Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star Elizabeth Olsen says she gets frustrated and feisty when people dismiss Marvel films as works of art. The film is the first sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange, which introduced Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular sorcerer. Although it has been six years since the character's last solo effort, Doctor Strange has experienced a lot throughout other MCU projects, including the Avengers crossover films Infinity War and Endgame, as well as last year's titanic box office hit Spider-Man: No Way Home. This time, he will appear alongside current Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong), new heroine America Chavez (Xocitl Gomez), and Olsen's character, the Scarlet Witch.
Olsen has been a part of the MCU even longer than Cumberbatch, as her character - real name Wanda Maximoff - was introduced in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Wanda and her twin brother Pietro (Quicksilver) were experimented on by HYDRA, which gave him the power of superspeed and her the ability to manipulate reality with her mind. Her character has had a complicated emotional journey throughout the MCU, losing her brother in Age of Ultron, falling in love with Vision in Captain America: Civil War, losing him over the course of Infinity War and Endgame, and using her grief to fuel a strange TV sitcom-inspired alternate universe where they are both still alive in WandaVision, the events of which lead directly into Doctor Strange 2.
During an interview with The Independent, about her role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Olsen expressed her frustration with people who seek to belittle the artistic quality of the MCU. She explains that she doesn't mind the criticism when it comes to performance, because blockbusters require a different type of acting than indie art films. However, she gets "feisty" when people suggest that talented Marvel crew members, including "set designers, costume designers, [and] camera operators" are dismissed for working on MCU projects. Read her full quote below:
[When people] make [Marvel movies] seem like a lesser type of art, [that’s when I get frustrated.]
I’m not saying we’re making indie art films, but I just think it takes away from our crew, which bugs me. 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. 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 is certainly right about the pedigree of the people who work behind the camera in the Marvel universe. Many of the crewmembers on these films have previously won multiple awards. Some have even won Oscars for those very films, including Black Panther costume designer Ruth E. Carter and composer Ludwig Göransson. On Doctor Strange 2 alone, the crew includes Oscar-nominated Gladiator cinematographer John Mathieson, 4-time nominee and Nightmare Before Christmas composer Danny Elfman, and Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker editor Bob Murawski.
With filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola feeding into the public criticism of Marvel movies, it has created a complicated conversation across all levels of the industry to the point that Olsen clearly felt the need to speak up. It's true that a film like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness probably won't be nominated for many Oscars, if any. However, that doesn't mean that the people working on it aren't talented and putting their all into the project.
Source: The Independent
