In 2019, Martin Scorsese opened a veritable Pandora's box on the film community, stating at the time that he thinks Marvel movies are "not cinema." Ever since then, we've heard from multiple film directors, actors and celebrities weighing in on the debate, which seems to divide most everyone into one of two camps that we've dubbed Team Marvel and Team Cinema. Now — a controversial figure in his own right — Quentin Tarantino has joined the latter.
Speaking with Tom Segura for his podcast 2 Bears, 1 Cave [via Mediaite], the director bemoaned the "Marvel-ization of Hollywood," said that actors within the Marvel Cinematic Universe are "not movies stars" and complained that the MCU is leaving "not really much room for anything else."
"There's an aspect that if these movies were coming out when I was in my twenties, I would totally be fucking happy and totally love them," Tarantino explained, admitting that he doesn't actually "hate" Marvel films. "I mean, they wouldn't be the only movies being made. They would be those movies amongst other movies. But, you know, I'm almost 60, so yeah. No, I'm not quite as excited about them."
He continued:
My only axe to grind against them is they're the only things that seem to be made. And they're the only things that seem to generate any kind of excitement amongst a fan base or even like for the studio making them. That's what they're excited about. And, you know, so it's just the fact that they are the entire representation of this era of movies right now ... Part of the Marvel-ization of Hollywood is… you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters. But they're not movie stars. Right? Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I'm not the first person to say that. I think that's been said a zillion times, you know, but it's like, you know, it's these franchise characters that become a star.
With his remarks, Tarantino joins the ranks of Denis Villeneuve, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho (kind of), Benedict Cumberbatch and Leonardo DiCaprio (and his protégé Timothee Chalamet) in Team Cinema, while Team Marvel is holding strong with backing from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Danai Gurira, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Downey Jr., James Gunn and more.
Listen to the podcast episode below.
Speaking with Tom Segura for his podcast 2 Bears, 1 Cave [via Mediaite], the director bemoaned the "Marvel-ization of Hollywood," said that actors within the Marvel Cinematic Universe are "not movies stars" and complained that the MCU is leaving "not really much room for anything else."
"There's an aspect that if these movies were coming out when I was in my twenties, I would totally be fucking happy and totally love them," Tarantino explained, admitting that he doesn't actually "hate" Marvel films. "I mean, they wouldn't be the only movies being made. They would be those movies amongst other movies. But, you know, I'm almost 60, so yeah. No, I'm not quite as excited about them."
He continued:
My only axe to grind against them is they're the only things that seem to be made. And they're the only things that seem to generate any kind of excitement amongst a fan base or even like for the studio making them. That's what they're excited about. And, you know, so it's just the fact that they are the entire representation of this era of movies right now ... Part of the Marvel-ization of Hollywood is… you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters. But they're not movie stars. Right? Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I'm not the first person to say that. I think that's been said a zillion times, you know, but it's like, you know, it's these franchise characters that become a star.
With his remarks, Tarantino joins the ranks of Denis Villeneuve, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho (kind of), Benedict Cumberbatch and Leonardo DiCaprio (and his protégé Timothee Chalamet) in Team Cinema, while Team Marvel is holding strong with backing from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Danai Gurira, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Downey Jr., James Gunn and more.
Listen to the podcast episode below.
