The MCU is the biggest brand in Hollywood now, but a major hand in the growth of this Marvel Studios franchise has been of none other than Walt Disney. Ever since Disney bought Marvel Studios in 2009, we have seen the full on development of the idea that Kevin Feige had for all the Marvel characters. Disney has really used the potential that Marvel had left to a great extent. And now we can see the results of all that has happened with the MCU. Other movie studios are not even in a 100 miles range of competition with Marvel. But all these come with some crazy deals and rules set by Disney that everyone related to the MCU has to follow no questions asked. Here is a list:
The MCU Actors have To Maintain the ‘Disney’ Image all the time
When Disney casts actors for MCU movie roles, they have a clause that says that every actor involved in the MCU playing a superhero or not must maintain his or her public image by constantly being a person that children look up to. This is why we usually see actors taking part in charities, volunteering at Children’s hospitals, and Marvel Studios celebrated its 10th birthday by donating $450,000 to Starlight Children’s Foundation and $800,000 to Make-A-Wish. Well, this rule is noble and Marvel should do it anyway!
R-Rated Cinematic Content will only be featured on TV
With the coming future with Fox, Disney may be opening up to some R-Rated movies like Deadpool, but so far they have only reserved that kind of content on TV shows and not in the movies. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has already said that: “We don’t have any plans to make R-rated Marvel movies.”
No Smoking in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Well, we all may have noticed that all the MCU heroes or any other characters do end up drinking from time to time, but they haven’t been seen smoking. General Ross appeared to be smoking a Cigar in the post-credits of The Incredible Hulk, but since Disney acquired Marvel Studios, they made a no smoking rule for MCU movies. This is why we never see Nick Fury who regularly had a Cigar in the comics not smoking one in any of the movies. This does not sound good for Wolverine!
Actors have no creative control whatsoever!
Robert Downey Jr. may be the Godfather of MCU, but in the creative department, even he does not have much of a say. This is also believed to be a big reason as to why Edward Norton was replaced as the Hulk after Disney acquired Marvel.
Strict Training Schedules and Diet has to be followed!
Being a Superhero in the movies, it is mandatory for all the actors to stay in shape all the time which is why MCU actors must go through intense training and dieting to maintain their physique and figure for their respective roles.
Here’s what Chris Evans said after Captain America – The First Avenger about his training routine:
“This was different… I’d be like, ‘I need to vomit. I hate this trainer. I hate this movie’… working out sucked, eating sucked more. You get to a point where you just can’t even look at another piece of chicken.”
You must be back for Reshoots whenever called!
These days, Reshoots have become a trend of many Superhero movies and other Genre movies. The actors who join MCU sign a deal that they will have to make time for reshoots whenever called. This is some actors have not been fond of the MCU. Idris Elba, who plays Heimdall was called right after he finished Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom for reshoots of Thor: The Dark World. Here’s what he said:
“I was like, ‘This is torture, man. I don’t want to do this.’ My agent said: ‘You have to. It’s part of the deal.’”
The release dates of MCU have to be separate from other Disney Projects
Release dates of MCU cannot coincide with other Disney movies and franchises like Pixar and Star Wars, which is why there is a fixed schedule of dates allotted to the MCU. This is why Star Wars has the usual December dates, while MCU mostly has dates for May, July, and November.
Actors cannot perform all their stunts
Being in these Superhero movie projects, actor are involved with major stunts and action sequences choreographed for them, but they cannot legally do them all. Tom Holland was asked about this matter after Homecoming, and he revealed that “I did as many [of the stunts] as I could, but there are some things legally that I couldn’t do.”
This is a mandatory precaution that Disney takes to protect their actors.
Actors have to agree with any and every movie MCU movie appearance
All the MCU actors when join Marvel, Disney makes them sign multiple movie contracts, so they actually sign on to play these characters in any MCU movies they are demanded to appear, and not just their own Solo movies.
Every actor has to have a Background check before joining!
Certain actors have compared Disney to be extremely secretive and precautionary, just like a top secret Government Organisation. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor said that before signing on to play Ebony Maw, he actually had to go through background checks. He said:
“With social media, there’s so much potential for leaks so [Marvel] understandably wants to micro-manage things and make sure it goes out when they are ready. They didn’t know me, so when I went over, they were meeting me for the first time. They do background checks to make sure you’re not a white supremacist and they’re not hiring someone with weird baggage.”
Windowless Rooms and Fake Scripts
Most recently it was revealed that Avengers: Infinity War writers actually wrote fake scripts for the movie and all the actors did not even get to read the whole script of the film. To do that, the actors are put into windowless rooms without their phones, and they have to finish reading the scripts in one go. This turned out to be a total waste of time for Paul Bettany who said that it was hard for him to read because he has dyslexia and as it turned out, his ours of reading was of no good because the script he read was actually fake!
Immediate Shoots and secret vans
Infinity War was actually such a huge secretive project that in order to prevent leaks, Marvel and Disney did not even tell what they were supposed to do or how the movie was supposed to end till the day their scenes had to be shot! Tom Holland revealed that he did not know that Spidey will die in Infinity War till the day he shot it. The whole scene was improvised by him. Elizabeth Olsen recently revealed at ACE Comic-Con that many actors didn’t know anything about Infinity War until they were put into a mysterious van and told everything just once!
Disney references through MCU movies
If you notice all the Easter Eggs in the MCU mentioned throughout the dialogues or placed in different scene settings, you will surely find out major references from the other Disney franchises background. The biggest example was Ultron singing “I’ve Got No Strings” from Pinnochio and there are actually many more of these if you watch frame by frame. Disney also has a major say in what the MCU movies can add as Easter Eggs and what they can’t.
MCU Actors have to travel internationally!
One thing the actors may not like being a part of these big blockbuster movies of the MCU is the promotion they have to do for the movies. Not just shooting ad campaigns for the film, but the actors also have to travel internationally to major conventions. Sometimes it actually happens between their shooting hours, so after having a long day at the shoot, actors are put on planes to go and promote the movie the very next day.
The Non-Compete Clause 
There is a clause in the contracts of major MCU actors which say that they cannot appear in Superhero movies or franchises which are at direct competition with the MCU. It was revealed by Chris Hemsworth at Supernova Comic-Con in Australia that it is actually “illegal” for Marvel actors to appear in DC movies.
