Highlights
- Chris Evans agrees with Quentin Tarantino's criticism of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appreciating that the franchise doesn't put excessive pressure on actors to be front and center.
- While Evans shares Tarantino's viewpoint, there is no consensus within Marvel, as MCU boss Kevin Feige disagrees, stating that some actors, including Evans, do feel the burden of being the star.
- Samuel Jackson also disagreed with Tarantino, emphasizing that actors bring life to the characters and that movie stardom is determined by the number of audiences attracted.
Captain America actor Chris Evans reacted to Quentin Tarantino's controversial statements about Marvel Studios' MCU franchise and its effect on actors.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a media franchise made up of live-action adaptations of characters and concepts from the pages of Marvel Comics, including Captain America. The franchise has grown to be one of the world’s biggest, with 32 cinematic releases out now and more than 10 in development, alongside many other projects for TV and streaming. Despite this massive success and the popularity that came along with it, Tarantino insisted Marvel actors were not real movie stars and threw shade at the entire franchise and the ‘Marvel-ization’ of the industry, though clarifying that he meant no offense to actors themselves.
While Tarantino's comments were controversial at the time, with both support and pushback from his contemporaries, one iconic Marvel actor seems to have come around to seeing things from his point of view. Evans (who previously stated that he’d rather play Johnny Storm than Captain America again) shared his thoughts on the issue and his agreement with Tarantino. "That was the beauty of working on Marvel films. You never really had to be front and center," Evans expressed in the interview with GQ. "Even in your own films sometimes. Quentin Tarantino said it recently and I was like, you know, he's right. The character is the star. You're there, but you don't feel the burden of it."
Tarantino has been notoriously critical of more recent film media, insisting that this is the worst era of Hollywood history, in no small part due to what he calls the Marvel-ization the industry has undergone, centering characters for franchise longevity and leaving creatives and performers to play second fiddle to their own work. While Evans might agree, this by no means shows consensus at Marvel. In the same feature, MCU boss Kevin Feige disagreed with the valued actor, saying, "I think it's something [Chris] was telling himself, and I think it's something many of the Avengers, including Robert, would tell themselves, which actually was very helpful to the process. But in certain cases, including Chris', it's not entirely true."
Feige is not alone in his dissenting opinion, as Samuel Jackson fired back at Tarantino's Marvel comments when they were made as well, citing the late Chadwick Boseman as an example and telling the hosts of The View (and reminding Tarantino) that "It takes an actor to be those particular characters, and the sign of movie stardom has always been, what, asses in seats?” Jackson has famously collaborated with Tarantino to great effect. He might be better placed to address his criticism than most other performers in the MCU or any other major franchise that falls within the scope of his ire.
Since Tarantino definitively stated he’d never join the MCU, there’s not much hope of any change on that front, no matter what sort of improvements the franchise might make throughout what is likely to be a long shelf life, for better or worse. At the very least, the iconic filmmaker can say he made one convert from among the lot as he continues to pursue his creative vision, and Marvel Studios continues to produce its own.
Marvel Studios' Captain America films are available on Disney Plus.
Source: GQ
