Last year, Quentin Tarantino was asked about some of his fellow filmmakers' attitudes towards Marvel/superhero movies, and while he admitted to enjoying some comic book films (he's a big fan of Thor: Ragnarök), he also outlined his major problem with what he described as the "Marvel-ization of Hollywood."
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director was asked about his recent assertion that he has no interest in being a "hired hand" for Marvel Studios, and gave the following response.
“You have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters. But they’re not movie stars. Right? Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I’m not the first person to say that. I think that’s been said a zillion times… but it’s like, you know, it’s these franchise characters that become a star.”
While there is certainly an element of truth to this (the character does tend to become bigger than the actor), would anyone really argue that Chris Evans, for example, shouldn't be considered a movie star because he played Captain America?
As it turns out, Evans actually agrees with him - to an extent, at least.
“That was the beauty of working on Marvel films. You never really had to be front and center,” Evans said during an interview with GQ magazine. “Even in your own films sometimes. Quentin Tarantino said it recently and I was like, you know, he’s right. The character is the star. You’re there, but you don’t feel the burden of it.”
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige doesn't quite see things the same way as his former collaborator, however.
“I think it’s something [Chris] was telling himself, and I think it’s something many of the Avengers, including Robert, would tell themselves, which actually was very helpful to the process. But in certain cases, including Chris’, it’s not entirely true.”
Many other directors - including the likes of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola - have raised similar issues to Tarantino, but many view their assessment of the current state of Hollywood as being a little unfair when so many other types of films are being made alongside superhero movies.
As for Evans, while he did leave the door open for a potential return to the MCU as Steve Rogers, it sounds like he's in no rush to get back in front of the camera.
"Ultimately, I really hope to just maybe act a little bit less in my life,” he tells the mag. “I have a lot of other interests. Look, by no means have I climbed any sort of a mountain in this field. I have no Oscars and I’m not lumped with other names that are at the top of the mountain in any way. But I also feel very satisfied.”
Evans can next be seen alongside Emily Blunt in Pain Hustlers, which is set to stream on Netflix from October 20.