Ray Winstone admits trying to quit role in Marvel movie after 'soul-destroying' experience with producers

Ray Winstone has spoken out about his experience of working on a Marvel movie, branding one particular element as 'soul destroying'.

The actor starred in Black Widow alongside an all-star cast made up of Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Rachel Weisz.

But his time playing Dreykov wasn't all that great, according to the 67-year-old.

Speaking to Radio Times, Winstone said filming for Black Widow was all smooth running - until they had to do some reshoots.

Speaking about having to redo some scenes, the Sexy Beast star said: "Then you find out that a few producers have come down, and your performance is too much, it’s too strong... That’s the way Marvel works. It can be soul-destroying because you feel like you’re doing great work."

He continued: "I actually said, 'You ought to recast it because that was it for me.' And you end up doing it again because you’re contracted to do it. Otherwise you end up in court. It’s like being kicked in the balls."

Of course, Winstone wasn't recast in the end.

UNILAD has contacted Disney for comment.

The English actor isn't the only one to have criticized Marvel in recent years; the likes of Quentin Tarantino has previously hit out at the multibillion-dollar superhero franchise dominating Hollywood.

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"My only axe to grind against them is they’re the only things that seem to be made," he said on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast in 2022.

"And they’re the only things that seem to generate any kind of excitement amongst a fan base or even like for the studio making them.

"That’s what they’re excited about. And, you know, so it’s just the fact that they are the entire representation of this era of movies right now."

Thor actor Chris Hemsworth later addressed his remarks and labelled them as 'super depressing', especially as Tarantino said Marvel actors weren't 'movie stars'.

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"I don’t think any of us have the answer, but we’re trying," Hemsworth said.

"I’m thankful that I have been a part of something that kept people in cinemas."

Whether you like Marvel or not, the franchise is the highest-grossing film series of all time - grossing over $29.8 billion.

Avengers: Endgame is its most successful movie to date, and made $2.8 billion at the worldwide box office.

Elsewhere, Avengers: Infinity War raked in $2.05 billion, while Spider-Man: No Way Home made an impressive $1.92 billion.