Elizabeth Olsen Explains What ‘Bugs’ Her About Criticism of Marvel Movies

Elizabeth Olsen came to the defense of Marvel films in a recent interview with The Independent. 

Olsen said her issue lies with people who try to belittle these MCU properties and make them “seem like a lesser type of art,” explaining that doing so takes away from the contributions of those behind the screen. 

“I’m not saying we’re making indie art films, but I just think it takes away from our crew, which bugs me,” she said. “These are some of the most amazing set designers, costume designers, camera operators – I feel diminishing them with that kind of criticism takes away from all the people who do award-winning films, that also work on these projects.”

Chloé Zhao directed the 2021 Marvel film Eternals. That same year, she became the first woman of color to win an Academy Award in the Best Director category for the film Nomadland. Two years prior, Black Panther won three Oscars for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score, a first for an MCU property.  

“From an actor’s point of view, whatever, I get it; I totally understand that there’s a different kind of performance that’s happening,” Olsen continued. “But I do think throwing Marvel under the bus takes away from the hundreds of very talented crew people. That’s where I get a little feisty about that.” 

Martin Scorsese notoriously said in a 2019 interview with Empire that MCU films were “not cinema,” arguing they were more comparable to theme parks. Gladiator and House of Gucci director Ridley Scott also went off on superhero movies calling them “fucking boring as shit” and claiming the scripts “are not any fucking good.” 

Speaking with Collider, Olsen addressed rumors that she has already signed an extension with Marvel, while also suggesting her appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may not be her last. “ I sign extensions every time they want me to do a movie. I just signed a very short one at the beginning, so everything’s constantly just, it’s always adjusting for me,” she said. “No. I don’t think of this either as the end.” 

“I don’t know in what capacity I’ll be back,” she said. “I don’t know how to do it without, I don’t want spoilers.”

Olsen recently confessed while on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that despite attending premieres for Multiverse of Madness, she has actively avoided watching the film out of fear that she will be witnessing a flop right before her eyes.