Stranger Things Star Dacre Montgomery Finally Addresses Those MCU or DC Casting Rumors

If you were hoping to see Billy Hargrove trade the Camaro for a cape, pump the brakes. Dacre Montgomery isn’t chasing the Marvel or DC machine right now. With Stranger Things Season 5 wrapped and everyone wondering where the cast lands next, Montgomery says he’s steering hard into indie films instead of superhero tentpoles.

The short version: no MCU/DC moves (by choice)

While promoting his new horror movie 'Faces of Death', Montgomery told ComicBook’s Bryan Cairns that superhero auditions aren’t on his to-do list. Funny enough, his first big-screen role was already a colorful suit — the Red Power Ranger — but that didn’t turn him into a franchise lifer. What he wants now: smaller projects with more freedom, practical effects, and room to actually collaborate.

'There is so much courage in every type of performance, whether it ’s a superhero or not. It’s just not something that I have been drawn to. Isn’t it ironic that on a shoestring budget, you actually have more control as an actor to kind of play than on something massive that you, and often times the director, don’t? I think that’s really my main draw as opposed to not liking superheroes. I love superheroes.'

That’s not superhero slander — he’s clear he likes the genre — he just wants the creative bandwidth that comes with smaller-scale filmmaking.

On Hemsworth and Jackman: respect, different lane

Asked if he might follow fellow Australians Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman into comic-book territory, Montgomery was complimentary but realistic. He called Hemsworth’s single-take action work in the two 'Extraction' films 'insane', and described Jackman — a friend — as 'super-lovely', praising how Jackman went from Wolverine to fighting his way into 'Les Mis' and then grinding to make it great. The gist: huge respect for their paths, but his own path points somewhere else.

This tracks with where he’s been heading

After Stranger Things, Montgomery intentionally hit pause for a couple of years. In a chat with People, he said he grew up wanting to work with auteur directors on arthouse films, so he stepped back to figure out what that looked like for him. The result has been a run of low-key indie projects — 'Went Up the Hill', 'What We Hide', and 'Dead Man’s Wire' — with 'Faces of Death' up next on April 10. If you’re a Billy Hargrove fan, that’s your next stop.

Where the rest of the Hawkins crew is popping up

• Joe Keery’s thriller 'Cold Storage' hit theaters back in February.
• Jamie Campbell Bower has been busy on 'The Rings of Power' Season 3.
• Sadie Sink is set to appear in 'Spider- Man: Brand New Day '.

Some of their castmates have already slipped into the Marvel world, so the pipeline is real — Montgomery’s just not jumping on it.

Bottom line

If you’re waiting for Dacre Montgomery to pop up in a post-credits stinger, don’t hold your breath. If you want to see what actually excites him right now, 'Faces of Death' lands April 10 — and it sounds like exactly the kind of creatively hands-on project he’s chasing.