Billy Clements, an actor in MARVEL’s latest blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine, has responded to criticism by WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash. Clements plays The Russian, an adversary of The Punisher in the new film, a role that Nash played in 2004’s The Punisher film. On a recent edition of his Kliq This podcast, Nash critiqued Clements’ portrayal of the character.
“That doesn’t even … that looks nothing like the character I played. That looks nothing like the Russian. It looks like they gave somebody a favor.”
On Instagram, Clements responded to Nash’s critique. The English actor suggested that thanks to multiverses being all the rage in MARVEL films (and a key plot point in Deadpool Vs. Wolverine) his The Russian could be a different individual than the one Nash played.
“There are lots of different Wolverines in there [the film.] My character is obviously a different variant [of The Russian.] Y’know, different Deadpools, Bulseye’s different. So to say obviously ‘you don’t look like your character, I thought maybe it’s not right for the MARVEL Universe, but there are different universes. That’s the reason why.”
Despite their differences, Clements had plenty of praise for Nash’s role in The Punisher which saw Big Daddy Cool share the screen with The Punisher, as played by Thomas Jane.
“I thought your character was amazing in your scene, when you played it, I thought it was brilliant. I’ve seen it a hundred times. I thought it was a great scene.”
Nash’s criticism aside, Deadpool & Wolverine has been a runaway success and has crossed the coveted $1 billion box office threshold. The hit film has also made its way into WWE 2K24, meaning Nash (or his video game equivalent) could play the Russian again. Stay tuned to SE Scoops for the latest on Kevin Nash in and out of the world of wrestling.
