Jamie Lee Curtis says Marvel Cinematic Universe is in its “bad” phase
Jamie Lee Curtis, the decorated Hollywood movie star behind such prominent releases as Halloween, A Fish Called Wanda and Everything Everywhere All at Once, attended the Comic-Con this week. During her visit, she and her Borderlands castmates participated in a Q&A session.
During the rapid-fire question assault, an interviewer asked Curtis for her thoughts on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the modern climate. The exact phrasing prompted the actor to describe with one word what “phase” she thought the comic giant was in. In her prompt response, Curtis said, “Bad”. All in attendance proceeded to chuckle at the response.
Mackenzie Davis, star of Speak No Evil, jokingly replied, “death”, when asked the same question, though she confessed that she wasn’t sure what they meant by Marvel “phase”. Her co-star James McAvoy, who has never appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but portrayed Charles Xavier in multiple X-Men films, quipped in response, “Hey, Marvel, she just terminated you”.
Although Curtis and Davis’ comments were somewhat tongue-in-cheek, there is a degree of truth to every dig. For many years, esteemed industry figures, including the great Martin Scorsese, have criticised Marvel for its stranglehold on the movie industry. Whether you are a fan of the MCU or not, it is hard to ignore the movie giant’s lack of success over the past couple of years.
The MCU’s new project, Deadpool & Wolverine, is currently dominating the box office and appears poised to reach $1 billion worldwide this month. The movie has also received warm reviews from the critics. However, it arrives after one of the worst years in the MCU’s history, which saw two box office flops: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels.
Money aside, some prominent figures have commented on the impact of Marvel’s domination on the wider industry. Curtis’ remark follows her highly publicised swipe at Marvel in 2022 when her movie Everything Everywhere All at Once premiered around the same time as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
After a tirade on social media, Curtis clarified her position, claiming that she had no issues with Marvel per se but felt her movie was superior as affecting and artful cinema. “I have nothing against Marvel as an entity,” she told People at the time. “I’ve seen a lot of Marvel movies. What I was talking about is that Everything Everywhere All at Once was a little movie that could … and we were able to tell a multiverse story that really touched people. What I was trying to talk about was it doesn’t have to be a Marvel movie in order to be a spectacle and to really move you.”
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