Original ‘Blade’ Star Stephen Dorff Blasts Modern Comic Book Films: “They’re Making A Bunch Of Money But The Movies Suck”
Spencer Baculi
|
In the opinion of original Blade star Stephen Dorff, despite the odd exception, modern comic book movies are not just uninteresting, but they are outright “garbage”.
Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) tells Blade (Wesley Snipes) to prepare for the coming of La Magra in Blade (1998), Marvel Entertainment
Dorff, who many may remember for his role as the villainous Deacon Frost in the original cinematic adaptation of Marvel’s Blade, offered his criticism of the modern Hollywood cape machine during a recent interview with The Daily Beast centered around his upcoming sci-fi horror film Divinity.
Making its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Divinity presents a world wherein a scientist, Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula), has successfully managed to manufacture a drug – the titular Divinity – which bestows its users with a sort of psuedo-immortality.
Disgusted with how a majority of the world is now chokingly addicted to Divinity, two brothers (Moises Arias and Jason Genao) abduct Sterling’s son Jaxxon (Dorff), who has now inherited his father’s pharmaceutical empire, in an attempt to free the world from the drug’s grasp.
Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff) attempts to reason with his captors in Divinity (2023), Divinity the Film
RELATED RUMOR: Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Reboot In Complete Shambles, Star Mahershala Ali Reportedly “Very Frustrated With The Process”
Following a reflection on the numerous challenges, both good and bad, he encountered while shooting the film, Dorff was asked by the outlet’s Nick Schager if it “difficult to find mainstream projects that are as interesting and challenging as something like Divinity?”, to which the actor replied, “I mean, mainstream movies—the few movies that are coming out in theaters that are doing well, like Avatar and Top Gun—I don’t even know what it all is. It’s all stupid to me.”
Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff) finds his life turned upside down in Divinity (2023), Divinity the Film
“I think film festivals are, in a way, kind of silly, with the exception of, it brings filmmakers and people together and gets an audience to see your movie and you can launch it and sell it there,” Dorff opined. “But in general, most of the movies are selling to streamers anyway, so it’s not really about cinema.”
“I think Divinity should be bought by the majors, and if the majors were smart—if DC or any of these companies were doing cool things—they would look for the next [Divinity director] Eddie Alcazar, because that’s the future,” he further declared, adding with a laugh, “Not making Black Adam and worthless garbage over and over again.”
Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) surges with his newly acquired powers in Black Adam (2022), Warner Bros. Pictures
RELATED: All 30 Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked From Worst To Best
Later speaking to this same sentiment, following an inquiry by Schager as to what, if any, “other genres, besides comedy, that you’d like to try, or revisit?”, Dorff declared that he would give comic book movies another shot if not for the fact that their quality had spiked, regardless of production studio, in recent years.
“My life is pretty weird, but look, I love all kinds of movies,” said the actor. “If comic-book movies were more like when I started when we made Blade, or the few that have been decent over the years, like when Nolan did The Dark Knight and reinvented Batman from Tim Burton, who’s obviously a genius…when they were interesting.”
Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) threatens to kill a young girl just to taunt Blade (Wesley Snipes) in Blade (1998), Marvel Entertainment
“Like when Norrington did Blade, and Guillermo [del Toro] was f–king around in it,” he continued. “But all this other garbage is just embarrassing, you know what I mean? I mean, God bless them, they’re making a bunch of money, but their movies suck.”
“And nobody’s going to remember them,” Dorff declared. “Nobody’s remembering Black Adam at the end of the day. I didn’t even see that movie, it looked so bad.”
Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan) attempts to subdue Teth Adam (Dwayne Johnson) in Black Adam (2022), Warner Bros. Pictures
Referring to his noted and vocal history of criticism against the current state of super hero cinema, Dorff then humourously added, “Marvel is used to me trashing them anyway. How’s that PG Blade movie going for you, that can’t get a director?”
“Because anybody who goes there is going to be laughed at by everyone, because we already did it and made it the best,” he concluded. “There’s no Steve Norrington [the director of Blade] out there.”
Blade (Wesley Snipes) bares his fangs at Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) in Blade (1998), Marvel Entertainment
As of writing, the Daywalker’s Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently slated to rise into theaters sometime in 2023.
However, at the same time, the latest whispers suggest that, as mentioned by Dorff, the entire production in shambles – to say nothing of its awful rumored script.
Source: Avengers Vol. 8 #10 “The Battle for the Right to be Called..Earth’s Mightiest” (2018), Marvel Comics. Words by Jason Aaron, art by Andrea Sorrentino and Cory Petit.
More About:Movies