The White Lotus actor Carrie Coon, who appeared in Avengers: Infinity War as villain Proxima Midnight, allegedly didn't return in a speaking and motion-capture role in Avengers: Endgame after a pay dispute – and received a blunt reply from Marvel in response.
According to playwright and actor Tracy Letts (Coon's husband and owner of the best shared Letterboxd account), Coon was asked to return in Endgame but talks ultimately broke down.
"I believe [Marvel] went to her for the second one, and they asked her to be in the second one," Letts told The Big Picture podcast (H/T People). "And she said, ‘Well, the first one is the most successful movie ever made. Are you going to pay me any more money?’ And they said, ‘No. We’re not going to pay you any more money.'"
Letts added, "She said, ‘Wow, you’re not going to pay me any more money, then I don’t think I’m going to do it,'” he continued. “And they said, ‘Well, you should feel yourself fortunate to be part of the [MCU].’ So she declined… We would’ve made a bigger deal out of this, but it would have involved us watching the movies and we weren’t going to do that."
Proxima Midnight did return briefly during the Avengers' last stand in Endgame's The Battle of Earth, but was pretty swiftly dispatched by Marvel's towering heroes during the ensuing melee, with her demise granted only the smallest of screentime after Thanos' defeat. Coon even returned to voice the character during the first season of the animated series What If…?
Thankfully for Coon, the MCU didn't prove to be her peak. The actor, perhaps best known for her work in HBO's The Leftovers, went on to appear as Bertha Russell in The Gilded Age and even dipped her toe back into blockbuster waters as one of the leads in the more recent Ghostbusters films alongside Paul Rudd.
Next up on the big screen for Marvel is Thunderbolts*, an ensemble team-up starring the likes of Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, and David Harbour. That's set for release on May 2.
For more, check out the upcoming Marvel movies headed your way soon. Then dive into the past with our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
