Is Lee Jung-jae joining Marvel Studios? Twitter rumors explained

South Korean veteran Lee Jung-jae is rumored to be in discussions with Marvel Studios for a potential project. The “news” was initially reported by Twitter account Marvel Crave, which constantly covers the comic giant’s news across all formats.

It reported that the Squid Game actor was in talks with Marvel Studios, citing Daniel Richtman, on July 19. Richtman is an industry insider known for leaking interesting news about anything related to Marvel.

Twitter has since speculated whether the rumors stand true or not. They have also tried predicting the character that the 49-year-old actor might play.

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Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae rumored to join Marvel Studios: Here’s all we know so far

It isn’t the first time the world of Marvel and Korean entertainment have clashed, and hopefully, it won’t be the last. With the giant constantly evolving and expanding its numerous franchises, new additions to the franchise are a given.

The latest newcomer to the Marvel world might be Lee Jung-jae, the 49-year-old South Korean veteran actor who has been sweeping Best Actor awards for Squid Game. Naturally, there isn’t any official confirmation or denial of this particular news from any side, but social media is abuzz with this speculative project.

Discussions around the character that Lee Jung-jae might portray are one of the major talking points. For many, it is the supervillain Martin Li, aka Mr. Negative.

Twitteratis speculate that the Squid Game star might be essaying the role of the supervillain with a personality disorder. The villain, introduced in the 2007 Amazing Spider-Man #1 comic, is a Crime Lord/Mr. Negative on one hand and the generous, kind Martin Li on the other.

According to some fans, the latest movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, gave viewers a hint of Mr. Negative probably joining the MCU. In one of the scenes, Aunt May is shown helping out in a soup kitchen called F.E.A.S.T. (Food, Emergency, and Shelter Training) when Norman Osborn shows up for help.

Check out the scene at 0:57 seconds:

The comic lore states that FEAST is operated by Martin Li. So, Marvel fans have good enough evidence of Mr. Negative’s live-action introduction.

Stephen Oyoung, an actor who plays Mr. Negative in Spider-Man PlayStation games, campaigned to ask Marvel to give him a live-action role too, in April this year. However, there is no official word on it.

Moreover, Marvel is no stranger to casting Korean actors. Park Seo-joon was recently confirmed to star in Captain Marvel 2 (after weeks of rumors and speculations), Ma Dong-seok played Gilgamesh in The Eternals, and Claudia Kim essayed Dr. Helen Cho in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

This rumor might just be one of the many rumors that may come true and probably be a PR move. It is also unclear if Mr. Negative, if true, gets introduced in a new series or very-dicey future movies of MCU’s Spider-Man.

Whether true or not, it is undoubtedly interesting to see MCU opening up its doors for representation. It might be a while until audiences know for certain if Lee Jung-jae will be a part of a Marvel project.