Chris Hemsworth says negative comments about Marvel films, such as those made by Hollywood directors Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, are “super depressing”.
The Australian actor, who has played Thor in eight of the franchise’s instalments, said he was thankful to have been “part of something that kept people in cinemas”.
Tarantino has previously said in an interview that those playing Marvel superheroes were “not movie stars”.
In an episode of 2 Bears 1 cave in 2022, the Kill Bill director clarified that he did not “hate” Marvel films but that he disliked that they were “the only things that seem to get made” in modern Hollywood.
“Part of the Marvelisation of Hollywood is… you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters. But they’re not movie stars,” he said.
“Captain America is the star, or Thor is the star. I think that’s been said a zillion times… but it’s these franchise characters that become a star.”
Scorsese has been known to have made similar remarks critical of large-scale superhero blockbusters.
Speaking to GQ Magazine, Hemsworth admitted that his most recent outing as Thor in Taika Waititi’s Love And Thunder had been “too silly” but that he “didn’t love” such criticism within the entertainment industry.
“That’s super depressing when I hear that,” he said.
“There goes two of my heroes I won’t work with. I guess they’re not a fan of me.”
He continued: “I’m thankful that I have been a part of something that kept people in cinemas… whether or not those films were to the detriment of other films, I don’t know.
“I don’t love when we start scrutinising each other when there’s so much fragility in the business and in this space of the arts as it is.”
He added that his remarks were not directed specifically to Scorsese or Tarantino, but rather to “the broader opinion around that topic”.
“(They) are all, by the way, still my heroes, and in a heartbeat I would leap to work with any of them,” he told GQ.
The full GQ profile interview with Chris Hemsworth can be read online.
