Carrie Coon‘s Proxima Midnight was a standout character in Avengers: Infinity War, which left many fans slightly disappointed she didn’t have a role to play in Avengers: Endgame outside of a small cameo with no lines. Created by Jonathan Hickman for New Avengers #8 in 2013, Proxima Midnight was one of the children of Thanos, the adopted sister of Nebula and Gamora, and one of the big new villains for Avengers: Infinity War and quickly became a fan-favorite, mainly due to Marvel Studios being able to land a star as talented and well regarded as Carrie Coon, who was coming off hit projects like Gone Girl, The Leftover, and Fargo Season 3. It appears the reason Proxima Midnight’s voiceless cameo was not a story decision, but a financial one, as Marvel Studios didn’t want to pay the actress more money to reprise her role.
Speaking with Ringer Movie’s The Playlist podcast, Carrie Coon’s husband, Tracey Letts, revealed that Marvel refused to pay her more money to reprise her role as Proxima Midnight in Avengers: Endgame despite the previous film, Avengers: Infinity War, having grossed $2 billion worldwide. Letts said they both knew that Proxima Midnight appeared in Avengers: Endgame and doesn’t speak, and they would have made a bigger deal, but it sounds like he nor Coon are eager to watch a Marvel movie, throwing some subtle shade with the following comment: “It would have involved us watching the movies and we weren’t going to do that.” Letts said:
“I believe [Marvel] went to her for the second one, and they asked her to be in the second one. And she said, ‘Well, the first one is the most successful movie ever made. Are you going to pay me any more money?’ And they said, ‘No. We’re not going to pay you any more money.'”
“She said, ‘Wow, you’re not going to pay me any more money, then I don’t think I’m going to do it.’ And they said, ‘You should feel fortunate to be part of the Marvel Universe.’ So she declined. But I think they put her in it anyway, We would’ve made a bigger deal out of this, but it would have involved us watching the movies and we weren’t going to do that.”
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This gives new context to Carrie Coon’s previous comments about why she didn’t reprise her role as Proxima Midnight. In 2020, Coon said that “They invited me to come back for the final film but I wasn’t able to do it because of a conflict.” At the time, many thought conflict meant scheduling, but it appears it was a matter of payment.
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While Marvel Studios has certainly gained a lot of positive press in the past week with the cast announcement for Avengers: Doomsday and the reveal of the title Spider-Man: Brand New Day, there have also been a fair share of troubling headlines. Coon’s payment disagreement with Marvel Studios comes just days after Hayley Atwell spoke about her negative experience working on the set of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In both cases, these are two high-profile female stars whose contributions seemed to have been undervalued by the studio.
Coon not having a role in Avengers: Endgame is disappointing, and the reason behind is certainly frustrating given that the film went on to gross $3 billion. It certainly raises concerns about Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars when it comes to who Marvel Studios is willing to pay appropriately to come back, especially since the first wave of casting announcements had some glaring omissions. While it is unlikely Carrie Coon will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe anytime soon, she certainly is doing just fine on her own with films like Ghostbusters: Afterlife and roles in hit television series like The Guilded Age and White Lotus.
Source: The Playlist
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