Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah has denied allegations that Harrison Ford was a “diva” on the set of the MCU film.
The accusation was made by an anonymous Brave New World crew member, who also claimed that Ford “hated” the motion capture process to perform as Red Hulk.
In a new interview with Variety, Onah defended the actor, saying: “Look, I can’t speak to anything that anybody is speculating on or speaking about off the record. All I can speak to is my experience with Harrison. He was an utter professional.
“He is a guy who’s incredibly serious and passionate about the work. The creative process is one where you have these really meaningful and, at times, passionate conversations, but it was always working towards a target where we were making the best version of the film possible.
“I think Harrison gave a phenomenal performance in the film,” he continued. “I was so honoured to work with him. I learned so much from him, and the entire cast has nothing but love and respect for him, and the crew as well. That’s the experience I had in the making of this film, and that’s the truth of what our filmmaking was on set.”
In Captain America: Brave New World, Ford replaces the late William Hurt, who originated the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.
Elsewhere in the Variety interview, Onah spoke about working with Ford on Thaddeus’ panic attack scenes, and how the actor threw himself into the role.
“Harrison is so committed,” said the director. “I went to his house very early on in the process, and we talked quite a great deal about what it would mean to have Thaddeus Ross backslide into who he used to be.
“We meet him in the beginning of the movie, and you imagine this is guy who’s wizened and mellowed out. Then thinking about that temper, that anger, as things keep foiling his plans to create this treaty to fairly distribute adamantium around the world. He had to start losing control.
“We talked about what the physicality of that would look like, how that rage would emanate. Harrison, what’s great about him is you have these conversations, and then he finds it in the moment, in the scene, what feels organic when he’s in that space. So it was prep and then trusting the man — of course, how can you not trust Harrison Ford?”
In a two-star review of Brave New World, NME wrote: “With footage looking murky, from the opening chapel-set shoot-out onwards, Brave New World lacks the gleaming beauty of the best MCU films… This is a functional Marvel movie that offers little excitement. A few fights enliven proceedings, including one on a road lined with cherry blossom trees. But this is largely dull and disappointing.”
In other Marvel news, Paul Rudd recently revealed which two movies from the MCU are his favourites.