Elba briefly appears opposite Chris Hemsworth in the new Netflix sequel – and his mysterious character could be back for more.
It was announced earlier this month that Idris Elba would be teaming up with Chris Hemsworth for Extraction 2 – and it looks like this could just be the start of things.
Although Elba has relatively little screen time in the sequel – which arrives on Netflix on Friday 16th June – producer Anthony Russo and director Sam Hargrave have teased that they hope to do more with his mysterious character, who is referred to as The Man in the Suit.
“[It’s] a classic example of a character who doesn’t have a whole lot of screen time, but the screen time that he does have is fascinating and he commands the screen,” Russo explained during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.
“And that’s part of the reason why we turned to him… just thinking about as we move forward with the storytelling, bringing in new elements into the narrative universe, that is very exciting, and combustible and intriguing.
“So I just know when I watched him in this film, I feel like ‘oh, geez, there’s more fun to be had with him!”
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Elba’s next potential appearance would be in a sequel or a spin-off, but Russo also teased that he would love to see more of the characters in the film given their own movies.
“Sometimes a character can be really intriguing, and really sort of just pull you in with very little screen time,” he said. “And so that’s one thing we really like – is figuring out how the unexpected characters have narratives that we haven’t imagined.”
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Meanwhile, Hargrave – who made his directorial debut with the first Extraction film, having previously worked extensively with the Russo brothers as a stunt coordinator – very much seems to be singing from the same hymn sheet.
“Joe and Anthony are very aware of this from their time in the Marvel universe, of the kind of marketability of creating a universe that can expand,” he said.
“And so with this, once the Extraction universe became something of a success for the first movie, they’re like, ‘Oh, how can we expand this and have these characters that could really help expand this world and help audiences dive deeper into understanding this space and exploring different avenues?’
“What we wanted when we came up with [Elba’s] character, is someone who’s going to set this plot in motion and then give Rake an opportunity for another adventure should the second movie be a success.”
And speaking more about what the future might hold, he added: “There’s been talk of potentially another Tyler Rake story [and] there’s potential for other characters go off with their own movies.
“That stuff has been talked about, but we’ll see how the second one lands with audiences and if there’s still an appetite for that, because it’s better to leave people wanting more than it is to kind of saturate them.”
Extraction 2 will be released on Netflix on 16th June 2023. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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