The Thor depicter admits the criticism from acclaimed filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola 'bothers' him, noting that those filmmakers 'had films that didn't work too.'
- May 14, 2024
AceShowbiz - Chris Hemsworth has finally shared his thoughts on criticism against superhero films from legendary directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Calling their words "harsh," the actor admits that the judgment "bothers" him who has starred in Marvel films.
The Thor depicter in Marvel Cinematic Universe responds to the criticism in an interview with The Times. "It felt harsh, and it bothers me, especially from heroes. It was an eye-roll for me, people bashing the superhero space," he says.
Defending Marvel movies against the criticism, the 40-year-old claims, "Those guys had films that didn't work too - we all have. When they talked about what was wrong with superheroes, I thought, cool, tell that to the billions who watch them. Were they all wrong?"
In 2019, Scorsese wrote an op-ed for the New York Times titled "Martin Scorsese: I Said Marvel Movies Aren't Cinema. Let Me Explain". Disagreeing with this remark, Hemsworth argues, "Cinema-going did not change because of superheroes, but because of smartphones and social media. Superhero films actually kept people in the cinemas during that transition, and now people are coming back. So they deserve a little more appreciation."
Hemsworth also speaks on actors who have talked negatively about their experience working on superhero films. "It's, like, 'They're films that are successful - put me in one. Oh, mine didn't work? I'll bash them,' " he says. "Look, I grew up on a soap opera. And it used to bother me when actors would later talk about the show with guilt or shame. Humility goes a long way. One of the older actors on 'Home and Away' said, 'We don't get paid to make the good lines sound good, but to make the bad ones work.' That stuck with me."
Of how he has made his past experience challenge himself, Hemsworth shares, "But hey, it's all a lesson. And if I ever went back to [Thor] I'd wonder how we could change it again. But there is a superhero curse in the sense you get pigeonholed, and I've felt a little hamstrung with what I could do, so [I] desperately wanted something to scare the s**t out of me. And '[Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga]' did."
In his op-ed for the Times, Scorsese shared his thoughts on the domination of superhero films, which he claimed focuses on the commercial aspect of the business. "There's worldwide audiovisual entertainment, and there's cinema. They still overlap from time to time, but that's becoming increasingly rare. And I fear that the financial dominance of one is being used to marginalize and even belittle the existence of the other," he wrote. "For anyone who dreams of making movies or who is just starting out, the situation at this moment is brutal and inhospitable to art. And the act of simply writing those words fills me with terrible sadness."
Coppola also participated in the op-ed and added, "When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he's right, because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration. I don't know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again. Martin was kind when he said it's not cinema. He didn't say it's despicable, which I just say it is."
