Duality personified, Celebrity Jeopardy! semifinalist and Marvel actor Simu Liu has weighed in on the grand ol' cinema debate, responding to "gatekeepers" Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese.
Yesterday (November 22), Tarantino's remarks about Marvel actors not being movie stars made the internet rounds, prompting the usual sound and fury that has hung in the popcorn-scented air since Scorsese first declared MCU movies were "not cinema" in 2019. Yes, this somehow predates the pandemic.
Toronto's Liu, who broke out from stock photo modelling with Kim's Convenience and hit the big time with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hit the Twitter streets with some real talk. "If the only gatekeepers to movie stardom came from Tarantino and Scorsese, I would never have had the opportunity to lead a $400 million plus movie," he wrote.
He continued, "I am in awe of their filmmaking genius. They are transcendent auteurs. But they don't get to point their nose at me or anyone."
"No movie studio is or ever will be perfect," Liu said in Marvel's defence. "But I'm proud to work with one that has made sustained efforts to improve diversity onscreen by creating heroes that empower and inspire people of all communities everywhere."
"I loved the 'Golden Age' too," he added, "but it was white as hell." He's not wrong!
Unquestionably Team Marvel, Liu sides with a pretty strong team of MCU defenders, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Danai Gurira, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Downey Jr. and James Gunn. High-brow connoisseur Tarantino and Scorsese remain steadfast in riding for cinema only alongside Denis Villeneuve, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho (sort of), Benedict Cumberbatch, Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothee Chalamet.
See Liu's tweets below.
You definitely can't accuse Liu of sleeping: he hosted this year's JUNO Awards, released a memoir and is set to appear alongside Hollywood's brightest in Greta Gerwig's live-action Barbie movie.
Yesterday (November 22), Tarantino's remarks about Marvel actors not being movie stars made the internet rounds, prompting the usual sound and fury that has hung in the popcorn-scented air since Scorsese first declared MCU movies were "not cinema" in 2019. Yes, this somehow predates the pandemic.
Toronto's Liu, who broke out from stock photo modelling with Kim's Convenience and hit the big time with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hit the Twitter streets with some real talk. "If the only gatekeepers to movie stardom came from Tarantino and Scorsese, I would never have had the opportunity to lead a $400 million plus movie," he wrote.
He continued, "I am in awe of their filmmaking genius. They are transcendent auteurs. But they don't get to point their nose at me or anyone."
"No movie studio is or ever will be perfect," Liu said in Marvel's defence. "But I'm proud to work with one that has made sustained efforts to improve diversity onscreen by creating heroes that empower and inspire people of all communities everywhere."
"I loved the 'Golden Age' too," he added, "but it was white as hell." He's not wrong!
Unquestionably Team Marvel, Liu sides with a pretty strong team of MCU defenders, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Danai Gurira, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Downey Jr. and James Gunn. High-brow connoisseur Tarantino and Scorsese remain steadfast in riding for cinema only alongside Denis Villeneuve, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho (sort of), Benedict Cumberbatch, Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothee Chalamet.
See Liu's tweets below.
No movie studio is or ever will be perfect. But I'm proud to work with one that has made sustained efforts to improve diversity onscreen by creating heroes that empower and inspire people of all communities everywhere.
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) November 22, 2022
I loved the "Golden Age" too.. but it was white as hell.
You definitely can't accuse Liu of sleeping: he hosted this year's JUNO Awards, released a memoir and is set to appear alongside Hollywood's brightest in Greta Gerwig's live-action Barbie movie.
