Utkarsh Ambudkar is one of us. The actor who you have likely seen in titles like Pitch Perfect, Mulan, and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates has a couple of big new titles on the way in the forms of Godmothered on Disney+ and Free Guy. Given that his home office includes a massive Yoda statue, comic books stacked on his desk, and other geek-centric art (most often Star Wars themed, from what I could tell during our Zoom chat), it is no surprise that Ambudkar has been enamord by some of is professional opportunities in Hollywood, like working with Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and Deadpool himself Ryan Reynolds. Now, Ambudkar is gearing up to check another box on every geek’s bucket list: he is writing a comic for Marvel.
“I wish you could see this wall,” Ambudkar said, as we essentially compared geek caves digitally. “It’s just covered in statues and toys.”
Ambudkar connected with ComicBook.com ahead of the upcoming release of Godmothered to talk about the film but found himself sharing comic recommendations, like the recently released issues of That Texas Blood and Lost Soldiers, both titles products of Image Comics. He was also getting started on reading Marvel’s X of Swords series, at the time. After recording a podcast with Marvel, he found himself pitching his creative side, wanting to play Nightcrawler in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but ultimately landing an Iron Man anthology book.
“I’m writing a comic,” the actor told ComicBook.com. “I’m writing a 10-page story for Marvel next year…I did like a podcast for them and you know, you drop the word magic word, they’re like ‘Diversity!’ which is like, so all encompassing now. But I’m going to write a, I think I’m going to write an Iron Man story for this little 10 page anthology.” He isn’t fully certain if this will be a Tony Stark story in the Iron Man comic just yet but believes that is most likely the case.
“I pitched him. I was like, ‘We need like South Asian Nightcrawler. Like let me be Nightcrawler,”https://comicbook.com/” Ambudkar admits. “And they were like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. F-ckin’ write 10 pages. And then we’ll talk about it!”https://comicbook.com/” Watch our full interview in the video above.
If given his choice, Ambudkar has a few comic book characters which he thinks would be great fun to bring to live-action life for a movie as adaptations continue to reign supreme. “Dude, I would be first of all just visually a perfect Nightcrawler,” he says. “Just perfect. I would be so, nobody would come close to me as as Curt, the man of faith. Oh my gosh. I think I’d probably have to take some HGH but I’d make a good Mark Spector, a good Moon Knight.”
Then, there are lesser known characters Ambudkhar has in mind, going to show how deep his knowledge of comics runs. “There was a character named Tunnel Rat,” Ambudkar adds, referencing the G.I. Joe character. “That’s a deep cut. Everyone just turned their computers off.” Plus, the Image Comics series Postal boasts a lead character in the form of Mark Shiffron. “That lead character Mark in Postal would be really fun to play,” Ambudar says. “Just that blank face of like trying to go through everything.”
It certainly seems like it will only be a matter of time until Ambudkar lands himself in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Extended Universe, or an adaptation of an independent comic series into a movie. Do you have a character you would like to see him play? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram!
Ambudkar’s Godmothered hits Disney+ on December 4.
(Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage)
