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Quentin Tarantino may be a great film writer and director, but he might have put his foot in his mouth a bit when he implied that actors in Marvel movies aren’t considered movie stars in a traditional sense. Samuel L. Jackson said that Chadwick Boseman was equally Black Panther as he is a movie star.
“Part of the Marvel-ization of Hollywood is…you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters,” the Reservoir Dogs creator said during an appearance in the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast. “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.”
Yeeah, Tarantino must have forgotten that a certain actor who starred in four of his movies—Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight—also plays the role of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So, of course, Samuel L. Jackson had some words for his partner in film when he made an appearance on an episode of The View.
“It takes an actor to be those particular characters,” Jackson said when asked about Tarantino’s remarks. “And the sign of movie stardom has always been, what, asses in seats? What are we talking about?”
“So, it’s not a big controversy for me to know that, well, apparently, these actors are movie stars,” he continued. “You know, Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther. You can’t refute that. And he’s a movie star.”
And there you have it. Just as old Hip-Hop heads occasionally need to just sit back and let young artists shape their version of the culture, maybe it’s time some of these older film directors loosen up a bit when it comes to superhero movies and the actors who get booked for them.
