Marvel Tried To Get A Legendary Director (And Star Wars Actor) To Play The German J.A.R.V.I.S.
In Jon Favreau's 2008 film "Iron Man," the title hero (Robert Downey Jr.) was assisted in his high-tech superhero lab by an artificially intelligent butler-like presence named J.A.R.V.I.S. Iron Man's digital butler not only wrangled the hero's complicated engineering projects, but also controlled the even-higher-tech devices in his lab. When Iron Man went out on patrol, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice could be heard inside his helmet. J.A.R.V.I.S. was voiced by Paul Bettany. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continued to grow, so too did Iron Man's computerized friend. Eventually, J.A.R.V.I.S. was shunted into an indestructible android body and renamed Vision (also Bettany).
When Vision became sentient and autonomous, that meant Tony Stark had to program a new computer helper, and invented F.R.I.D.A.Y. (voiced by Kerry Condon) who would appear in several of the MCU movies that followed 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
Marvel fans might be well aware of the long-running comic book series "What If...?" and the 2021 animated series based on it. "What If...?" was an anthology series that posited fun alternate versions of the already-complicated Marvel universe, usually allowing for characters to die horribly, or become gods on a whim. What if Agent Carter got the Super Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers? What if Spider-Man had six arms? What if the Hulk killed Wolverine? That kind of stuff. The animated series posits the same sorts of questions for the MCU specifically, e.g., "What If ... T'Challa Became Star-Lord?"
An upcoming episode of "What If...?" will feature an alternate-universe version of J.A.R.V.I.S. that writer A.C. Bradley wanted to name W.E.R.N.E.R. She also said, in talking to /Film's own Jenna Busch, that she had hoped to cast legendary director Wener Herzog in the role. Sadly, Herzog turned down the gig.
W.E.R.N.E.R.
W.E.R.N.E.R. is a German version of J.A.R.V.I.S., and Bradley thought, quite logically, that a German actor should play the part. Instantly, she thought of Werner Herzog, the preeminent German filmmaker behind confrontational and nihilistic classics like "Aguirre, the Wrath of God," "Stroszek," "Fitzcarraldo," "Grizzly Man," "Rescue Dawn," and dozens of others. Herzog has also acted in several notable films and TV shows, including one with a Marvel connection: In 2019, Herzog played a character only referred to as The Client in four episodes of "The Mandalorian." As it so happens, "The Mandalorian" was created and directed by Jon Favreau, the man behind the first two "Iron Man" films, so Bradley felt she had an "in." She said:
"[W]e were talking about just different voices for Jarvis and also Favreau. 'The Mandalorian' had just come out, and that was amazing. And Werner Herzog was in it and we're like, 'What if we can get Werner?' And Werner Herzog is one of those voices that when you start talking in it badly and [imitating] doing it, you kind of get carried away with it. I think we had two pages of the alternate J.A.R.V.I.S. dialogue. There was so much of it because it was so much fun. We did ask him very politely if he would like to do it. My understanding is we asked him, and he very politely said no."
Bradley is not incorrect; everyone has a (bad) Herzog impersonation in their back pocket. Herzog's way of speaking is somehow both intense and laconic, knowledgable and dismissive, hopeless and fascinated, all at once. His voice would have been stirring in a Marvel Comics context. Herzog, now 81, likely didn't feel the need to participate in another Disney fantasy project. He was likely busy; he made two documentary films in 2022.
Leave the puppet
Bradley also admitted that Herzog — famously something of a misanthrope, and often eager to express how human beings are but gristle for the ravenous teeth of Mother Nature — would have made for little more than amusing stunt casting. "[T]hat's basically, [where] we came from," she said, "What is the funniest celebrity voice we could do here? And then it's still a nod to Mr. Favreau."
And, indeed, Herzog would have been an amusing addition to the broadest, most commercially appealing mass media franchise the world has ever seen. Herzog famously had never seen any movies until he was 16 years old and stays well away from American pop blockbusters as a matter of course (per The Hollywood Reporter); naturally, Herzog wasn't familiar with "Star Wars" prior to acting in "The Mandalorian." The legendary filmmaker was very fond of the Baby Yoda puppet, and insisted it be left on set next to him during close-ups and pick-ups. It seems that Herzog, despite his reputation for being cold and bitter, knows how to have fun.
After all, Herzog also played a villain in "Jack Reacher," and his "Penguins" role was more or less a sendup of himself. His latest acting gig was providing a voice for the 2024 Netflix animated film "Orion and the Dark," a Charlie Kaufman-scripted movie about a young boy who befriends a physical manifestation of his nyctophobia.
It seems W.E.R.N.E.R. simply wasn't something he was interested in. C'est la vie.