We’re stuck in a cycle of who likes what movies and what directors think that things like the Marvel Cinematic Universe aren’t really cinema. From Martin Scorsese saying they aren’t “cinema” to the onslaught of questions for all directors who have yet to dip their toes in the superhero pond, it just got to a point when everyone had an opinion on the MCU. It’s exhausting constantly hearing about what constitutes a film to them and what they’re willing to praise. And it has trickled down to the cast of the MCU answering a lot of questions about this since, it is the “hot topic” of conversation.
Whether or not directors like Paul Thomas Anderson like Venom or Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao shares her nerdy side with her love of Marvel and Star Wars doesn’t seem to matter because the “big guns” think the MCU is laughable, and that started a horrible trend. But Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star Elizabeth Olsen had a fascinating take on the whole debate. Talking with The Independent, Olsen wasn’t focused on how the tearing down of Marvel effects actors, but more how throwing Marvel under the bus is hurting the talented people that work on the crew of these movies—and that she gets a “little feisty” about.
“I’m not saying we’re making indie art films, but I just think it takes away from our crew, which bugs me,” Olsen said. “These are some of the most amazing set designers, costume designers, camera operators — I feel diminishing them with that kind of criticism takes away from all the people who do award-winning films, that also work on these projects. From an actor’s point of view, whatever, I get it; I totally understand that there’s a different kind of performance that’s happening. But I do think throwing Marvel under the bus takes away from the hundreds of very talented crew people,” Olsen added. “That’s where I get a little feisty about that.”
To diss or not to diss
The problem is that “dissing” Marvel movies doesn’t just hurt the company making them. It hurts everyone who likes it, all the artists working on these projects, and an entire community of people who put their effort into these movies all because they’re not deemed worthy by another artist. It’s a weird line to toe for me because I do love the movies that many deem worth of Academy Award recognition but I’m also a nerd who loves things like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And it’s weird to me that some of the genre is important enough for things like the Oscars to recognize while other superhero properties are just not good enough to them?
Why is something like Joker more important than something like Black Widow? Because it’s edgy and it throws any sort of comic history out the window? If this was a one-off conversation and we moved on from the idea of this franchise being a “rollercoaster” instead of actual film, then fine. But it comes up constantly, and like, it’s just a different kind of art! Not everyone wants to watch things like The Irishman in their leisure time. Sometimes, we want to watch a big green guy try to take on a big purple guy and have some fun.
But Olsen’s comments are incredibly right. When major figures in the film world are knocking the MCU, they’re knocking their colleagues. They’re tearing down the work of others because of, frankly, a personal preference, and that’s what’s not really fair.
(image: Rich Polk/Getty Images for Disney)
