Ethan Hawke Praises MCU Treatment Of Actors Having Experienced It First Hand

Veteran actor and MCU alum Ethan Hawke, may know just why Marvel is so good at their stellar casting of such high-level performers. Though, the same might not be said for directors. 

Hawke became a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe this year when he played Authur Harrow, the villain opposite Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight on the popular Disney+ series which premiered on the streaming service in March of this year. During an interview with IndieWire, the Boyhood star had nothing but kind words for how actors are treated by producer Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios:

"That group of people is extremely actor-friendly. They might not be director-friendly, and that could be what [Martin] Scorsese and [Francis Ford] Coppola are talking about. But they love actors."

Hawke continued his praise by using Robert Downey Jr.'s experience as Tony Stark aka Iron Man as an example of why actors love working for the studio:

"I think Kevin Feige had a great thing happen with Robert Downey Jr. and he understood that Downey's passion was a large part of the success. When actors are excited by a part, audiences get excited about watching them. Feige understood the algorithm there, so they're extremely respectful toward the process."

What Hawke meant earlier about the directing side came from statements made by legendary directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola in past interviews, where they feel the blockbuster franchises are less than films. Scorsese said in a statement to Empire magazine in 2019:

"I don't see them. I tried, you know? But that's not cinema."

This is an argument that doesn't always hold water with modern audiences. The old guard fails to realize that variety is the spice of life and film contains many genres, narratives, and styles, and creativity can come in limitless forms.