Tom Hanks hasn’t had conversations about joining the MCU or DCU.
Hanks is known for starring in movies such as 1988’s Big, 1992’s A League of Their Own, 1994’s Forrest Gump, and many, many more. He recently played a character named Richard Young in Robert Zemeckis’ Here, which also stars Robin Wright.
Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hanks was asked if he’d ever broken bread and had discussions with either James Gunn at DC or Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios.
“No,” Hanks answered. “I think it’s because, you know, I’m not in their wheelhouse. I’m not against it, I guess, but, at the same time — I’ll tell you this, right now, Josh Horowitz. My combo plate is quite full. I’ve got a lot of stuff that I’m dreaming of and trying to make happen.”
What else did Tom Hanks say about superhero movies?
Hanks also shared some thoughts on the current state of comic book movies and how he believes audiences are mainly looking for new stories they’ve never heard before.
“Remember in the 1970s and 80s, they tried to do TV versions of Captain America and Spider-Man? And even Batman, the Adam West Batman,” Hanks said. “The technology did not exist to make it look like it did in the comic books. And now it does. You can do anything at all. You can probably say the Christopher Reeve Superman was the first one that came close because [the cutting-edge technology] allowed for wire removal…I think we’re now enjoying the luxury of riches. You can make anything happen on screen now, we’re being brought back to the concept of, ‘Okay, that’s true, but what is the story?’”
He continued, “You can drain Lake Michigan and fill it with cuckoo clocks that then form a three-headed dragon that breathes fire and destroys the city of Chicago. You can do that. To what purpose, at the end of the day? What’s the story and what is it going to be saying about us? I think there was a period of time — and I certainly felt that way, too — we’d see these fantastic movies, either DC, MCU, or whatever it is, in order to see these better versions of ourselves. God, I feel like an X-Man sometimes. I am as confused as Spider-Man. I am as angry as Batman is. I love my country as much as Captain America…I think we’ve been down that road. We’ve had probably like 20 years, 15 years in order to explore that kind of thing. Now, I think we’re in an evolutionary place: ‘And the story is what? And the theme is right? And the point of the movie is what?’ That’s a good challenge for any filmmaker.”
