Korath is a one and done character, that's what my issue is. Trevor Slattery, Odin, The Collector and Commander Rael have been written in the MCU to be more than one and done characters. In other words, when those movies end, those four characters are still alive, leaving the door open for a return in future MCU projects. Kurse and Korath are dead in the MCU. That's my issue. Had both survived, I would have been fine with both actors in the roles. That was also my issue with Ronan as he too is a one and done character. I would have loved to have seen his redemption arc.
My issue is not about race or how they have been portrayed in the MCU. It's about the fact that they play one and done characters. While I do think Elba should have been someone better than Heimdall, I am content with him in the role because we know he'll be back in the next Thor movie. We cannot say the same for AAA as Kurse or Hounsou as Korath. One and done is one of the issues I have right now with the lack of Howling Commandos in the MCU after the First Avenger.
I am okay with Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce being a one and done because of the fact that he's the main villain in the Winter Soldier and that he didn't seem like the type of actor who would commit to more than one movie.
But... but... that makes even less sense. MCU characters aren't allowed to die? Because, if you're stating that your "wasted actor" argument isn't about race, then logically, that amounts to one of the following four options:
"Marvel shouldn't kill off characters portrayed by actors I like"
"Marvel shouldn't cast actors I like as characters that will get killed off"
"Marvel shouldn't kill off anyone"
"Marvel shouldn't kill off interesting characters"
None of those makes sense in the context of making or attempting to make good movies.
I think his point, that using these great black actors as one and done characters is a disservice to their talents is valid, and inoffensive. Your reply, noting a number of great actors who were not given one and done roles doesn't actually address his comments. An analogy would be what if Channing Tatum, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale and Gerard Butler were all cast as supporting roles in some mega-franchise. That'd be weird. Especially if they were some of the best actors from some given category.
For me, when you talk about wasted actors, the other great actors in supporting roles get to use broad amounts of skills, and we rely on their craftsmanship to sell some pretty ludicrous things. They also provide stability and credibility to the franchise using these abilities. Idris Elba, though he has leading man quality, another thing not true of most of their supporting actors, does this for Thor. AAA as Kurse most certainly does not.
Now, there have been some non-black actors who've been wasted. Hugo Weaving was just used for his bad guy rep. Mickey Rourke's talents were left on the cutting room floor. In fact, virtually all of the bad guys have had wasted talents. None more significantly than Christopher Eccleston and AAA, imho, but it's a thing. So when you cast blacks or other ethnicities largely as villains and unimportant supporting cast in a mega franchise that wastes it's villains, it has a certain effect.
This 'issue' is further compounded because no one really wants to fund a movie starring Idris Elba (unless he's a killer psycho of course) so him doing the same kind of thing a character actor does seems to not utilize his potential, unless being black has a similar effect of being old or not conventionally attractive in relegating one to a supporting role. Barring that, he is one of the few guys who could put butts in seats for a BP film no question. But he's not available for that. That's why this issue comes up in the BP so often because the fan cast actors for such a film are given minor roles in the rest of the MCU. So there's less black star power left for a BP film. Perhaps it's not to worry though, I'm sure Morgan Freeman and Jamie Foxx can handle it.
The issue you're talking about... the fact that there are proportionately fewer interesting roles for black (or for that matter non-white) people is completely, utterly and incontrovertibly valid. I'm in complete, 100% agreement on that front. However, that has nothing to do with my post.
Hollywood employs a disproportionate number of white males as writers and studio execs. If I were to hypothesize, using a healthy dose of Occam's Razor, people tend to write what they know. White people, statistically speaking, know white people. And hence, again statistically speaking, write white roles.
Kurse was a bit of a one note character, but so was Malekith. Despite that, I thought AAA pulled off the menace and physicality that the role demanded. I'm not sure who else I would've fan-cast... possibly Kevin Durand... I dunno. Again, my point is: how was AAA wasted in the role? This was a damn good fit between character and actor.
Idris Elba is a slightly more valid case in that I agree he's leading man material. But unless there's a specific role you want him for, I don't see the wisdom in not letting him to play Heimdall. For example, I think he's wrong for both Black Panther and Luke Cage. I kinda like him for Blade, but gods know when that'll get off the ground. That's not good enough reason to keep him out of the MCU, supporting character or not.
The fact that there are few Marvel roles that
could use Elba as a lead is saddening. But that goes towards the issue that we agree upon.
