Clark Gregg Defends Starring in Ice Cube's Panned War of the Worlds - Ireland News Beep

Nobody signs up to do a project that ends up being the worst release of the year. However, one of those unwanted titles went to Prime Video’s sci-fi film War of the Worlds.

The film is based on H.G. Wells’ popular sci-fi novel of the same name, and it’s hardly the first attempt at the classic. However, it’s among the worst-rated entries of all time, and that says a lot considering the novel dates back to 1898. Speaking to CBR’s Grae Drake to promote his upcoming project, The Network’s murder mystery The Artist, MCU star Clark Gregg defended War of the Worlds, and shared what made filming the Prime Video panned sci-fi so difficult.

War of the Worlds debuted with an extremely rare 0% rating from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s rating, however, has slightly improved since then, but only to 4%. It also features an underwhelming 20% from the audience of over 2,500 reviews.

“I’ve had, I’ve had a lucky career,” Gregg, who portrayed Phil Coulson in several films and shows in the MCU, admitted. “I’ve done some really fun things, and we made this movie during COVID, that all took place on screens.”

The lowest point of doing the film was that “I never got to be in the same room with Ice Cube, which was rough for me.” He explained, “Because not only am I a big fan of some of his hip hop records, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted in particular, but I also play basketball, like three, four times a week, and I love that he made the Big3, the league.” He added, “So that was kind of rough that I didn’t get to meet him.”

As for the film’s unwanted reception, he continued, “But I this was, I think, I thought it had not happened and it was gone, and then to have it come out in a kind of interestingly re-edited form, and to have people start sending me, ‘Did you know that you’re in a movie that’s 3% on Rotten Tomatoes?’ To me, I saved those. I kind of want a T-shirt that says ‘3% on Rotten Tomatoes.’ Didn’t do much of a deep dive, because I’m afraid I’m going to find out I have one lower.”

Luckily for Gregg, War of the Worlds is his lowest-rated movie, both from the audience and the critics. It’s followed by 2013’s Brightest Star, with 13% from the critics and 23% from the audience, and the star-studded comedy from the same year, Very Good Girls, which featured the likes of Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, and Demi Moore.

War of the Worlds Was a Hit on Streaming

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Ice Cube in War of the WorldsUniversal Pictures

They say all press is good press, and this worked in War of the Worlds’ favor. With as many people denouncing the sci-fi adaptation as the worst film of 2025, more viewers flocked to Prime Video to watch it. The sci-fi film was an instant streaming hit one day after its release, and continued to hold on to the charts for the entire August after its July 30 release.

War of the Worlds’ producer, Patrick Aiello, also defended the movie. “No one sets out to make a bad movie. Period. Ever. No one rolls out of bed to go work for 12, 14, 16 hours a day, sometimes, 6, 7 days a week in our case, to make a bad anything. We were only trying to entertain. It’s unfortunate that the movie was hated, or group hated, or just piled on top. We have no control over that.”

Ice Cube also defended the finished product. “We shot it in 15 days, and it was during the pandemic,” he admitted. “So, the director wasn’t in there, none of the actors was in there. This was the only way we could really shoot the movie. It’s pandemic time.”

War of the Worlds is streaming on Prime Video.