Stephen Dorff has called Marvel and other comic-related films ‘garbage’ and dissed the MCU reboot of Blade. The Blade actor tells what he thinks of the comic book movie industry in a recent interview with The Daily Beast.
Dorff starred in Blade from 1998 with Wesley Snipes taking the lead role. He played Deacon Frost, who was the main antagonist in the film.
The original Blade was the main reason why we have the MCU today. It kick-started Marvel into making movies. Because of it, we did get the X-Men from 20th Century Fox, Spider-Man from Sony Pictures, and now we have the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The actor was asked if he would want to revisit or try a different genre. He apparently focused on comic book films. He answered:
If comic book movies were more like when I started when we made ‘Blade,’ or the few that have been decent over the years, like when Nolan did ‘The Dark Knight’ and reinvented Batman from Tim Burton, who’s obviously a genius…when they were interesting, like when Norrington did Blade, and Guillermo [del Toro] was fucking around in it.
Steve Norrington directed Blade. It pretty much should have started his career in mainstream cinema. He was even offered to direct the sequel but turned it down, which ended up with Guillermo del Toro. Norrington had lots of opportunities with Ghost Rider, Shang-Chi, and Akira.
But after the box office failure of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen starring Sean Connery, he struggled to get back. It was also Connery’s last live-action performance before retiring.
Del Toro’s take on Blade II was another highlight. Del Toro’s visual style took the front seat. But the film was criticized for the characterization of the main lead taking a back seat. Then again, that was pretty much the norm back in the day.
Del Toro’s film projects just got better with Hellboy, Pacific Rim, and Crimson Peak. He had won awards for films like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water.
Blade Star Stephen Calls The MCU ‘Garbage’
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Dorff continued:
But all this other garbage is just embarrassing, you know what I mean? I mean, God bless them, they’re making a bunch of money, but their movies suck [laughs]. And nobody’s going to remember them. Nobody’s remembering ‘Black Adam’ at the end of the day. I didn’t even see that movie, it looked so bad.
Back in 2021, Dorff did already call Marvel ‘garbage’, especially with Black Widow. This happened in an interview with The Independent.
He said that the film looked like a ‘bad video game’ and he was ‘embarrassed’ for Scarlett Johansson. Not long after, he did admit to TMZ that he regretted his comments about Johansson.
Marvel is used to me trashing them anyway. How’s that PG ‘Blade’ movie going for you, that can’t get a director? [laughs] Because anybody who goes there is going to be laughed at by everyone, because we already did it and made it the best.
The Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali has been struggling to get started. The project lost its original director Bassam Tariq, and it took a while for Marvel to look for a replacement.
Yann Demange eventually got the responsibility to helm the film. More recently, the film’s MCU schedule has been pushed from Phase 5 to Phase 6, which will be sometime after the release of Fantastic Four.
Marvel has been focused on PG-13 films, with Deadpool 3 as the only exception. The original Blade was rated R, which did feature a lot of violence, blood and gore.
While the effects of the film have aged poorly in my own opinion, it was groundbreaking for a comic book adaptation to have that much violence.
I’d do mainstream movies all the time if they were good. If the one or two a year that happen don’t, for whatever reason, cast me in a role, I’m not going to lose sleep over it because I wasn’t one of 50 people in ‘Oppenheimer.’ I mean, it looks cool, but to me, unless you’re playing Oppenheimer, I don’t want to be in that movie [laughs]. Unless it’s my friend’s movie, and then I’ll do a scene or pop up.
Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s upcoming biographical film, with an all-star cast like Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon and many more. While Nolan’s films are blockbuster films, they have a certain style that makes them feel like art.
Stephen Dorff Mocks The Upcoming MCU Blade Film
Credit: New Line Cinema
READ MORE: Marvel’s Blade Movie Release Date To Be Delayed
Stephen Dorff’s career has been a hit or miss. But I can’t blame him for the film he chooses. He does get some blockbuster films once in a while.
But he generally tries things that call to him, which I respect. And he’s proud of the things he has done, even if it has been crushed to the ground by audiences and critics.
The actor has his own opinion about films, and he’s been like that for a while now. Obviously, he doesn’t hate films that he’s not part of since he did admit to liking Nolan and Burton’s take on Batman.
The MCU or the DC Universe, for whatever reason, is not his type of thing. And to tell you the truth, there are some people who are tired of the MCU, especially with the Phase 4 films. And don’t get me started with the DCEU or DCU with what’s happening with their current set of films.
What do you think of Stephen Dorff calling MCU and other superhero or comic-book-based films ‘garbage?’ Do you think he has the right to mock the upcoming Blade film? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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think he may just be jealous cause hes looking pretty rough these days,they r not giving him many roles anymore.he needs to lay off the hard lifestyle and smoking.kinda looking like a old man!!!