Idris Elba admits he honestly had no clue what ‘MCU’ stands for

Idris Elba adorably admitted in an interview that he had no idea what the acronym “MCU” meant despite being part of the MCU for almost a decade.

For many of us, the MCU and all of its facets (like its news and fandom) take up much of our time. But it can be easy to forget this is not the case for most other people. In fact, even some actors who have been involved in the MCU aren’t as up on the franchise as you might think.

Take Idris Elba, for example, who recently admitted he didn’t know that “MCU” was an acronym for “Marvel Cinematic Universe.” In an interview with Yahoo Movies UK, Elba was asked if being out of the MCU made it easier for him to take on bigger projects like directing, such as with his upcoming movie Yardie.

His response after listening to the question patiently was, “What’s the MCU?”

The interviewer explained to him what it meant, and Elba then casually laughed it off saying: “Oh right, okay… I have never heard that before! I thought it was Manchester United… but don’t worry about it.”

While it might seem like this is a term he should know, MCU roles are just one of many parts some actors will take on. This might be especially true for those actors who play minor characters and aren’t entrenched in the world and with fans as often, so it makes sense they might not know the vernacular and fan terms. It’s also likely that Elba has other things on his mind, such as those James Bond rumors.

While Elba’s character Heimdall played an important role in Thor: Ragnarok, he was killed off in the first few minutes of Avengers: Infinity War. With so many deaths in the film, his is one that is often forgotten about or not as discussed as much, which some fans think is a shame.

Of course, as with pretty much all of the Infinity War deaths, we can’t be sure if they are permanent or not. There is a possibility that Heimdall could return in Avengers 4. But since he died before the Thanos finger snap, this might not be as likely as some of the other returns.

We definitely don’t blame Elba for not knowing what the MCU meant, but the fact that he didn’t is kind of funny. Now, we are just waiting to hear more about those Bond rumors!