‘X-Men’ Icon Brian Cox Complains That Marvel Refuses to Pay Him

in Marvel

Brian Cox as William Stryker, wearing glasses and leaning forward.

Credit: Fox

Does Marvel need to keep paying its most famous X-Men actors? Iconic actor Brian Cox thinks so.

William Stryker (Brian Cox) smiling eerily at Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in X-Men 2
Credit: Fox

Marvel Studios is finally beginning to make progress in rolling out the X-Men into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe after its parent company, Disney, purchased Fox and its valuable mutant and Fantastic Four IP in 2019.

In the five years since, there has been very little information about exactly how the world’s most feared and hated superhero team will officially become part of the MCU, aside from the occasional appearance of Patrick Stewart or CGI blue Kelsey Grammer.

Finally, things are changing now that Deadpool & Wolverine brought back Hugh Jackman as Logan to star alongside Wilson in a Multiversal adventure directed by Shawn Levy.

The end result turned out to be more of a love letter to the departed Fox franchise of films (complete with cameos from Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Garner, and Chris Evans) than a reboot of the X-Men, but the movie has made over a billion dollars at the box office, so Disney is probably pretty happy regardless.

Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool (L) and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (R)
Credit: Marvel Studios

Related: ‘X-Men’ Star Says Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Bait-And-Switched Her About ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

It also may be a blessing that Marvel chief Kevin Feige and his army of writers are taking their time to bring in the X-Men, considering the slow-motion debacle that has been the introduction of the much-touted villain Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).

The creative team at the studio already has their hands full figuring out how to deal with the backlash to the announcement of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom (and all the issues that has brought up) and to quietly sweep Kang under the rug so just running the mutant franchise through the old beats for a while is probably a sensible idea.

Not everyone agrees, of course. Legendary Scottish actor Brian Cox, who most recently was critically acclaimed for his portrayal of media patriarch Logan Roy in the HBO series Succession, has sounded off about the current state of filmmaking, Deadpool & Wolverine, and, naturally, how he should be getting paid more by Marvel.

The cast of X2 walking toward camera
Credit: 20th Century Studios

Brian Cox was a crucial part of the X-Men franchise despite appearing in only one film to date. Cox starred in X2 (2003), the second Bryan Singer film in the series, as William Stryker, a fanatical anti-mutant crusader with deep connections to Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

The film is widely regarded as one of the finest comic book movies in history, often compared to its contemporary Spider-Man 2 (2004) in expanding the emotional depth of the genre.

Brian Cox, as William Stryker, is still considered one of the most memorable cinematic X-Men villains, taunting Hugh Jackman with hints of his past and demonstrating a horrific willingness to sacrifice his own family for the destruction of mutantkind.

Although the character had a significantly different depiction in the original Marvel Comics (first appearing as a religious fanatic and televangelist modeled after Jerry Falwell) and has since been portrayed by other actors (including Danny Huston and Josh Helman), Cox’s version is still considered a gold standard.

A young William Stryker (Josh Helman) pointing a non-metallic gun
Credit: Fox

That is likely why the actor semi-jokingly told The Hollywood Reporter that he feels Marvel should still kick him some money whenever the Hugh Jackman version of Wolverine is on screen. Brian Cox said, “Deadpool meets the guy … Wolverine, who I created, but I’ve forgotten. Actually, when those films are on, there’s always a bit of me [as Stryker], and they never pay me any money.”

Cox’s comment might be a bit of a poke in Marvel’s ribs, but it is also connected to his belief that the studio is not progressing past its references to older movies and has basically become a self-referencing “party” for the people involved.

The actor continued, “It’s just become a party time for certain actors to do this stuff. When you know that Hugh Jackman can do a bit more, Ryan Reynolds … but it’s because they go down that road and it’s box office. They make a lot of money. You can’t knock it.”

A close-up of Wolverine's claws in 'Deadpool & Wolverine'
Credit: Marvel Studios

Related: Anti-Woke Mob Lashes Out as Channing Tatum Reportedly Joining Disney’s ‘X-Men’ Reboot

This is an issue that Brian Cox seems to feel is affecting the movie industry as a whole. He added:

“I think cinema is in a very bad way. I think it’s lost its place because of, partly, the grandiose element between Marvel, DC and all of that. And I think it’s beginning to implode, actually. You’re kind of losing the plot…[those franchises are] making a lot of money that’ll make everybody happy, but in terms of the work, it becomes diluted afterwards. You’re getting the same old … I mean, I’ve done those kind of [projects].”

Now, Cox is a bit of a famous curmudgeon and not afraid to sound off in interviews or memoirs about the things (and people) who irritate him. But he does have a point when the biggest MCU movie in years is, in essence, just recycled plot points and cameos from X2, Logan (2017), and all the other Fox movies. Paying Cox probably wouldn’t change that, but it would at least make him a little happier.

Do you think that the MCU is just becoming a “party time” for actors to appear in character? 

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