton Crew” which is rumored to arrive this December on Disney’s streaming service.
READ MORE: Jude Law Talks Turning Down Superman Role: “It Just Felt Like A Step Too Far”
Law is said to be a Force user, which was what was seen in the “Star Wars” Celebration teaser footage, but the actor was quick to say, “I ain’t revealing anything,” seemingly not wanting to confirm or deny anything.
As for his experience on the series, which he shot last year and felt comfortable discussing, the actor said “Skeleton Key” was a joy and easy to fit into since he’s been a “Star Wars” fan for nearly 40 years.
“It was a really happy time, honestly. It’s funny how familiar it all feels, you know?” Law said. “I mean, I’ve grown up with it for 40-odd years. And so you walk onto a set, and there’s a bounty hunter, a Jawa, and all these familiar faces in many ways. It feels like a world. You think, ‘Ah, yeah, I know these guys.’ Obviously, it’s a whole lot of fun. And I don’t say that in any patronizing way, but, you know, I really wanted to bring fun to it. I remember the original films just brought me so much joy and the fun that it seemed they were having—Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill. I wanted to try and draw on that, embrace it myself, and not take it too seriously.”
Law also praised the cast of kids on the show— Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Robert Timothy, Smith Ravi Cabot-Conyers, and Kyriana Kratter—making the job easier for him and the array of excellent filmmakers who directed episodes of the series.
“[A lot of] that was made easy because the main cast is really our children. And honestly, living it through them was a really great addition for me,” he continued. “You know, it really highlighted the wonderment of the whole thing and an amazing group of directors. It was Jon Watts, but also The Daniels and David Lowrey and Lee Isaac Chung, and Bryce Dallas Howard, incredible directors who all brought their own [thing]. What was funny was, having been on it after a few months, I knew every day the first day they’d all be like— they couldn’t hide their own enthusiasm because, like me, they’d all grown up, and suddenly they were in that world, too.”
“Skeleton Crew” was co-created by Jon Watts, known for making Marvel’s trilogy of “Spider-Man” films, and Christopher Ford. “Skeleton Crew” also stars Tunde Adebimpe Kerry Condon and Jaleel White.
As for his brief time in Marvel, Law played Starforce Commander Yon-Rogg in 2019’s “Captain Marvel,” well, his character is still out there somewhere, and he says he’s open to more Marvel appearances.
“Never say never. Why not? I mean, something I’ve always loved about this career is the diversity that it affords you, you know?” he explained. “And there’s something beautiful about stepping into these huge universes and these worlds with these vast sets and casts and budgets and then stepping onto a smaller independent film and the challenges and highlights of that. To me, they balance each other out, and they feed each other. And I’ve been very fortunate in that, you know, most of my experiences have been happy experiences. So there’s absolutely no way I would turn my nose up about returning to either of those, if everything aligned and it felt like the right thing to do and the story was good, the story was moving forward.”
More from this Discourse episode soon. You can read our “Firebrand” review here and watch the trailer below. The film opens June 14 in limited release via Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment.