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John Byrne "Opposite of Alan Moore": No MCU Fan But Likes Getting Paid

Artist John Byrne isn't a fan of Marvel Studios' shows and films - but he doesn't mind getting a check: "I’m the opposite of Alan Moore."

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Article Summary

  • John Byrne returns to Marvel’s X-Men Universe with X-Men: Elsewhen, revisiting the characters he helped define.
  • John Byrne says he generally can’t watch Marvel Studios movies or shows because they feel far removed from his work.
  • John Byrne dismisses Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, arguing the fan-favorite screen version was never true to the comics.
  • John Byrne says he enjoyed the first Iron Man, but still gladly cashes “mystery checks” from Marvel and Superman.

Over on the comics side of Bleeding Cool, we're sure you heard that artist John Byrne is returning to Marvel's X-Men Universe with Abrams ComicArts' X-Men: Elsewhen. We don't need to tell you that Byrne knows a thing or two about working with the X-Men, teaming with writer Chris Claremont for a legendary Uncanny X-Men run that includes such classic storylines as "Dark Phoenix" and "Days of Future Past." But the artist's resume extends well beyond Marvel's mutants, including creative runs with Superman, Alpha Flight, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and more, as well as a slew of independent work. But with this being the television side of Bleeding Cool (with the film side included in this one), that must mean that Byrne had a thing or two to say about the shows and films being made by Marvel Studios and DC Studios based on the characters whose stories he helped craft on the comics side.

John Byrne
Image: John Byrne/SYFY Screencap; Marvel Studios; Marvel Animation

"I generally can't watch [them]," Byrne shared during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I'll start just to see what they're doing and then I'll go, 'Oh no, this has got nothing to do with me. This is not my characters. This is not my story.' In my mind, they're so far off model. Everybody raves about Hugh Jackman, and I say, 'Well, he, to me, comes across as just a pretty boy coping an attitude. He's not Wolverine. He's too tall, for one thing.' I can't imagine Hollywood actually accurately casting Wolverine. The last [movie] that I watched and enjoyed was the first 'Iron Man.'"

Byrne's attitude towards the MCU's shows and films didn't improve after he was reminded by THR's interviewer that Marvel Studios has released dozens of shows and films since the first Robert Downey, Jr.-starring film was released. "If you had come to me when I was 25 and said, 'When you're much older, theaters are going to be full of Marvel movies, movies based on Marvel Comics, and you won't be interested in seeing any of them,' I would never have believed it, but that's what it's come to." But while he might not be a fan of what's going down on the small or large screens, he's fine with getting paid for them. "I get these what I call mystery checks every once in a while, and it'll usually be a nice number, and it'll turn out to be some thank you. I mean, I just got a phenomenal check for the most recent 'Superman' movie. I'm the opposite of Alan Moore. I take the money," Byrne added.

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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