Brett Ratner is trying to place blame in regards to the recent comments made by actor Vinnie Jones, who played Juggernaut in Ratner's 2006 film, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND. Jones put Ratner on blast for cutting out many of Juggernaut's most important scenes that would've fleshed out the character. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Ratner laid the blame at the fight of the movie's scriptwriters.
"For those interested with regard to @TheVinnieJones reported comments that I "dissolved and mugged off" the role of Juggernaut in X-Men: The Last Stand, is inaccurate. All I can say is, too many evil mutants too little time! Let's be honest, Mystique is easier on the eyes! In all seriousness, I shot the script I was given and I was not able to expand the role of Juggernaut as per Vinnie's request due to the extremely limited time I had to deliver the film. I have the utmost respect and admiration for Vinnie Jones and his talent and thought he created a memorable character. Hopefully one day we will see a stand-alone Juggernaut film starring #VinnieJones! We can watch it mask free on @disneyplus in a pub near you since there might not be any more movie theaters in the futur. #ImTheJuggernautBitch, #XMen, #XMenTheLastStand #XmenMovies @marvel."
Brett Ratner clearly washes his hands of any blame for the way the character turned out with that explanation. The interesting thing about his response is that it is a direct contradiction to what Jones said during a recent interview that sparked this renewed controversy. In case you missed it, here is what Jones had to say about the matter previously:
"Brett Ratner basically dissolved the character. I was in my f***ing trailer half the time. It's one of the most disappointing jobs I've been on as far as, you know, 'What am I doing here?' It wasn't the same Juggernaut as I signed on for. They took his storyline away, they'd taken his character away, his dialogue. I had two big meetings with Brett about it, and he said 'Yeah, yeah it's coming. They're writing stuff for you as we speak' and it never f***ing happened."
What's very telling to me is that Ratner has since deleted the Instagram post that touched on this subject. I'm not sure what prompted him to take it down but it makes me suspect there is more truth to what Jones said and someone in Ratner's orbit advised him to take down the post. I can see Jones being pitched what the character would be in the film and signing off on that and then things being trimmed by the time it came down to shooting. I can also see Ratner trying to appease Jones on the shoot by telling Jones the writers were writing up material for the character so he could keep Jones in line and not upset during the duration of the shoot. I do recall those involved in X-MEN: THE LAST STAND said the production was a bit rushed so Ratner's recall of that could very well be true. I also believe that Ratner was way more involved in any cuts that were made than he's leading on.
Do YOU believe Ratner's defense of what happened with the Juggernaut role?