“Aren't you firing me?” — When Paul Bettany thought he was being fired by Marvel while signing up for WandaVision

Before Paul Bettany's tenure on the MCU was substantiated by WandaVision, he considered being fired by Marvel for a brief period of time. Prior to the debut of WandaVision in 2021, Paul Bettany seemed to have had his fill of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

His contract with the company was over, and on account of dying twice in Avengers: Infinity War, Bettany was almost convinced that it was the end of the road for him at Marvel. However, as it turned out, he was pleasantly surprised by Kevin Feige after WandaVision was first pitched to him, and he readily jumped in.

Here's everything that we know.

Why did Paul Bettany consider getting fired before WandaVision was pitched to him?

It is a known fact that Paul Bettany is a marvelous actor, as he has proved time and again on WandaVision. However, in the larger scheme of things, he might not have had as much leverage as a Hollywood A-list star such as Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans back in 2021. This is why once his contract was over, he jumped to the conclusion that he would be fired from his role any day. He was consequently surprised when Kevin Feige offered him the new show instead.

Speaking in an interview with Variety back in 2021, Bettany had recalled:

"My contract was up and I just died twice in 'Infinity War' and I got a call from the boss (Kevin Feige) saying, 'Come see me in the office.' I looked at my wife and I think I’m getting canned. I went in and Louis D’Esposito and Kevin Feige were there and I didn’t want anybody to feel uncomfortable so I lead with, 'Look, I totally get it. It’s been great. I’ve had a great run, guys.' They were like, 'Wait, are you quitting?' And I went, 'No, aren’t you firing me?' They said, 'No, we’re going to pitch you a TV show.'"

He further added:

"So I went, 'Okay, I’m in!' Then we talked about two comic book stories that I really love: 'House of M' and 'The Visions,' which is a story about Vision trying to build a family in suburbia and it was sort a mash-up between them, and also with a sort of loving look at American sitcoms throughout the American century. I was like, 'I’m in!'"

Paul Bettany speaks about a potential WandaVision movie

During the same interview with Variety magazine, Bettany opened up about the idea of starring in a Wanda and Vision film that would, taking its cue from the soap-opera themed show, feature old movies as a part of its structure. He remarked:

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"Wouldn’t that be lovely? It would be hard for me to overstate how much I enjoyed making this show. And it would be hard for me to overstate — and I shouldn’t speak for everybody else, but I’m just going to — we all had a ball. Everybody. Jess Paul, who is a dear friend of mine who I have worked with many times, who was the DP and is a genius with what he has done with this show. The set design, costume design, hair and makeup, we couldn’t believe how lucky we were getting to do this."

WandaVision is available to stream exclusively on Disney+.

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