WARNING: There are major spoilers ahead for Ironheart! The Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally introduced a villain fans have been expecting for a long time, and it still managed to surprise viewers with how and when he came onto the scene. Ironheart Episode 6, “The Past Is the Past,” called forth the demon Mephisto, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. In an interview with ComicBook, series creator Chinaka Hodge and director Angela Barnes explained why they chose Cohen for the role and how quickly he accepted. For once in Hollywood, everything went pretty smoothly here, and the results speak for themselves.
“In terms of casting, they were like ‘Who do you think that you would want for Mephisto?’ And the only name I could think of was Sacha Baron Cohen,” Barnes said simply. “Like there’s nobody else that I could think of that I thought would have the balance of both the comedy that you need in order to do it, but also being able to be scary if he needs to be scary, and that you know if you make a deal with him it’s serious.”
Thankfully, Cohen agreed readily, according to Barnes. “I think we got incredibly lucky, it moved really fast in terms of me saying ‘I think Sacha Baron Cohen would be great, if you can get him,’ and next thing you know, two days later they’re like ‘yeah, Sacha said yes,’” she recalled. Meanwhile, Hodge had her own take on why Cohen was perfect for this role — not just in this show, but perhaps in the MCU in general.
“I will say that in publishing, Mephisto’s a shapeshifter,” she pointed out. “So I think we were looking for people who are great at lots of different characters and lots of different shapeshifting, because I think in another project he could present differently and still be that same cool character. So I would look out to see if he makes any appearances anywhere else.”
Mephisto is one of the most powerful villains in Marvel Comics, and perhaps even more importantly, one of the most entangled with the lives of its heroes. Fans have been anticipating his introduction into the MCU for years now, and many strong entry points have come and gone, dashing credible fan theories along the way. Predicting an appearance from Mephisto has become a bit of a joke in some fandom circles, but few were expecting to see him crop up in Ironheart.
Now that he’s been unleashed, there are a lot of plot threads Mephisto could pick up, especially as we head into the climactic finale of the Multiverse Saga. Ironheart is streaming now on Disney+, and next up for the MCU is The Fantastic Four: First Steps, hitting theaters on July 25th.
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