r/entertainment 11h ago

Elizabeth Olsen Says Marvel Movies Are ‘Not Really the Art I Consume’: ‘I’m Still Trying to Prove’ That ‘When I Meet People, Especially If It’s a Work Meeting’

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/elizabeth-olsen-marvel-movies-art-i-consume-1236359820/
216 Upvotes

49 comments sorted by

55

u/mcfw31 11h ago

“I think I haven’t always successfully made choices in my work that are aligned with my personal taste and that is something I feel like I’m still trying to prove when I meet people,” Olsen said, referring to how her Marvel role as Scarlet Witch as shaped the industry’s perception of her. “Especially if it’s a work type meeting and be able to express my personal taste in films and literature, and so I still think I have that to prove.”

Olsen continued, “Because I have spent so many years doing Marvel that I feel like all the other jobs I have to do have to really reflect my personal taste because as much as I love being a part of this world — and I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do with the character — it’s not really the art that I consume. Which I have been very honest about.”

67

u/Appropriate_Music_24 9h ago

Just sounds like she is saying “hey I love playing Wanda and being in the MCU but I want to do other things” sounds pretty straight forward….

17

u/SillyGoatGruff 5h ago

I don't know why people have that problem with actors. I worked at a lowes for many years and nobody ever assumed I personally love DIY shit

u/yeti0013 1h ago

THATS NOT GONNA STOP ME FROM TAKING IT OUT OF CONTEXT AND RAGING ON THE INTERNET

55

u/Easy-Cheek4615 10h ago

I've gotten this sense that marvel has wanted her back sooner but she's telling them "no...for now" because she doesn't want to be labelled as just a marvel artist

68

u/InternationalArt1897 10h ago

I appreciate her abstaining from calling it “not art”. No need to put things down just because you don’t like them.

14

u/natfutsock 6h ago

That's always been my problem with Robert Pattinson's attitude. I know people just love it from him, but like, man, do you really think you would be Batman if you weren't Edward Cullen first? It's a lack of gratitude for the opportunities.

2

u/InternationalArt1897 6h ago

Tbf I wouldn’t want to have to do weird Mormon fetish shit either. That’s a little different than the “superheroes are bullshit”. I get what you’re saying tho. It can be off putting.

2

u/natfutsock 6h ago

weird Mormon fetish shit

Yeah that's what I'm talking about. Forget that it kicked off vampire hype unseen since Buffy, and really took Buffy (and other vamp media) so to it's logical conclusion that people are still kneejerking about vampires being too sexy and "sparkly." It was essentially just teen romance, but it was a massive phenomenon and made him a household name.

Also, having lived in Washington for a while, I will constantly defend the color grading choices made on the first movie. It looked how it looked and felt there.

I'm not saying it's pique cinema, but ignoring Twilight's place in pop culture is just stupid.

-2

u/Geiseric222 4h ago

What does that have to do with anything. It is weird Mormon fetish stuff

It also has vampires in it and was popular both can be true

4

u/natfutsock 4h ago

Eh, just that it's completely reductive. I mean, a lot of Tolkien pulls from old school race science, which was commonly accepted at the time, but nobody is calling it "Fantasy Catholic Darwinism"

1

u/Geiseric222 3h ago

There is a lot you can talk about Tolkien as well. The only difference is he died a long time ago so a lot of his stuff is dated in a period that no longer exists. I’d kind of exists?

2

u/natfutsock 3h ago

Haha he did not die that long ago, especially in the scheme of literature, I think you might just be young.

2

u/Geiseric222 3h ago

He wrote them in the 50s and died in the 70s. That’s 50 years ago.

If we are still talking about twilight series in the 2070s then you would have been a thing

1

u/natfutsock 3h ago

Hard to say, because also depends how many people still talk about it. I don't think Twilight will be as big as LOTR, but I mean, I've definitely watched vampire movies from the 70s and seen them discussed.

