Stephen King Defends Kevin Costner Horizon Failure And Calls Out Marvel

When a user on X shared an article highlighting Kevin Costner’s past successes and failures, writing that they had “schadenfreude” for Horizon’s perceived flop, Stephen King got behind his computer and got to typing. Striking back at the Kevin Costner hater, King made sure his followers understood the meaning of the German word – which means “taking pleasure in another’s misfortune” – before calling out not only this X user but others who were basking in Horizon’s box office blunder. 

But he didn’t stop there. Stephen King struck back full force against the copy, paste, repeat process that has been happening in Hollywood for so long, asking the haters to examine the reason behind their hate of a unique, fresh piece of IP.

Jumping to Kevin Costner’s defense while taking a jab at the pop in franchises and the seemingly endless Marvel Cinematic Universe, the horror author wrote, “Why in God’s name would anyone luxuriate in the failure of a film that isn’t a sequel or part of the, God save us, ‘Marvel universe?’”

Stephen King’s strongly felt sentiments shouldn’t come as a surprise for those who have read his works, as the author is incredibly keen on creating new characters, universes, situations, and scares, rather than relying on fan-favorite familiars to carry him along.

In his sprawling list of titles, you’d be hard-pressed to find much in the line of full follow-ups beyond The Shining’s sequel Doctor Sleep or The Dark Tower series. While we can’t imagine Stephen King and Kevin Costner sitting down to grab a beer and chat together, maybe this is their connector – game recognizing game in the intellectual property sense.

To gain a better understanding of how Stephen King and Kevin Costner are two creative guys cut from the same cloth, we need to look no further than the latter’s involvement with the Academy Award-winning feature, Dances with Wolves.

Having just read the script, Kevin Costner was game to produce and star in the movie (which he would later also become the director of) and was so certain in it that he threw $3 million of his own hard-earned cash into the project’s $19 million budget. 

Of course, the gargantuan payoff of this decision had a ripple effect throughout the last few decades of Kevin Costner’s career, with the multi-hyphenate performer earning and losing money on other productions.

And, although some may see Kevin Costner as a loser because of Horizon’s opening weekend numbers, Stephen King sees him as a creatively driven man, dedicated to his vision, and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure his art is heard and seen. Plus, with Horizon only in cinemas for a few days, who’s to say that Kevin Costner’s labor of love won’t eventually pay him back in full?