In the latest installment of the endless “Are Marvel Movies Cinema?” debate – brought on by Martin Scorsese, celebrity interviews and film Twitter – Samuel L. Jackson challenged Quentin Tarantino’s assessment that Marvel actors are “not movie stars”.
On Tuesday’s episode of “The View,” Jackson delved into the all-caps discourse surrounding the “Mirabilization of Hollywood” — as Tarantino said while appearing on the “2 Bears, 1 Cave” podcast last week. It is worth noting that the Oscar-nominated supporting actor has starred in several Marvel films as Avengers recruiter Nick Fury, as well as in various Tarantino films, including “Pulp Fiction” and “The Hateful Eight.”
“It takes an actor to be that special [Marvel] characters,” Jackson told the panelists on “The View.” “And the mark of a movie star has always been what? A— on chairs? What are we talking about?”
Jackson’s remarks came about a week after Tarantino argued in “2 Bears, 1 Cave” that Marvel actors aren’t so much movie stars in their own right as vessels for their more famous characters. In the director’s view, it’s the ultra-popular source material — not the name on the poster — that draws Marvel fans to theaters.
“Part of the Marvelization of Hollywood is … you have all these actors who became famous playing these characters,” Tarantino said.
“But they’re not movie stars. … Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I’m not the first person to say that. I think that’s been said a billion times… These franchise characters are becoming stars.”
Longtime friend and collaborator Jackson strongly disagreed.
“It’s not a big controversy for me to know that … these actors are movie stars,” Jackson continued on “The View.” “Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther – you can’t deny that. And he’s a movie star.”
Tarantino’s divisive Marvel comments made headlines earlier this month on social media, and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star Simu Liu was among the first to respond. (Liu is the first actor of Asian descent to headline a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.)
“If the only guardians of movie stardom came from Tarantino and [Martin] Scorsese, I would never have had the opportunity to direct a $400 million plus movie. Liu tweeted. “I am amazed by their cinematic genius. They are transcendent authors. But they can’t turn their noses up at me or anyone.
“No movie studio is or ever will be perfect. But I’m proud to work with one who has made sustained efforts to improve diversity on screen, creating heroes who empower and inspire people from all communities everywhere. I liked ‘The Golden Age’ too… but it was white as hell.”
For what it’s worth, Tarantino clarified during the “2 Bears, 1 Cave” interview that — as a former avid comic book collector — he doesn’t “hate” Marvel movies. But he doesn’t “love” them either.
“My only ax to eat is that they are the only things that seem to be done,” he said. “And they’re the only things that seem to generate any sort of excitement among a fan base or even for the studio that makes them. … There isn’t much room for anything else. That’s my problem.”