During a recent AMA Reddit, Idris Elba set straight a couple of casting rumours. It turns out that despite being considered a definite part of the project, he will not be appearing in Guy Ritchie’s next film, Knights Of The Roundtable: King Arthur.
Set to have been joining the re-imagining of the classic tale as a new-fangled Merlin, he dismissed the rumours. While it’s a bit of a letdown, here’s what he had to say:
“Unfortunately I’m not in the ‘King Arthur’ movies. That was a rumor, that wasn’t true unfortunately. But I wish the guys a lot of success.”
By the guys, he’s referring to director Ritchie and his two leading stars. Sons Of Anarchy‘s Charlie Hunnam has signed on to play the titular King, with French actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey joining him at his side as Guinevere.
During his AMA, Elba also let slip a tidbit about his involvement in the much-anticipated Marvel Netflix series, The Defenders. There has been a hotbed of chatter with regards to exactly who’ll snatch some of the coveted roles. Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Daredevil and Luke Cage, all fan favourites are in the mix, and Elba put himself forward for the latter. When asked about what it’d take for him to ink his name on the dotted line, he came back with this mysterious response:
“Uh, I think there’s an actor already signed on for it, fortunately or unfortunately.”
Which, could of course mean: he’s the man who’s already signed on to play Marvel’s leading Hero For Hire. Or, that he’s read a script and is unimpressed so is more than happy to be out of the running? The latter is unlikely, as Elba’s genre cache was kickstarted by his role as Heimdall in both Thor movies.
Knights Of The Roundtable: King Arthur is scheduled to hit theatres on July 22nd, 2016.