Charlize Theron opens up about her surprise cameos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - via Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - and The Boys, which happened weeks apart. Based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic of the same name, Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys is a satirical take on the superhero genre—which often takes shots at the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Extended Universe. For example, The Boys season 3 opens with an in-universe film that serves as a spoof of both Justice League and The Avengers.
The Boys season 3, episode 1, “Payback,” dropped on its respective streaming service on June 3. It begins with a scene from “Dawn of the Seven,” which is ripe with more than a few tropes, including a surprise cameo. In the faux film's final battle, Homelander is joined by Queen Maeve, A-Train, Starlight, and Black Noir against the main villain, Stormfront. The uncredited actress playing Stormfront is none other than Theron, who made another, less satirical cameo in Doctor Strange 2’s post-credits scene less than a month earlier on May 6. She is now set to play Clea in the MCU.
Saturday, Theron hosted a block party celebrating the 15th anniversary of her Africa Outreach Project. There, she spoke with Variety about her cameo appearance in The Boys and the MCU. When asked what moment was conceived first, Theron explained her Long Shot costar and The Boys executive producer, Seth Rogen, reached out before Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Read the full quote below:
“Seth asked me a while back, and I will lay my body over broken glass for that guy and all of his partners at Point Gray, I absolutely love them, and we look after each other. I love the show. I think it’s really smart.
“[When Marvel Studios called] I was very transparent [about The Boys], and they were just like, ‘This is great.' I mean, [The Boys is] a satire. I think there’s room for everything, and it doesn’t mean anything other than people are interested in these kinds of worlds right now.”
Both of Theron’s cameos were kept under wraps and produced a similar reaction, with The Boys’ being the more comedic one. Many likely thought The Boys cast Theron after miraculously getting word that she’d make a shocking cameo in Doctor Strange 2. This not only appears to confirm Theron’s casting in both projects was a massive, serendipitous coincidence, but that Feige and company are game to make fun of themselves. The Boys undoubtedly cast Theron as Stormfront because it sounded like something a big-budget comic book movie would do, and then Marvel Studios went ahead and did just that (even after learning about her role on The Boys).
Theron’s cameo in Multiverse of Madness sets her up as a prominent character in Doctor Strange’s future. That said, it’s not even remotely surprising an A-lister like Theron would join the MCU in Phase 4. A lot of fans have called out Doctor Strange 2’s post-credits scene as one of the weakest in MCU history as it does feel like a parody of its predecessors; Theron’s presence is distracting, casual audiences aren’t familiar with Clea, and the scene feels out of place following Multiverse of Madness’ ending. If anything, that post-credits scene did more for The Boys than it did Doctor Strange, proving how freakishly close to reality the former has become.
The Boys season 3 releases new episodes Fridays on Prime Video.
Source: Variety
