With four Academy Award wins from 11 nominations under his belt and a filmography stacked with classics that includes Y tu mamá también, Children of Men, and Gravity to name but three, it’s undeniable to call Alfonso Cuarón one of the greatest filmmakers of the modern age.
He even dabbled in franchise fare on a solitary occasion, too, and it’s not a coincidence there’s a massive volume of supporters out there quite happy to die on the hill of naming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban the finest installment in the entire 10-chapter history of the Wizarding World.
And yet, Cuarón never seemed particularly interested in dipping his toes into studio-backed waters for a production that wasn’t born from his own boundless imagination, hilariously revealing at the Telluride festival back in 2018 how close friend Guillermo del Toro’s NSFW urging convinced him to take the job.
“I talked with Guillermo, as I always do, and he says, ‘What’s happening? Any projects going on?’ I said, ‘I’m going for Harry Potter, can you believe it?’ And I even made fun of it. I hadn’t read the books or seen the films. And then he looks upset with me. He called me flaco, that means skinny. He says, ‘F*ckin’ skinny, you’re such a f*ckin’ arrogant b*stard. You are going right now to the f*ckin’ bookshop and get the books and you’re going to read them and you call me right away.’ When he talks to you like that, well, you have to go to the bookshop.”
What exactly does this have to do with the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Well, according to self-proclaimed insider Daniel Richtman, Kevin Feige’s outfit would love nothing more than for Cuarón to direct Avengers: Secret Wars. Would it be awesome if he did? Of course, he doesn’t make movies that are anything less than excellent. Is there a chance it could feasibly happen? Realistically, no.
Sure, he dived into the Potter world, but that was 20 years ago and he’s now got the clout to make just about anything he wants however he wants to make it. It would be incredible if he did, but holding your breath would not be advised in this instance.