For the last 15 year, purists and cinephiles have been arguing over whether or not the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the beginning of the end for cinema as we know it, with modern-day titans like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino fully agreeing that effects-driven superhero spectacle has been a detriment to the artform as a whole.
The brand is most definitely bigger and more important than the people who star in it, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed that Tom Holland, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and even Robert Downey Jr. have struggled to find success outside of the MCU’s confines. With that in mind, The New Yorker‘s scathing piece on the franchise has thrown up some curious sentiments.
Reflecting on how Marvel makes stars and not the other way around, one unnamed agent remarked that an alarming number of the comic book conglomerate’s biggest names have tried and failed to replicate their success elsewhere.
“It’s actually surprising to me how almost none of them have careers outside of the Marvel universe. The movies don’t work. Look at all the ones Robert Downey, Jr., has tried to do. Look at Tom Holland. It’s been bomb after bomb after bomb.”
Not only that, but Academy Award winners Taika Waititi and Chloe Zhao were then dragged into the discourse, with another agent lamenting that they worry for the state of the industry when such top talents can only tell stories with their unfiltered imagination when Marvel Studios is footing the bill.
“I worry for the film industry, because, if you’re Chloé Zhao and you want to tell a story on a big canvas, mostly you’re limited to trying to tell it on a canvas of a big superhero. It’s a pair of golden handcuffs.”
There are always two sides to every argument, but those who view the MCU as the enemy of celluloid have plenty of evidence stacking up in their favor, while fans will always continue to defend it to the hilt.