Quentin Tarantino is the latest big name director to take aim at Marvel movies.
The filmmaker, whose works include Django Unchained and Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood, spoke about the “Marvel-isation of Hollywood movies” in a recent appearance on comedian Tom Segura’s podcast 2 Bears, 1 Cave.
The director complained that because of Marvel, movie stars are much rarer these days. While he insisted he’s not “putting down” the superhero films, he pushed back when Segura joked that he “loves” them, Decider reports.
Tarantino replied: “I don’t love them. No, I don’t. I don’t hate them, all right, but I don’t love them. Right. I mean, look, I used to collect Marvel comics like crazy when I was a kid.
“There’s an aspect that if these movies were coming out when I was in my twenties, I would totally be f***ing happy and totally love them. I mean, they wouldn’t be the only movies being made. They would be those movies among other movies. But, you know, I’m almost 60, so yeah. No, I’m not quite as excited about them.”
But as the interview went on, he became a bit more critical, telling Segura he does have one “axe to grind” with Marvel.
“They’re the only things that seem to be made,” Tarantino said. “And they’re the only things that seem to generate any kind of excitement among 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.”
With the proliferation of Marvel content, Tarantino said: “There’s not really much room for anything else.”
After outlining his “problem” with Marvel, the famed director lightly dissed the stars who have appeared in Marvel films, calling out characters played by Chris Evans (Captain America) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) without mentioning the actors by name.
“Part of the Marvel-isation 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,” he said.
“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.”
We have a feeling Evans would disagree. After all, it wasn’t Captain America who nabbed this year’s Sexiest Man Alive People cover.
This article originally appeared in Decider and was reproduced with permission