Jonathan Majors has news for anyone who thinks ‘Quantumania’ is just ‘a comic book movie’

It seems that not a single entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe can make it through its run in cinemas without the internet diving back into the debate started by one Martin Scorsese back in 2019, quite famously referring to Marvel films as “theme park” attractions, and subsequently becoming the figurehead of the discourse regarding whether Marvel movies are actual cinema, whatever that means.

Since then, plenty of other voices in the industry have weighed in, such as Quentin Tarantino, Dennis Villeneuve, and Seth Rogen, and more often than not, such opinions don’t paint the MCU in a particularly enviable light, and it seems that we’ve gotten to the point where the term “comic book movie” has turned into a negative distinction.

But Jonathan Majors, who will bring Kang the Conqueror to explosive life in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania later this week, is having absolutely none of it. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the outrageously talented Majors rejected the notion of comic book films being lesser than other types of movies, suggesting that there’s an artistic style to them that’s just as valid as something Shakespearean.

“I think the biggest prejudice toward the MCU films is that [some critics] say, ‘Oh, it’s a comic book movie,’ That actually really hurts your feelings, you know? As an artist, you go, ‘Well, what does that mean?’ There’s this idea that there’s a certain way you have to act in these movies and it’s not ‘real acting.’ But I’ve watched all of them, and I know it’s real acting. There’s a certain style to it, like anything: Shakespeare, Chekhov, August Wilson, Katori Hall. There’s a certain style to it, of course, but the flesh-and-blood element, the talking and listening element is extremely there.”

We doubt it’s going to settle the debate, but seeing a voice like Majors’ step in to dismiss such a tired conversation is nothing short of refreshing, especially when some of the MCU’s criticisms don’t exactly hold up against some scrutiny; Marvel movies may take up an egregious amount of space in the cinema (as do most all CGI-heavy blockbusters), but do we really think that those audiences would flock to something like The Irishman if this weren’t the case? We wouldn’t bet on it.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will release to theaters on Feb. 17.