It’s been a while since we’ve seen Anthony Hopkins in the MCU, thanks to his adoptive son Loki, the God of Mischief. Although parting is such sweet sorrow, actor Anthony Hopkins assures us that playing Odin wasn’t as glorious as it appeared.
For those who need a bit of a refresher, Odin was the father of Thor and Loki and ruled beside Queen Frigga. When the Dark Elf Malekith killed Queen Frigga, Odin swore revenge on him, putting him at odds with Loki. Eventually, after faking his death, Loki cast a spell on Odin that would banish him, allowing Loki to masquerade as Odin and rule in his place. Odin chose to remain in Exile once Loki’s cover had been blown, committing himself to Valhalla and being reunited with Frigga.
Since his death, Odin has been mentioned several times throughout the MCU or referenced in archive footage, but he’s yet to make a comeback, whether it be a resurrection or an alternate timeline. We’ll bet any amount of money that this is because Hopkins is 85, but also due to the fact that he seemingly despised playing the character, as he’s told The New Yorker in a recent interview.
Hopkins explains that there wasn’t much substance to his portrayal; he’s was literally dressed head-to-toe in armor donning a grey beard and told to act as a stereotypical king would — shouting the odd command and sitting back on his throne while everyone else does all the work, both figuratively and literally. And that’s rather demeaning for the talent who brought us Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, especially as he was also confined to one setting for the majority of that movie also, but he was at least given the means to make the character his own and the opportunity to excel.
Clearly, Marvel didn’t care too much about whether or not Hopkins reached his full potential, they just needed a background character to add context to the story while shoving both Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston to the foreground.
“They put me in armor; they shoved a beard on me,” he told The New Yorker. “Sit on the throne, shout a bit. If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s pointless acting it.”
Nowadays, Sir Anthony keeps himself busy. He might be nearing the ripe old age of 90, but that isn’t stopping him from pumping out consistent performances, whether it be purely voice acting or live-action. He last appeared as Anthony Miller in The Son, but in the coming months, he’ll be featured in the epic space opera Rebel Moon, the biographical One Life, and the live-action adaptation of the stage play Freud’s Last Session.
It’s a shame that he didn’t have a better experience under Marvel’s lead, but that’s just another bump in the road for one of Hollywood’s greatest talents.