The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced a lot of superheroes over the last 10 years, but there are plenty more that could be brought in during Phase Four and beyond. One of the lesser-known heroes who hasn't received his cinematic due yet is Brian Braddock, a.k.a. Captain Britain, a character who was originally just for British audiences, but has since become a player in the wider Marvel universe. A few months back, it seemed like Star Trek Beyond actor Simon Pegg had expressed a desire to play Captain Britain in the MCU, but the actor has now clarified his comments, saying that he's not actually campaigning for the role. As Pegg detailed:
I think somebody asked me recently at an interview that had nothing to do with superheroes. What superhero would I'd like to play. And I just sort of said Captain Britain, because I used to get the Hulk Weekly when I was a kid. And Captain Britain debuted in that. And he's a British superhero. I used to read the Knights of Pendragon. And I figured that was a good answer. Suddenly, all these rumors popped up. Oh, Simon Pegg wants to play Captain Britain. I don't really. But you know, I mean, I try to take every job as it comes. I don't have any ambition really to be in anything else, other than what I'm in now. If something comes up and it looks good, of course it'll be fun. I love watching the Marvel films. They're always so well executed. They've done a fantastic job with that sort of extended universe of movies. But I'm happy to be an audience member.
While it doesn't sound like Simon Pegg would necessarily turn down the opportunity to play Captain Britain if the opportunity fell into his lap, he's now made it quite clear that he's not going out of his way to don the character's uniform. Pegg is simply familiar with Captain Britain from his days reading comics as a kid, so he has some familiarity with him. But for now, as he told ScreenRant, Pegg is perfectly content with sitting in the audience with everyone else watching these Marvel movies.
While it's easy to initially believe that Captain Britain is simply a Captain America knockoff, the two characters are actually quite different from one another outside of their rank and diligent patriotism for their respective countries. While pursuing a criminal who'd broken into the nuclear research center he worked at, Brian Braddock was badly injured, but then he was approached by Merlyn and his daughter Roma, who gave him the choice between wielding the Sword of Might or the Amulet of Right. Brian chose the Amulet, which allowed him to become a superhero version of himself who had abilities like super strength, flight, super speed, etc. Eventually those powers were transferred into the Captain Britain uniform, and now they rest within Captain Britain himself.
Perhaps a day will come when Simon Pegg is among the actors who are looked at to play Captain Britain in the MCU, but in the meantime, Pegg has more than enough to keep himself busy, like playing Scotty again in the upcoming Star Trek 4. You can see Pegg reprising Benji Dunn this weekend in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and for all the latest news concerning the MCU, stay tuned to CinemaBlend. Don't forget to also look through our 2018 release schedule to find out what other movies arrive later this year.
