Samuel L. Jackson contradicts Tarantino on Marvel actors: “Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther and he’s a star”

We have heard it many times: the great directors criticize Marvel and its actors. An example of this is when James Cameron recently said that all characters are acting “like they were in college”or when Martin Scorsese assured that these films could not be considered “cinema”. Quentin Tarantino has not remained silent either, rarely showing his rejection of what these films imply and stating that the true protagonists are the characters, not the actors who play them.. And this is where his friend Samuel L. Jackson came in to contradict him.

“It takes an actor to be one of those characters”Jackson defends himself. “It’s not controversial for me to know that these actors are movie stars. Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther. You can’t disprove it, and it’s a movie star”. She also questioned what it means to be a movie star: “What are we talking about? Butts on the seats?”. The actor himself has been playing the iconic Nick Fury for Marvel since 2008 when he appeared in the post-credits scene of “Iron Man,” and has been an established actor for decades before that.

This was Jackson’s response to Tarantino’s statement, which said: “I think it’s been said a million times, but it’s the characters in the franchise that become the stars.” The manager decided it “part of the ‘wonder’ of Hollywood is that you have all these actors who have become famous for playing those characters”. Therefore, she theorized it “actors are not stars”but “Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star”. Tarantino, who has previously spoken of never being seen directing for Marvel because “They have to hire you for this and they won’t hire me”defends it He doesn’t despise movies or hate them, he just doesn’t like them because that’s the only thing Hollywood is interested in lately.. “Right now the thing is they represent a whole era of movies. There’s not room for much else. That’s my problem with them”.

Marvel or Oscars?

There seems to be a duality of success in Hollywood: actors either dream of becoming a Marvel icon, loved all over the world, or of collecting all possible Oscars, two goals that seem incompatible. Curiously, Samuel L. Jackson has been seen on both sides of the scales, being nominated for Best Supporting Actor right under the direction of Quentin Tarantino in ‘Pulp Fiction’ and last year when he received the honorary Oscar. Despite the excitement of the moment, he is clear on which side to take: “I would never let the Oscars be a measure of my success or failure as an actor”he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “My yardstick for measuring success is my happiness: am I satisfied with what I do? I won’t make movies chasing statues”. By this he refers to the times who tried to get him to take on a project, with the known “If you make this movie, you will win an Oscar”but it is totally opposite: “No thanks. I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or enjoy being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand.”.

On the other hand, when Tom Holland replied to Martin Scorsese that Marvel films could not be considered cinema, he assured that superhero films were “true art”. Also, he pointed out that there are big stars in the sagas, like Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr. or Scarlett Johansson, who are “people who made the kind of movies that are ‘Oscar worthy’ and they’ll tell you they’re the same”.

2023 will be the year of Nick Fury, with the premiere of his series for Disney +, “Secret Invasion”and his participation in “The Marvels”.