When Esteban Ocon was 11, he and his father, Laurent, crisscrossed Europe together in their van, taking part in every major go-karting race and championship with the hope of one day reaching Formula One.
Around this time, Ocon discovered another passion: Marvel movies.
His dad had installed a small screen in front of the passenger seat so Esteban could stay entertained during long drives, up to 12 hours a day. His only DVDs were the original “Spider-Man” movies starring Tobey Maguire and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” with Hugh Jackman.
“That was it, really,” Ocon said. “The love started there.”
Ever since, the steadily growing Marvel movie franchise has served as Ocon’s primary escape from the pressures of racing.
“You are into the story so much, and you kind of dream about it,” Ocon said. “There is nothing else. It’s complete disconnection.”
At this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Ocon’s love for the franchise will come full circle. His Alpine F1 car will race in a Marvel-themed livery to promote “Deadpool & Wolverine” starring Ryan Reynolds, an investor in the team.
Ocon, teammate Pierre Gasly and the Alpine pit crew will all don Deadpool-esque red overalls for the weekend, while Ocon will complete the look with his Deadpool-themed helmet.
‘A better version of ourselves’
It would be accurate to call Ocon a Marvel superfan.
He reckons he’s watched the original “Spider-Man” movies 40 to 45 times. “I know all the dialogue!” Ocon said proudly. It’s a badge of honor.
That astronomical number came from the long road trips with his father, who had to install a makeshift ‘door’ between himself and the passenger seat to avoid getting distracted by the film. Occasionally, he’d ask Esteban to turn it off if he really needed to focus on driving at the end of a long day.
Now, it’s far easier for Ocon. He’s still pulling some heavy travel days across the world through the F1 season, but he always has his iPad loaded up with some Marvel movies or series. “I know all of them,” he said. Even in the Disney Plus era, where there is more content than ever, Ocon said, “There’s not enough coming out for me.”
What captured Ocon’s attention as a child, and even now, is the idea of superheroes trying to go beyond the realms of what is thought to be humanly possible. He draws parallels with high-performance athletes such as himself.
My kind of Spa weekend 🟡🔴 pic.twitter.com/JG3B0J8a6M
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) July 25, 2024
“Athletes are trying to be superheroes in some cases,” Ocon said. “I guess this is why I love the hero movies, where they have power, how they are different to who we are. They are just a better version of ourselves.”
Ocon still considers the “Spider-Man” movies his favorites. A moment he immediately mentions with glee is in 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” where the three Spider-Man actors (Maguire, Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield) appear together. He’s met Holland on multiple occasions, including after last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, where the actor waved the checkered flag and Ocon finished on the podium. “Iron Man,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and “Deadpool” are also among his favorites for the mark they left on him.
There may not be enough Marvel content coming out for Ocon to watch all the time, but he finds plenty more material. “Sometimes I watch YouTube videos of people building the armor of Iron Man,” Ocon said. “It’s not quite there yet, but honestly, some people are doing incredible armor. It’s insane.”
Oh, so that’s how deep this fandom runs: watching deep-dive videos on YouTube? Ocon laughed. “There are people that are really experts about the movies, and they read into all the little hidden things for me to pick up because I’ve missed maybe at the cinema,” Ocon said. He’s become a master of spotting the easter eggs as a result, especially in the more recent movies.
“Also with my family, when we go and see a movie, and they stand up at the end to leave, I’m like, ‘No! There are two or three credit scenes!’” Ocon said. “They’re like, ‘How do you know?’ ‘Because I already checked!’”
Meeting your superheroes
Long before Ryan Reynolds’ involvement in Alpine as an investor was on the radar, Ocon already had plans to run a “Deadpool” helmet design at a race. Then, in June 2023, after the deal was announced for Reynolds and his Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney to take shares in the team, Ocon found himself texting with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars about the team and his work in the simulator.
“I had no idea that he was going to come at the time, being an investor,” Ocon said. “To just meet with him, that was insane. That’s really one thing that will stay with me forever.”
They say you should never meet your heroes, but Ocon said Reynolds “made this sentence a lie” when they met for the first time at last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. He loved hearing stories about working on the films and even presented his helmet design to Deadpool himself.
Maximum Effort for the Vegas GP! Let’s goooo ⚔️🔥 @VancityReynolds @deadpoolmovie pic.twitter.com/BJsfa80SSG
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) November 15, 2023
“He’s super, super chill, super humble person, and really funny, really clever,” Ocon said. “And he came on a Thursday in Vegas. On a Thursday! Have you ever seen a celebrity turning up on a Thursday? I’ve never seen one.”
Ocon’s correct. Most celebrities reserve their appearance for race day. “He was interested in the tech, seeing the guys, how they were working. It was brilliant.”
It’s strange to think of F1 drivers getting starstruck, but Ocon admitted to feeling it in the back of his mind when he met Reynolds and Holland. “You don’t want to act awkward!” he said. “You just want to be normal. But no, you just realize they’re like us. We just talked about normal things that we liked, what are their hobbies, what do they do.
“I’m interested in a lot of things, so I’m asking them questions on how they prepare, what’s their background. Some things I would not know. But it’s then just a normal conversation that we would have together.”
The one Marvel film actor Ocon would most like to meet now is Robert Downey Jr. “He’s incredible, an incredible actor in whatever he does,” Ocon said. “In ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ he’s mega. I would love to meet him.”
The way to watch Marvel films
When I sat down with Ocon, I had to make an admission. He was about to talk about his love for Marvel with someone who, despite spending 11 days of his life on airplanes last year — 263 hours, or enough time to watch every single Marvel film three times — does not watch many movies.
In fact, my Marvel movie count is a paltry five: “Deadpool,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Black Widow,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Ocon was bemused by the last two. “How did you understand the story with ‘Thor: Ragnarok?!’” Ocon said. “It’s quite difficult to understand!” I admitted there may have been some post-film Googling.
I do at least know the debate is fierce over the ‘right way’ to consume all 33 Marvel films, so how should a Marvel newbie like myself go about it?
“You need to watch them how they came out,” Ocon said. “I would start the way I have done, basically, so ‘Spider-Man 1’, then you go through all the ‘X-Men,’ ‘Fantastic Four,’ then ‘Iron Man.’ Then you get your way through there.
“Athletes are trying to be superheroes in some cases,” Ocon said. “I guess this is why I love the hero movies, where they have power, how they are different to who we are.” (Courtesy of Alpine)
“Some people would contradict me and say you should watch it in the chronological order of the MCU, so ‘Captain America’ first. But I would prefer release order. If you watch it in that order, it will make sense.”
Ocon is excited to see where Marvel goes next with its movies. He’s not so interested in the DC Comics movies outside of “The Dark Knight” trilogy, believing Marvel has done better sticking to its roots while getting a good mix of serious and comedic themes.
“I’ve seen it all,” Ocon said. “I’ve seen the serious ‘Spider-Man 1,’ very emotional. Then you see and have those funny times since ‘Spider-Man 3’ where they start dancing, and that’s a meme on social media. You kind of see how the world has evolved through that as well. I would say it was very well played. It strikes a balance.”
By the end of the chat, Ocon had won me over to dive deeper into the world of Marvel — and he admitted to even surprising himself with the depth of his knowledge.
“We spoke for 20 minutes!” Ocon said, eyes widening, looking at the timestamp on my phone. “I’ve never spoken for more than five minutes to anyone about Marvel. I realize when I speak, I know too much about it!”
