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Harrison Ford has some advice for any actor actively avoiding Marvel roles.
The Hollywood star, 82, is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe next year in Captain America: Brave New World. He will play Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross aka Red Hulk.
Speaking in a new interview with GQ Magazine, Ford said it would be “silly” for him or other actors to avoid the comic book studio given how popular its films are with cinemagoers.
“We’re silly if we sit around regretting the change and don’t participate,” he said. “I’m participating in a new part of the business that, for me at least, I think is really producing some good experiences for an audience. I enjoy that.”
Ford is no stranger to blockbuster franchises, of course, having played Han Solo in Star Wars and Indiana Jones across the decades.
He added: “I understand the appeal of other kinds of films besides the kind we made in the Eighties and Nineties.
“I don’t have anything general to say about it. It’s the condition our condition is in, and things change and morph and go on.”
Ford’s comment comes following a wave of criticism from stars over the so-called “death” of cinema and movie stars brought on by films like Avengers and Deadpool & Wolverine.
In 2022, Quentin Tarantino said that actors like Chris Evans are more recognised for their superhero characters than they are as movie stars.
Asked about the death of Hollywood movie stars, Ford said: “Oh, I think it’s rubbish.”
“I don’t think the question is whether or not there are any movie stars. There’s wonderful actors coming up every day,” he told the publication. “Whether or not they become movie stars is really not the point. If movies need stars, they will find them.
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“I’ve never f***ing understood being a movie star. I’m an actor. I tell stories. I’m part of a group of people who work together, collaborate on telling stories. I’m an assistant storyteller. That’s what I am.”
While Marvel has featured some of the biggest names in cinema, including Natalie Portman, Samuel L Jackson, Florence Pugh, and now Ford, that hasn’t stopped a barrage of criticism from filmmakers.
Among those to have hit out at Marvel are Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Aniston, James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Jodie Foster, and Stephen Dorff.
Even actors who have starred in the Marvel franchise, such as Robert Downey Jr and Christian Bale, have made a couple of snide remarks about their experiences.
