Former Marvel Star Says Marvel Movies Are Crap
A former Marvel Cinematic Universe star thinks the studio's movies completely stink. Check out who had the, likely, unpopular opinion.
This article is more than 2 years old
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is growing at a rate that is commensurate with the sheer amount of stories they want to tell. It’s such a bold undertaking, almost unparalleled from anything we’ve ever seen in the world of movies. And most of it has been damn good along the way, mixing excellent performances with interwoven stories that are able to appeal to a huge swath of moviegoers. But not everyone sees it that way. In fact, one of the MCU’s former stars thinks the movies downright stink. At least that’s according to Mickey Rourke in a recent Instagram post he made.
It’s been a while, but you remember Mickey Rourke played Ivan Vanko/ Whiplash all the way back in Iron Man 2. This was still at the relative dawn of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was actually the third movie overall in the franchise. It followed the first Iron Man and then The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton which almost doesn’t even count at this point. Rourke never appeared again in the MCU and really, the whole franchise has moved on. But it doesn’t look like he has. In fact, he took a dig at Marvel in the Instagram post. Check it out:
If this is a little TLDR for you, I hear it. It’s a 350+ word breakdown of why he loves Law & Order so much and how every actor on the show is some of the greatest to ever hit the screen. Fine, all well and good. A little out of nowhere and over the top, but no harm no foul. It’s at the end that he throws in this little non-sequitur “Respect to all of you,the work that you all do is real acting, not like that crap that all on Marvel shit.”
It’s not totally clear why Mickey Rourke would have it out for Marvel or why he felt the need to throw in that comparison at the end of the post. Maybe there is bad blood with the actor after his short stint in the franchise. Or it could just be the ramblings of some dude, the post definitely had a “what’s going on here?” vibe to it. But it is a bummer when someone who’s been involved in a project obviously holds out some negativity towards the franchise. That’s clearly the case with Rourke.
Look, not everyone is a Marvel fan. I get it. Guys like Martin Scorcese are on record taking jabs at the studio and the movies, complaining in some ways that what they’ve done is tantamount to transforming the movie landscape in a way that makes it harder for others to get things made with solid budgets. I suppose it’s a legitimate gripe. But if movies are meant to entertain and to appeal to the masses, it’s sure hard to argue with the results on that level. These films and the universe as a whole have developed a massive following on the back of stories that appeal to lots of folks.
Calling Law & Order great and Marvel crap in the same sentence does (possibly) undercut the case against the latter, though he doesn’t make a case against it except to lob in a dig from the cheap seats. Marvel has often been “good” about keeping its players involved in the different phases but these early films do kind of sit apart from the rest of the universe. In that way, maybe Rourke feels a bit left out. Or maybe he just does think they suck and Law & Order is legit the best thing that’s ever hit screens, big or small.
