In 2021, Stephen Dorff (“True Detective”) was able to draw attention to himself again after facing dished out well against the Marvel blockbuster Black Widow. The actor told the trade magazine at the time that the film “looked rubbish” and that he was “completely ashamed” of lead actress Scarlett Johansson. Now there’s a new chapter in the Dorff vs. superheroes. In this case, “Black Adam” with Dwayne Johnson is not spared.
Opposite Dorff, who played the villain in the 1998 Marvel adaptation Blade, explained that he would only star in contemporary comic book adaptations if they were “more like Blade or the few that have been decent over the years, like Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ and when Tim Burton reinvented Batman.” Dorff boldly continued: “All that other crap is just embarrassing, you know what I mean?”
Also “Black Adam” is not spared
Of course, Stephen Dorff’s statements are purely subjective and say absolutely nothing about today’s superhero cinema. But if you interpret the actor’s words correctly, he probably just lacks his own identity in today’s comedy film adaptations, which also allows the respective viewing experience to have a bit of a lasting effect. This is underlined by Dorff’s further words: “They make a lot of money, but their films are worthless. And no one will remember them. No one remembers at the end of the day ‘Black Adam‘. I didn’t even see that movie, it looked so bad.”
Of course, it’s always easy (but also correspondingly unfounded) to rant about movies you haven’t even seen yet. But Dorff also has a suggestion on how to polish up the quality of comic blockbusters, which he believes are no longer there: by focusing on young talent. Dorff also directs Eddie Alcaraz, in whose ‘Divinity’ he recently took the lead role. Emerging artists should be given the opportunity to realize their visions and not “over and over again ‘Black Adam‘ and make worthless waste.”
Is Stephen Dorff looking forward to the MCU “Blade”?
Marvel is currently implementing a new version of “Blade” for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will star Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as Daywalker. The film is directed by Yann Demange after Bassam Tariq left the project shortly before production started. However, for Stephen Dorff, it’s clear that the MCU “Blade” has no chance of trumping the 1998 “Blade.”
Stephen Dorff also continued to comment on commercial cinema in general, saying that he would always do mainstream movies if they were good. If, for some reason, the once or twice a year don’t cast me in a role, I won’t be kept awake because I wasn’t one of the 50 people in “Oppenheimer.” I mean, it looks cool, but I don’t want to be in that movie, unless I’m playing Oppenheimer or a friend’s movie, then I’m doing a scene or a pop-up.”