Quentin Tarantino received a wave of backlash for his comments that Marvel stars are “not movie stars”. However, it seems that the new Captain America agrees with him, but just had a better way of explaining the thought process behind it. In his recent interview with the 2 bears, 1 cave podcast, Tarantino seemed to take down actors who appear as Marvel characters by saying, “They’re not movie stars, are they?” An old Anthony Makkie interview from 2018 has now resurfaced and it may offer another perspective on the same comment.
Yahoo! Entertainment reported on an old appearance by Mackie, the new Captain America, at Comic-Con London, where he made an almost identical statement to Tarantino. The main difference is that as a Marvel actor, Mackie explained exactly what he meant, but explained that when it comes to moviegoers, there’s been a shift in how actors and their characters are viewed. He said:
“There are no more movie stars. For example, Anthony Mackie is not a movie star. The Falcon is a movie star. And that’s the weird thing.”
This is almost word for word the quote Tarantino gave. However, Mackie continued:
“It used to be with Tom Cruise and Will Smith and Stallone and Schwarzenegger, if you went to the movies, you went to the Stallone movie. Now you go look…X-Men. So the evolution of the superhero meant the death of the movie star. It’s just a different time now. Hollywood makes movies for a specific audience instead of just making good movies. And that’s why people stopped going to the movies, because most movies suck.”
Have Marvel Movies Changed Cinema Forever?
When it comes to Mackie’s comments, it’s clear he’s talking about movies outside of the MCU. Hollywood is invested in building franchises, and many other movements are simply brought together here. There are always exceptions to this, of course, with some very good standalone films made over the last decade.
However, it’s clear that “movie stars” still exist, with the names of actors like Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Tom Hanks still holding the power to give audiences an immediate sense of the kind of movie they’re about to see. However, in Mackie’s comments, and partly in vindication of Tarantino’s soundbite, it’s true that over the past decade or so, people have generally said “I’m going to see the new Doctor Strange movie” rather than “I’m going to see the new Doctor Strange movie.” Benedict Cumberbatch.”
In general, this may not have changed all that much when you consider that franchises have been around for a while. In the early days of cinema, audiences flocked to see the latest films by Marilyn Monroe or Marlon Brando. Since the 1960s, however, franchise films and sequels have changed that. The new James Bond movie, the new rocky movie, and even the new one That hard movie are examples of the character or franchise taking over from people who want to see a movie by Sean Connery, Stallone or Bruce Willis.
Marvel’s box office dominance has fostered this kind of mindset more than ever, but at the end of the day, behind every good character is a good actor who brings them to life. Whether or not this is exactly what Quentin Tarantino meant when he made his comment, there may be some truth to it when put in context.