Black Widow star Ray Winstone shared his unpleasant experience in dealing with Marvel Studios’ production process.
“It was fine until you have to do the reshoots,” Winstone said to Radio Times about the Scarlett Johansson-led 2021 MCU installment where he played the Red Room boss Dreykov. “Then you find out that a few producers have come down, and your performance is too much, it’s too strong . . . That’s the way Marvel works. It can be soul-destroying because you feel like you’re doing great work.”
Winstone continued by revealing how Black Widow’s production frustrated him to the point where he considered leaving the project entirely. “I actually said, ‘You ought to recast it because that was it for me.’ And you end up doing it again because you’re contracted to do it. Otherwise you end up in court. It’s like being kicked in the balls.”
Marvel Studios’ extensive reshoots problem
Marvel’s penchant for extensive reshoots has been a practice that has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. Variety reported in November 2023 that the increased output of theatrical and Disney+ releases made it difficult for Marvel to maintain the quality MCU fans come to expect. Their most recent release, The Marvels, underwent four weeks of reshoots to fix its convoluted storyline and went on to underperform at the box office. Additionally, the Anthony Mackie-led Captain America: Brave New World was moved from its summer 2024 release date to February 2025 to make room for extensive reshoots following poor test screenings.
For the MCU’s future, Marvel appears to be turning the corner in giving their upcoming projects some ‘creative-retooling.’ The studio plans to reduce its yearly output to emphasize quality over quantity. Projects such as Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again have been fully revamped with new creative teams while upcoming theatrical releases like Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four have hired new writers before they begin production this year.
Black Widow is now streaming on Disney+.
