Star Trek Star Simon Pegg Gets Candid About Not Wanting to Join The MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's constantly growing franchise offers an opportunity for renowned actors to achieve a lifelong dream to land a superhero role. However, it appears that Star Trek star Simon Pegg isn't interested in joining the MCU for now.

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"I kind of want to do more sort of grown-up stuff in the future," Pegg told Newsweek. "I think Mission Impossible is a very grown-up franchise. I think it's a franchise, which is aimed less at big kids than it is just big people, but I quite want to do some more drama."

After his debut as Benji in 2006's Mission: Impossible 3, he returned in three more sequels and became a pivotal character to Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the MI6 crew out in the field.

"I'm not in any rush to join the MCU or anything like that," he continued. "I kind of feel like I kind of want to be a bit more free. You join those things and then you're tied to them for years and and that can be a little bit restrictive."

To be fair, joining the MCU already indicates a long-term commitment and is usually dictated by the relevance of the character the actor will be playing. Marvel veterans Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. both played their titular heroes for over a decade before being offered the chance to retire from the franchise. Although fans undoubtedly enjoy seeing the characters for so long, it can still be exhausting for some actors to play the same role for years.

Yes, it can be a little restrictive, but landing an MCU role absolutely secures blockbuster films along with massive paychecks. Nonetheless, Pegg seems to have all of that in the Mission: Impossible franchise and the decision is still entirely up to him whether he wants to join the mega-franchise.

Simon Pegg will return in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, premiering in theaters on July 14, 2023.

Also read: Ryan Gosling is Waiting for This Particular MCU Casting Call