In the run-up to Black Widow, Marvel fans were excited to see the MCU return to the big screen, but one former Marvel star wasn’t. Stephen Dorff, who appeared in 1998’s Blade, blasted the film, saying it “looked like garbage… like a bad video game” and that he felt “embarrassed” for star Scarlet Johansson. Dorff’s comments went viral, with the internet roasting him for his anti-superhero movie opinions when he’s been a part of the genre himself.
It seems the actor regrets his comments now, though, as he’s seriously walked back on his thoughts in a new interview with TMZ. Dorff revealed that he’s old friends with Johansson and “felt bad” about what he said before.
“Oh, I love Scarlett. I think that was taken a little bit out of context,” Dorff said. “She’s a great actress. I just… I’m not a fan. I love Scarlett, though, I heard she’s going to be a mom so I wish her the best and she’s an old friend of mine so I felt bad about that comment.”
Dorff went on to change his tune a little from last time, praising Iron Man and some of DC’s efforts, and explaining that he was just in a bad mood during the previous chat and spoke more harshly than he should’ve done. He also said that he has reached out to ScarJo to apologize but has yet to receive a response.
“I haven’t seen [Black Widow], I don’t really go to those movies,” he continued. “I liked Iron Man, I like when they go a little darker. I love the Joker. I’m looking forward to the new Batman. But, you know, that guy in England got me at a moment where I was just sh*t talking a little bit and I felt a little bad about it. Happens sometimes. I haven’t heard from Scarlett, but I sent her a little note, though.”
This whole situation has a feeling of deja vu about it as we’ve seen this sort of thing play out before – an actor criticizes superhero movies, the internet gets offended, so the actor takes back the criticism. Ethan Hawke, for instance, blasted the genre in 2018 when discussing his dislike of Logan. He got some flak for his views, so Hawke clarified them in a follow-up interview. Skip ahead to now and Hawke is about to join the MCU himself in Moon Knight.
So, despite his comments, another Marvel role for Dorff isn’t out of the question. In fact, he has previously said that he’d be open to reprising Deacon Frost in the upcoming Blade reboot, which will star Mahershala Ali in the role of the vampire hunter made famous by Wesley Snipes. We don’t know when that’s getting here, but Black Widow can be seen in theaters and on Disney Plus now.
