Tracy Letts revealed that the primary factor behind his wife, Carrie Coon—a costar in "Avengers: Infinity War"—not reprising her role in "Avengers: Endgame" boiled down to a matter of compensation. During a recent episode of The Ringer's "The Big Picture" podcast, as reported by PEOPLE, Letts shared, "I believe Marvel approached her for the sequel and expressed their interest in having her return." He recounted Coon's response, "'Well, the first one is the most successful movie ever made. Are you prepared to offer me a raise?' To which they replied, 'No, we're not increasing your pay.'"
"Infinity War," released in April 2018, amassed $2 billion at the global box office within just seven weeks, joining an elite group of only three other films to achieve this milestone. "She said, 'If you're not willing to pay me more, I don't think I'll be participating,'" Letts continued. "They countered by saying, 'Consider yourself fortunate to be a part of the Marvel Universe.' And she politely declined."
Letts and Coon tied the knot in 2013, five years prior to Coon portraying the villainous Proxima Midnight in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Notably, her character did not utter any lines in "Endgame," having perished in the preceding film, albeit she did make a screen appearance.
Letts joked, "We could have made a bigger fuss about it, but that would have necessitated watching the movies, which wasn't happening." Entertainment Weekly reached out to Coon and Marvel for further comment.
In an August 2020 episode of PeopleTV's "Couch Surfing," Coon clarified that her decision not to reprise the role was due to a scheduling conflict. However, she assured fans that her involvement in future projects shouldn't be ruled out. "Nobody truly dies in these things," she quipped. "It's entirely possible I could get my own 'Avengers' movie next. But don't hold your breath."
In May 2018, Coon elaborated on how she landed the role in the first place. "It all began with a voiceover audition," she told Entertainment Weekly. "They were solely seeking the voice of Proxima Midnight, and perhaps they reached out to me because they were intrigued by my voice or because of my prior experience in motion-capture work. Back in Madison, Wisconsin, I used to do motion-capture for video games. As a college athlete, it was a physically demanding yet incredibly enjoyable job."
Currently, Coon stars in the third season of HBO's "The White Lotus," portraying Laurie Duffy, a human vacationing with mixed success alongside two old friends, Jaclyn Lemon (Michelle Monaghan) and Kate Bohr (Leslie Bibb). Additionally, she stars in the network's period drama "The Gilded Age," with the third season anticipated this year.
