Matthew McConaughey Turned Down the MCU for a Stephen King Flop

Hindsight is 20/20. Matthew McConaughey passed on what likely would have been Ego, Star-Lord’s father in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — a part that went to Kurt Russell — a decision that would have brought him into the MCU. He has otherwise avoided Marvel and Star Wars work, aside from providing the voice of the cowboy Deadpool in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Instead he chose Nikolaj Arcel’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, playing The Man in Black, a.k.a. Walter and Randall Flagg. The casting — including Idris Elba as Roland Deschain — looked promising on paper, and McConaughey saw an opportunity to make the role his own.

Explaining his thinking in 2017, McConaughey said, "I like Guardians of the Galaxy, but what I saw was ‘It’s successful, and now we’ve got room to make a colorful part for another big-name actor.’ I’d feel like an amendment. The Dark Tower script was well written, I like the director and his take on it, and I can be the creator, the author of the Man in Black — a.k.a.

matthew mcconaughey, mcu, ego, star-lord, guardians galaxy, kurt russell, dark tower, stephen king, nikolaj arcel, idris elba