Aaron Taylor-Johnson talks being offered big franchises and didn’t care for Avengers: Age of Ultron or Godzilla

Aaron Taylor-Johnson was recently profiled in Esquire, where the star talks about his upcoming film, Kraven the Hunter, along with the director J.C. Chandor. Chandor would speak about Kraven being more of a tragedy than a standard comic book film, “Sony probably doesn’t want me to lead with this. but the story is a tragedy. When the final credits roll on this film, if you’ve been paying attention, you won’t have the feeling that this is all going to end great.” Taylor-Johnson is no stranger to the Marvel universe or even the comic book universe as a whole. Prior to Avengers: Age of Ultron, his role in Kick-Ass, which was based on a graphic novel, brought all kinds of big franchise offers his way.

Taylor-Johnson opens up about being seen as a new action star after Kick-Ass, and while the actor has been able to parlay his success into big-budget studio films like Avengers: Age of Ultron and 2014’s American reboot of Godzilla for Legendary Pictures, Taylor-Johnson reveals he actually didn’t care for those films personally. “There was Kick-Ass, and then there was Godzilla and Avengers, and all those things lined up for me. But I didn’t really care for them.” He adds that after the success of those movies, he kept getting offers for similarly grand projects and roles “that nobody knows about—big, huge franchises that were in play.”

However, as his career was on the rise, his personal life involved taking care of his two kids with his wife, Sam, and the decision was made to sacrifice superstardom to be with his family more. “I wanted, purely, to be with my babies. I didn’t want to be taken away from them. I battled with what that would be like. I would say I was probably not ready to be in that position anyway—it was too early. But yeah, I also slightly didn’t give a fuck.”

Ever since he made his decision, his career primarily involved smaller roles, including an acclaimed performance in Nocturnal Animals and a supporting role in Christopher Nolan’s last film before Oppenheimer, 2020’s Tenet. One role that’s been a buzz for him, yet he’s being mum about, is James Bond. In Vanity Fair, Taylor-Johnson explained, “I just focus on the things I can have in my hands right now. What’s in front of me right now.“