Award-winning Scottish actor Brian Cox has slammed Marvel – saying cinema is in a ‘very bad way’ and the the film giant is to blame.
The 78-year-old, best known for his leading role in HBO’s Succession, said the financial draw of comic-book adaptions left film struggling.
Brian said high-paying, high-grossing films had made it ‘party time’ for actors as they can rake in mass amounts of cash – to the demise of cinema.
The actor himself had reaped the rewards of this as he starred in Marvel’s X2: X-Men United – playing Dr William Stryker, the man responsible for creating Wolverine.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Brian said: ‘What’s happened is that television is doing what cinema used to do.
Actor Brian Cox, 78, says cinema has fallen into a ‘very bad way’
The star says Marvel is to blame, and referenced Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman (pictured) in Deadpool & Wolverine as an example
The Scottish actor was speaking from experience as he starred as Dr William Stryker in Marvel’s X2: X-Men United
‘I think cinema is in a very bad way. I think it’s lost its place because of, partly, the grandiose element between Marvel, DC and all of that. And I think it’s beginning to implode. You’re kind of losing the plot.’
The Hollywood Reporter said he discussed Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman of Deadpool & Wolverine while referencing how films are ‘making a lot of money that’ll make everybody happy, but in terms of the work, it becomes diluted afterwards. You’re getting the same old… I mean, I’ve done those kind of [projects]’.
Brian also said: ‘So it’s just become a party time for certain actors to do this stuff.
‘When you know that Hugh Jackman can do a bit more, Ryan Reynolds… but it’s because they go down that road and it’s box office.
‘They make a lot of money. You can’t knock it.’
Brian told crowds television was becoming more popular as ‘you’ve got the honour of telling the story over a period of time’.
The Times reported that since 2008, Marvel had released 33 films and they had dominated the box office.
Avengers: Endgame made almost $3 billion (£2.3 billion) and became the highest-grossing film of the last decade.
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Disney has 'killed a few projects' amid Marvel superhero movie implosion, says CEO Bob Iger – but we've not been 'so public about it'
Three other Marvel films also feature in the top 10.
Spider-Man has been made nine times in different ways, with the likes of Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland starring in it – and Shameik Moore voicing the animated version.
There have been three Guardians of the Galaxy films, and Robert Downey Jr starred in three Iron Man films before his character appeared in the four Avengers crossovers.
The crossover, which brought together characters from different Marvel franchises, features Thor, who is played by Chris Hemsworth.
Samuel L Jackson holds the record for starring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has appeared as the character Nick Fury 15 times since 2008.
Brian’s comments come just months after Disney ‘killed a few projects’ amid the Marvel superhero movie implosion.
Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors in March the entertainment behemoth was focusing on creating quality films that audiences would want to watch.
Superhero films like The Marvels and last year’s Ant-Man sequel lost money, along with other new releases Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Haunted Mansion were also panned by critics, the latter with a particularly bad 37 percent Rotten Tomatoes average.
Iger said Disney ‘killed a few projects already that we just didn’t feel were strong enough’ as it tried to back the most promising ones.
‘You have to kill things you no longer believe. And that’s not easy in this business. Because either you’ve gotten started, you have some… costs,’ he told an investor conference.
‘t’s a relationship with either your employees or with a creative community. And it’s not an easy thing. But you got to make those tough calls.
‘We’ve actually made those tough calls. We’ve not been that public about it.’
Iger didn’t give any hint about which projects were dumped, but insisted it was just because they were not up to his lofty standards.
‘You have to look at everything you’re making, that you do believe in. And you have to take a position that good is not good enough. You have to basically strive for perfection.’
How Marvel earned its billions: Full list of studio’s movies and how much they grossed since 2008
Though it is hard to put a number on the ever-increasing box office income Marvel movies have generated, it currently stands at $13.9 billion.
Top of the list of the 18 films is Marvel’s The Avengers, released in 2012, which earned $1,518,812,988 worldwide.
Second is another movie in the same franchise, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which brought in $1,405,403,694 after being released in 2015.
Iron Man 3 comes in third for the studio, bringing in $1,214,811,252 following its 2013 release.
Top of the list of the 18 films is Marvel’s The Avengers (pictured), released in 2012, which earned $1,518,812,988 worldwide
And Black Panther, released just last week, is already breaking records after taking in a whopping $426,751,965 at cinemas already.
Here is the list of Marvel movies – and how much they grossed at cinemas – in full:
- Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) – $1,518,812,988
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – $1,405,403,694
- Iron Man 3 (2013) – $1,214,811,252
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) – $1,153,304,495
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – $880,166,924
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) – $863,732,512
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017) – $853,456,806
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – $773,328,629
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) – $714,264,267
- Doctor Strange (2016) – $677,718,395
- Thor: The Dark World (2013) – $644,571,402
- Iron Man 2 (2010) – $623,933,331
- Iron Man (2008) – $585,174,222
- Ant-Man (2015) – $519,311,965
- Thor (2011) – $449,326,618
- Black Panther (2018) – $426,751,965
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – $370,569,774
- The Incredible Hulk (2008) – $263,427,551