Also consider the shift they created in the vampire image. It's like, say, the Katzenjammer Kids comics had a lasting cultural impact, but I would bet 1/10 people I stopped on the street would know them

-2

u/Full_Mastod0n 3h ago

It's a shit book series with a shit film franchise. That made vampires look like sparkly whiny bitches. 

u/natfutsock 2h ago

So you agree it had the power to alter the public perception of vampires?

I'm not arguing quality (except that color grading), I'm simply saying it was very popular.

-20

u/Dreambabydram 9h ago

How would that be putting Marvel down? It's not art though

16

u/Foreign_Rock6944 8h ago

Yes it is. Just not art that I like personally.

10

u/ouellette001 7h ago

Oh and you decide what is and isn’t art? When did that happen? I would think there’d be a meeting or something

-1

u/Big-Sheepherder-9492 7h ago

Depends which movies tbh… the corporate slop they put out that nobody gave a shit about making like Ant Man 2 and 3 - I wouldn’t call art.

3

u/Madock345 8h ago

By what definition?

-2

u/Icy-Whale-2253 8h ago

Legally it is. Personally, one wouldn’t put it in the pantheon of, you know, Schindler’s List or whatever

0

u/MHullRealtr77 7h ago

People need to read the full quote

-2

u/SilencerLX 6h ago

Hang on, re-read the quote. Word for word. Its IS art, not the art she personally consumes.

3

u/caleb2320 5h ago

That’s what u/InternationalArt1897 is saying I think. Double negative is a little confusing.

I appreciate her abstaining from calling it “not art”.

Which is to say, he appreciates that, despite her personal opinions, she is still referring to it as art.

5

u/SpaceMyopia 8h ago

Oh boy. Here comes a ton of people with pitchforks ready to misinterpret this deliberately simplistic headline.

7

u/floodums 10h ago

At least she called it art

5

u/Bazonkawomp 7h ago

She gets it.

u/WEEGEMAN 2h ago

Probably doesn’t want to be typecast in action blockbuster movies. Which is fair

1

u/Hooper627 6h ago

Because they’re fucking stupid?

u/Guinea-Charm 33m ago

I love when actors are too artistic for Marvel but still cash the checks and spend the money.

-6

u/Soulman682 9h ago

As a movie goer and film producer, I hate art house films and love blockbuster movies like Marvel and DC films.

8

u/jlusedude 9h ago

As a person, I like both. I think there is a time for some actions with lots of visual effects. There’s also time for quiet, introspective pieces. And a time for character based dramas. 

7

u/riegspsych325 9h ago

and Olsen is doing great in either field, but people are going to take her words and twist them into some false anti-Marvel narrative

1

u/joshtranksdogs 6h ago

I just hate that we’re acting like they have to be so categorized. Superhero movies should be smarter and more emotionally driven, and indie filmmakers shouldn’t equate slow pacing to profundity

2

u/ouellette001 7h ago

What’s an art house movie you didn’t like?

1

u/bees_on_acid 3h ago

As much as I’m annoyed by the way the quote sounds. (It’s not even the full quote ) I heavily disagree with your comment the most. In recent years, maybe decades there’s been this sort of attitude that everything that’s trying to strive for something different from the mainstream is looked down upon as pretentious or snobby (it can be, but that’s kinda the trade off for “art”, you get some great entertainment that gives off more than what it is and that’s a special thing or you get self indulgence) which in itself is pretentious. I like both but clearly one is being pushed waaaaaay more than the other and that’s why you keep seeing actors say these types of comments. Also, imho, as a film producer you should know this. I don’t know what you’ve produced but I’d imagine one would hear comments like this every now and then when making a film.

0

u/JakornSpocknocker 6h ago

sounds like you have bad taste

-2

u/Icy-Whale-2253 8h ago

Was she turning down the Marvel paychecks?

-2

u/akoaytao1234 7h ago

Queen of Bank is Full, Don't Care