Details have surfaced about a rumored on-set clash between two Avengers: Doomsday stars, and it sounds like things got heated enough to cause a major ripple through production.
Reports of tension first circulated a few weeks back, but now John Rocha, who was the first to break news of The Hulk and The Punisher appearing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, has shared additional insight during a conversation with fellow podcast host Kristian Harloff.
According to Rocha, the conflict began when a joke landed poorly. “They are two pretty big actors. Apparently, a comment—from what I understand—was made in jest that was a bit too familiar, because these actors didn’t know each other too well.
“It crossed a line. One of the actors got really upset about it, confronted the other actor. [It was said] on the set. That caused a big rift. Two very outspoken actors went at each other…”
The situation escalated to the point where Marvel Studios reportedly considered restructuring the shooting schedule. Rocha explained: “One of the actors…Marvel said, ‘We’ll shoot your scenes separately or without the other actor in it, or we’ll figure it out in some other way.’
“That actor felt the fact that Marvel was willing to make those concessions was enough, because they also told this actor that it would cost millions of dollars to shoot scenes without the other actor.”
Marvel’s willingness to shift the schedule helped smooth things over. “Since Marvel was willing to at least make the effort to concede that and move the schedule around, they felt it was a good-faith effort, and both actors were brought together, apologies were exchanged, and people moved on.
“Yes, [they’re okay now]. There’s been no other incidents that I’ve heard. It was a pretty big blow-up, apparently.”
Given the pressure of a project as massive as Avengers: Doomsday and its huge cast, it’s not shocking that egos can collide. The fact Marvel and the Russo Brothers were willing to take the situation seriously shows just how close it came to disrupting production. Whatever was said, it clearly struck a nerve, but it wasn’t enough to permanently derail the film.
We’ll likely never know which two stars clashed, but you can bet fans will be paying close attention during next year’s press tour to see which co-stars don’t share much stage time together.
