After more than 20 films that have been made, and several more on the way, it seems like basically everybody is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, well, except Keanu Reeves. At the very least, anybody who wants in the MCU must already be there, right? Well apparently not, as it turns out once and future Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson really lobbied to get himself cast in Black Panther, but he wasn't able to make it happen.
Black Panther had an all-star cast as it was, but it turns out the movie could have been even more star studded if Ernie Hudson had gotten his way. He tells Comicbook.com that he was not shy about asking Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'esposito for a job in the MCU. It turns out Hudson is a a big comic book fan and so he really wants to get a role in Marvel's universe. According to Hudson...
Louis D'Esposito, who's co-president over at Marvel [Studios], I keep sending him texts and it's like, 'Hey, I'm here and I'm available.' And I'm not very good at begging. You know what I mean? I don't know how to do that well. I've been a fan of the Marvel universe and DC [movies]. I love that stuff. I grew up with a lot of it, but it hasn't been from a lack of desire on my part.
Ernie Hudson is using the present tense when he talks about texting the co-president of Marvel Studios, and so it seems that he's still pushing to get some sort of a role in the MCU. Honestly, Marvel may want to hurry up on that and get Hudson under contract. It sounds like he'd be just as wiling to work on a DC movie.
If you're wondering why Ernie Hudson didn't end up in a movie like Black Panther, it seems that so is Hudson. He was rumored to be in talks to play T'Challa's father at one point, which would have put him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as early as Captain America: Civil War. But apparently the feeling was the role wasn't big enough.
First it was the dad in Black Panther. So I kind of hinted [at it] — I went a little beyond hinting. The fans started to pick it up. So I called and I said, 'Well, you know there's the part of the dad.' He said, 'Well, that part is too small for you.'
The idea that the role was too small could imply that Marvel is interested in using Ernie Hudson, but that the studio wants to use him the right way, in a significant role. For what it's worth, even after being passed over in the past, it seems Hudson is still very interested if another opportunity comes along.
So that didn't work out. So, something will come out and I'll send him a text like, 'I really loved it. Congratulations on that. Wow. It would've been really, really great to be in that one.' And they're amazing over there. Stan Lee was a friend. We at least knew each other, we'd spend time at different conventions talking. Kind of hinted to him. But I don't know. You never know, short of going to somebody's house and [asking].
Well, if nothing else, there is a Black Panther 2 on the way, but with a lot of new projects like Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still in very early stages there are lots of place Ernie Hudson could find a home in the MCU.
