Jenna Ortega has shut down rumours that she might accept a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, saying she “did it once” and has “moved on”.
The Wednesday and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star is currently promoting her new film Death Of A Unicorn, an A24 comedy horror in which she stars as the daughter of Paul Rudd’s Elliot, who accidentally runs over and kills a unicorn.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she was asked whether she would consider joining the MCU, and her answer appeared to be definitive. “I did it once,” she replied. “But it was one of the first jobs I ever did, and they took all my lines out.”
The film she is referring to is Iron Man 3 in 2013, where she was briefly shown on screen as the daughter of Miguel Ferrer’s US Vice President. She joked in the interview that her appearance in the movie is so fleeting that she only has “one leg” in the film.
“They even took my name away,” she continued. “I’m really, I’m just, I count that, and I move on”.
The internet had been speculating in recent weeks that Marvel might be lining Ortega up for a role in the MCU, suggesting the possibility that she could play Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, in a future project, but she appears to have ended that train of thought.
As well as her turn in Death Of A Unicorn, Ortega is set to appear in Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist alongside Charli XCX, Natalie Portman and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The movie will follow a desperate gallerist who conspires to sell a dead body at Art Basel Miami. It recently wrapped principal photography and is loosely scheduled for a 2026 release.
Before then, the second season of Wednesday is set to arrive on Netflix before the end of 2025. Lady Gaga has been added to the cast for the season, and Ortega has described her as “one of the most talented individuals I’ve ever worked with”.
In a four-star review of Wednesday season one, Alex Flood wrote for NME: “Regardless of the difficult relations, Wednesday ends up a rare spin-off success story. It’s creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky – and an absolute treat.”
Elsewhere, the first trailer for The Weeknd’s psychological thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow was released last month, with Ortega starring alongside Barry Keoghan.