Entertainment

Stephen Dorff says he is ’embarrassed’ for Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson

The actor said the Marvel film ‘looks like a bad video game’.
The actor said the Marvel film ‘looks like a bad video game’. The actor said the Marvel film ‘looks like a bad video game’.

Actor Stephen Dorff has criticised the Marvel superhero films and said he is “embarrassed” for Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson.

Dorff, whose movies include I Shot Andy Warhol, Blade and Cecil B Demented, suggested he would refuse to appear in one of Marvel’s films.

The 47-year-old told The Independent: “I still hunt out the good shit because I don’t want to be in Black Widow. It looks like garbage to me. It looks like a bad video game. I’m embarrassed for those people. I’m embarrassed for Scarlett!

Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Johansson stars in Marvel superhero film Black Widow, but actor Stephen Dorff said he feels ’embarrassed’ for her (Ian West/PA)

“I’m sure she got paid five, seven million bucks, but I’m embarrassed for her. I don’t want to be in those movies. I really don’t. I’ll find that kid director that’s gonna be the next Kubrick and I’ll act for him instead.”

Black Widow, set for release in the UK later this week, is the first instalment in phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and sees Johansson reprising the role of former KGB spy Natasha Romanoff.

Dorff also turned his fire on April’s Oscars, describing the ceremony as “the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen”.

Stephen Dorff
Stephen Dorff Hollywood actor Stephen Dorff has criticised the Marvel films and said he would refuse to appear in one (Ian West/PA)

Th 93rd Academy Awards was much changed from previous years due to the pandemic.

Dorff, whose most recent film is the mixed martial arts drama Embattled, said: “My business is becoming a big game show. You have actors that don’t have a clue what they’re doing.

“You have filmmakers that don’t have a clue what they’re doing. We’re all in these little boxes on these streamers. TV, film – it’s all one big clusterf*** of content now.”

Dorff is not the first Hollywood figure to publicly criticise the Marvel films, which have dominated the box office for more than a decade.

In 2019 revered director Martin Scorsese dismissed the superhero movies as “not cinema” and compared them to theme parks.