The superhero genre is a wildly powerful force in the entertainment industry, but that wasn’t always the case. When movies like X-Men and Blade were being produced, they were huge risks for the studios. The latter film starred Stephen Dorff as the villainous Deacon Frost, and it should be fascinating to see if that same character makes his way to the MCU with the upcoming reboot. Although Dorff has some blunt thoughts on the state of superhero movies, including Black Adam. He was even quoted saying “their movies suck.”
Stephen Dorff has been a pretty vocal critic of the superhero genre as it stands recently, often making his opinions known about projects like Black Widow. That being said, he does have experience in the genre. Dorff recently spoke to The Daily Beast, and offered some criticism about some of the more recent additions to the genre. He mused about possibly going another comic book project, saying:
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, like when Norrington did Blade, and Guillermo [del Toro] was fucking around in it. 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 [laughs]. And nobody’s going to remember them. Nobody’s remembering Black Adam at the end of the day. I didn’t even see that movie, it looked so bad.
Well, he certainly didn’t hold back. According to Stephen Dorff, the majority of comic book movies nowadays aren't memorable. He goes so far as to call some of them “embarrassing.” And given their huge budgets and massive fanbase, that’s definitely saying something. But does he have a point?
It sounds like Stephen Dorff is echoing concerns about superhero fatigue, which have followed the genre for a few years now. While specifically calling out Black Adam (which he admits he didn’t actually see), he’s also been a vocal critic of Marvel Studios in particular. And this will likely only increase as the Blade movie with Mahershala Ali continues its development. As for The Rock’s DC franchise, we already know that his character isn’t expected to return in the first group of movies in James Gunn’s new DCEU.
In that same interview, Stephen Dorff took shots at Marvel studios, and the somewhat troubled development of the new Blade movie. He laughed off the idea of the vampiric franchise being PG-13, and poked fun at the movie losing its director before the hiring of Yann Demange. Despite this, the blockbuster is still one of the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movies. Dorff was quoted saying:
Marvel is used to me trashing them anyway. How’s that PG Blade movie going for you, that can’t get a director? [laughs] Because anybody who goes there is going to be laughed at by everyone, because we already did it and made it the best. There’s no Steve Norrington out there.
Stephen Norrington directed the original Blade movie, with Guillermo del Toro taking on the mantle for the sequel. And according to Stephen Dorff, the filmmakers who are behind the MCU don’t have the same bold vision as Norrington did for the 1998 Blade. You can see some of that vision in the clip below, which featured Dorff battling with Wesley Snipes’ title character below:
Obviously Mahershala Ali has some very big shoes to fill with his upcoming role as Blade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Technically we heard his voice during Eternals’ post-credits scene, but fans are eager to see the vampiric hero finally join the action in his own solo flick. With a director back on board hopefully it won’t be delayed.
Blade is currently expected to arrive in theaters on September 6th, 2024. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. We’ll just have to see how big of a character he ultimately becomes, and when Mahershala Ali might crossover with other major Marvel figures.
