“I’m not saying we’re making indie art films,” Olsen said
HUFFPOST:The Scarlet Witch’s wrath might be deadly, but Elizabeth Olsen says she only gets a “little feisty” when people criticize Marvel movies.
While absolutely nobody needs to feel bad for a studio raking in box-office receipts by the billions, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has attracted a handful of high-profile detractors in recent years, including directors Martin Scorsese, Denis Villeneuve and Jane Campion, who’ve all essentially laid the death of cinema at its feet.
Olsen — who’s appeared in a string of Marvel projects since 2015, including the recent “Doctor Strange” sequel — understands the feedback, but she’s also pushing back against those who make superhero films “seem like a lesser type of art.”
“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 in a new interview with The Independent. “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.”
“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,” she 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.”
Olsen got her start in a string of critically acclaimed indie films, including her big-screen debut in the 2011 thriller “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” before moving on to big-budget, special-effects-heavy fare.
Her latest Marvel blockbuster, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” arrived in theaters this weekend to the tune of an estimated $185 million in ticket sales, the biggest opening of any film in 2022.
As for whether she’ll return to her roots, Olsen has learned to keep her options open and the haters out of mind, adding that she’s ready to play in the Marvel sandbox again as long as “there’s a good idea attached to it.”
Noting that she initially was only contracted to appear in two movies and a cameo, Olsen said, “It continues to be a surprise when they want to use me for more projects.”
Next up for the actor, however, is a project hailing from an entirely different genre.
Olsen is set to star in “Love and Death,” an upcoming HBO Max limited series from writer and executive producer David E. Kelley about the true and very grisly story of Texas housewife Candy Montgomery, who famously killed her best friend from church with an ax.
