The Marvel Character You Probably Didn’t Know Was Played by a Star Who Said Nothing

The FX miniseries “Say Nothing” arrived in November, but despite that late release date and its invisible advertising, it managed to sneak in as one of the best TV series of 2024. The series is based on a nonfiction book by 2018 by Patrick Radden. Keefe, whose full title is “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland.”

The story of the book and series spans decades and focuses on “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland and the scars they left. The Troubles refer to the terrorist campaign waged by the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the attempts by British forces to suppress it, which lasted from the 1960s until a ceasefire in 1994.

One of the key figures in this narrative is Brendan Hughes, an IRA leader who became disillusioned in middle age; not with the cause, but with his former friend (and chief peace mediator) Gerry Adams for “betraying” the IRA and failing to achieve a truly united Ireland free of Britain. The real Hughes (who died in 2008) recounted his time in the IRA for Boston College’s “Belfast Project” oral history, and the tapes on which he spoke are vital to Radden Keefe’s book and this new TV show.

Hughes is played by Anthony Boyle in his youth (the 1970s) and then by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor in the 1990s and 2000s segments. Watching Vaughan-Lawlor in “Say Nothing,” I felt like I recognized him from another thing. So I checked his Wikipedia page and he was right; He had previously played Frank Mackey in 2019’s “Dublin Murders,” adapting Tana French’s acclaimed “Dublin Murder Squad” novels. what was a lot The most surprising thing was to discover that she had also played the evil alien Ebony Maw in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame.”

Maw, a key servant of Thanos (Josh Brolin), is a telekinetic sadist and one of four members of the “Black Order” who serve the Mad Titan. Designed by artist Jerome Opeña in Marvel Comics, Maw is a noseless alien with gray skin, thick lips, and a barely human appearance.

It’s no surprise that Vaughan-Lawlor looks even more unrecognizable as Maw than he does with Brendan Hughes’ distinctive bushy black mustache.

One of the most puzzling For me, the Marvel Cinematic Universe casting choices are Carrie Coon as Proxima Midnightanother from the Black Order. Yes, let’s hire this acclaimed character actress, make her unrecognizable in makeup, and barely give her a word to say. Vaughan-Lawlor as Maw is the only one of the four who has an impact, especially since he talks the most (although he also dies first). To further disguise her actor, Maw speaks with an upper-class British accent, not Vaughan-Lawlor’s Irish.

So yeah, Ebony Maw: fun villain, but definitely not as good a showcase for Vaughan-Lawlor as Hughes.

During the Troubles, Hughes (played by Boyle) is the IRA’s field leader in Belfast; Adams is the brains of the operation, Hughes is the fist. The chosen roles do not only have to do with intelligence; Hughes also has the charisma to lead an army, while Adams is colder and more ruthless, the type of man who serves best when making calls from the backroom, not leading the men from the front.

In theory, Vaughan-Lawlor has the easier job of the two Brendans. While Boyle has many scene partners and action scenes, Vaughan-Lawlor sticks primarily to the framing device. His scenes as Brendan are all dialogue, and many of the scenes are just close-ups of him speaking into a microphone on his couch. However, listening to Brendan tell his story, one is as drawn in as the scenes that recreate it.

Vaughan-Lawlor plays Brendan as if not obsessed exactly because of the violence and his participation in it, but disappointed. He once says that none of the deaths he dealt with were worth it, but with the unsaid asterisk that they would have been worth it if the IRA had “won”. You totally buy this man as someone who was a fiery demon with the vital charisma of the party, a long time ago, but now all that has been extinguished by disillusionment.

Vaughan-Lawlor played a small role in making “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame” memorable, but was vital in doing the same with “Say Nothing.”

“Say Nothing” is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.