‘These Are Jobs’: Russell Crowe Says Superhero Movies Aren’t ‘Life-Changing Events’

Superhero films have had their ups and downs in recent years, and people in the film industry have been divided about their impact and importance. Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe is the latest actor to address superhero films.

In an interview with British GQ to promote his upcoming horror film, The Exorcism, Russell Crowe also replied to a question about Dakota Johnson’s comments about superhero films when promoting Sony’s critically panned Madame Web. Crowe is no stranger to superhero films, and his career has included numerous hits and failures. The actor starred both in the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he played Superman’s biological father Jor-El in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, and Zeus in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder. He will also star in Sony’s upcoming film in the Spider-Man Universe, Kraven the Hunter.

Dakota Johnson is notorious for her honest answers in interviews, and she did the same during Madame Web‘s press tour. Reports claimed Sony was unhappy with Johnson as they reportedly believed the actress was “dragging” the film. Following the release of the film, the superhero film was caught in a web of negative reviews, and Johnson admitted that she wasn’t surprised. “In these big movies that get made, decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee[s]. Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullsh*t.”

Asked about Johnson’s comments, Crowe replied, “I don’t want to make any comments to what anybody else might have said or what their experience is, but… you’re bringing out the impish quality of my humor,” the actor started. “You’re telling me you signed up for a Marvel movie, and some fucking universe for cartoon characters… and you didn’t get enough pathos? Not quite sure how I can make this better for you. It’s a gigantic machine, and they make movies at a certain size.”

Crowe continued, “I’ve experienced that on the DC side with Man of Steel, Zack Snyder, and I’ve experienced it on the Marvel side via Disney with Thor: Love and Thunder. And I’ve also experienced the [Sony-produced] Marvel dark universe with Kraven the Hunter. These are jobs. You know: here’s your role, play the role. If you’re expecting this to be some kind of life-changing event, I just think you’re here for the wrong reasons.”

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Russell Crowe Also Noted the Hardships of Superhero Films

Superhero films are mostly a means of escapism, although some of them went above and beyond in creative an immersive experience. Many films were nominated for Oscars, like 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and 2018’s Black Panther even took home three Academy Awards. On top of that, animated films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequels earned multiple awards and praise.

Crowe himself agreed that doing a superhero film is not all sunshine and rainbows. “It can be challenging, working in a blue-screen world, when you have to convince yourself of a lot more than just the internal machinations of your character. But for anything to be… and you can’t make this a direct comment on her because I don’t know her and I don’t know what she went through, and the fact that you can have a shit experience on a film… Yeah, you can. But is that the Marvel process? I’m not sure you can say that.I haven’t had a bad experience. I mean [on Thor], OK, it’s a Marvel movie, but it’s Taika Waititi’s world, and it was just a gas every day, being silly,” the actor recalled.

As for his upcoming superhero film, he noted that, “With JC Chandor on Kraven, I’m just bringing a little weight to the circumstances, so the young actors have got an actor they can bounce off. Going to work with JC was fun. You know, so many of these directors have a certain skill level – freaking genius people. Think about what’s required, right? It’s everything: the composition, the framing, the color, the music, what’s left outside the camera. Whether it’s [Proof director] Jocelyn Moorhouse or it’s Ridley Scott, you’re talking about hanging out with geniuses.”

Kraven the Hunter is set to release on Dec. 13, 2024.

Source: British GQ

Director

J.C. Chandor

Release Date

August 30, 2024

Cast

Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Russell Crowe , Christopher Abbott , Ariana DeBose

Writers

Richard Wenk , Art Marcum , Matt Holloway

Main Genre

Adventure