Back in the olden days – as in pre-2008 – franchises were largely built, sold, and marketed off the back of their stars, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe arguably changed that forever. These days, the property is the main attraction as opposed to the people who appear onscreen, leading many to question whether the comic book company’s biggest draws have what it takes to sell a project to the masses outside of their comfort zones.
Chris Hemsworth has built an unwanted reputation for headlining a litany of box office bombs whenever he isn’t wielding Mjolnir, and The Crowded Room has added another unwanted addendum to Tom Holland‘s filmography after the Apple TV series debuted to an unexpectedly disastrous Rotten Tomatoes score of 20 percent.
That’s merely the latest in a long line of critical disappointments for the affable actor, though, with five of his last seven non-Marvel outings being greeted with derision. Dolittle deserves its 15 percent rating on the aggregation site as one of the worst blockbusters of the last decade, while the Russo brothers became a widespread source of mockery after they touted Cherry as a potential awards season contender, only for it to land a 37 percent score.
Everybody knew Chaos Walking was going to suck based on the extensive reshoots and multiple delays, so no eyebrows were raised when it topped out at 20 percent. Uncharted did crack $400 million at the box office and could end up getting sequels, but even then, a 41 percent approval rating was exactly what it deserved.
That leaves the 64 percent of Netflix thriller The Devil All the Time and the 88 percent of Pixar’s Onward as the only Holland outings to have put their heads above the Fresh parapet since the beginning of 2020. Is Holland a good actor? Very much so, with his dramatic chops remaining severely underrated, but maybe he needs to hire a better agent for those MCU sabbaticals.
