Borat who?
Sacha Baron Cohen is sporting a shockingly different look these days. As he enters the Marvel-verse as Mephisto, the notorious supervillain, Cohen has ditched his signature “confused comic” look for a figure that is well, jacked.
On the cover of Men’s Fitness U.K., Cohen shows off bulging biceps, a freshly shaven beard and an unmistakable 6-pack. That Cohen would go all in for his transformation is no surprise; he is perhaps best known for his tireless commitment to the bit, going full character-actor as Borat or Ali G, for the benefit of political satire.
Cohen worked with celebrity trainer Alfonso Moretti to get in shape for his role in Marvel’s “Ironheart,” according to Men’s Fitness. The comedian said his workout routine included 100 push-ups a day, while Moretti said his diet was “high fibre, low sugar, plenty of protein — nothing fancy, nothing extreme.”
On his Instagram story, the “Borat” star shared the Men’s Fitness cover and joked, “This is not AI, I really am egotistical enough to do this.”
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“Some celebs use Ozempic, some use private chefs, others use personal trainers,” he wrote. “I did all three.” In another Instagram story, Cohen joked he is “hard launching my mid-life crisis” and “debuting my new character: middle aged man who replaced beer with protein shakes.”
On July 1, Cohen made a surprise appearance in the Disney+ series “Ironheart” as Mephisto, who is essentially the Marvel comics equivalent of Satan. In the show, the main villain is revealed to have made a “deal with the devil” with Mephisto for his powers. The series’ title character, Riri Williams, eventually makes her own bargain with Mephisto to bring back a loved one.
It hasn’t been confirmed when or where Cohen might return as Mephisto, but the character could have a major role in Marvel’s future. In the comics, Mephisto has been involved in storylines connected to characters like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. Mephisto’s on-screen debut was highly anticipated, but Cohen’s casting had not been officially announced prior to his “Ironheart” debut.
“He’s one of the big, big, big bads in the comics that has a lot of tethers to characters that we’ve been working with for years, and also characters that we hopefully will work with in the future,” Brad Winderbaum, head of Marvel Television, previously told USA TODAY.
Winderbaum also teased Mephisto’s possible big-screen debut, telling USA TODAY, “Without going into too much detail, the types of projects he will be in are not dependent on television.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sacha Baron Cohen stuns with new physique: See the photo
