Brie Larson Pushes Back Against Leading Questions About Marvel Fans
Brie Larson has learned from her mistakes. The Oscar-winning actress first played Carol Danvers, alias Captain Marvel (nowadays), in the MCU in 2018, but leading up to her Marvel movie debut, she made comments that drew the ire of fans, particularly ones dismissive of white men. She also gave the impression of being smug and off-putting, even in interviews with some of her co-stars from Avengers: Endgame, in one of which Chris Hemsworth and Don Cheadle seemed less than enamored with her. And in fairness to her, it didn’t help that Marvel completely misused the character, shoehorning her into a narrative where she didn’t fit and forcing an MCU retcon to try to make it make sense (which it still didn’t), showcasing her at the expense of characters who’d earned payoffs much more in Endgame’s big finale, and going out of their way to make sure everyone knew she was the most powerful superhero in the history of the words “super,” “hero,” and “superhero.” Moreover, she was seen as the beginning of the MCU’s turn from universal crowd-pleasing entertainment to a series of thinly veiled woke screeds. The result was diminishing returns, and while Captain Marvel made a lot of money, the character’s popularity didn’t reflect that, and she went from the intended face of the Marvel Universe to a co-lead with two women from a pair of TV shows in a movie that bombed.
Since then, Brie Larson has seemed a bit more careful with what she says. Before The Marvels came out, when asked if she was coming back to the MCU at Comic-Con, she said, seemingly shaken, “Does anybody want me to come back?” Later, she told an interviewer at the SAG awards that she “doesn’t have anything to say” about returning to Marvel, which could have been slyly hinting at a surprise appearance but seemed a bit bitter based on her body language. Now, she’s being openly hostile to questions about Marvel fans and misogyny, and I don’t blame her one bit. Recently, Larson did an interview with the UK paper The Telegraph about her new play in London’s West End, Elektra, and the interviewer, after asking her about portraying Captain Marvel, attempted to get Larson to denounce Marvel fans. Larson tried to get her to back off, and ultimately, Larson’s publicist intervened and told the interviewer to move on. Here’s the exchange, courtesy of That Park Place, as the original article is behind a paywall:
However, when The Telegraph prodded her about why some men were supposedly “threatened” by her casting, Larson shut the conversation down.
“I don’t know,” she responded bluntly. “I… don’t pay attention.”
When the interviewer pushed further, suggesting she ignored criticism as a way to cope with supposed “misogyny,” the tension in the room reportedly spiked.
“What I would like you to see is that by continuing this conversation, you are putting me in connection with something that is nothing to do with me,” Brie Larson snapped, seemingly understanding that the interviewer was likely trying to bait her into calling the fans sexist.
Realizing the hostility, the interviewer shifted tactics, asking whether Hollywood still struggles to accept female superheroes. Larson didn’t budge.
“I don’t think there is a way for me to answer that without it becoming a problem for me,” she said, once more refusing to take the bait and stir up even more controversy around her image.
At that point, her publicist jumped in, shutting down the topic entirely.
Honestly, I feel bad for Brie Larson in this situation. She clearly doesn’t want to talk about it, she knows her previous attitude hurt her career, and she emphatically asks the interviewer to stop going down this road. But the obnoxious journalist keeps pushing, determined to get some attention-grabbing quote that makes fans look bad and allows her to bloviate about misogyny and the plight of women in superhero movies. And while I obviously wasn’t there and can’t know for sure (hell if I’d take the interviewer’s word for it), Larson seems annoyed and maybe even a little scared that she’ll say something that makes trouble for herself. Clearly, she’s learned something from the pushback to her attitude a few years ago, and she’s trying to avoid making those mistakes again, which I appreciate. But the news media will always be out for blood, even that of someone they pretend to champion, like Brie Larson. It reminds me of that episode of South Park where the world was taking this perverse pleasure in seeing Britney Spears unravel, spurred on by the media egging her on. I’m not saying it’s exactly the same, but the press is as bloodthirsty as always. I hope Larson can move on from this and that the sensationalists will let her.
Oh, and here’s something funny: four days after the interview was printed, The Telegraph gave her play a bad review.
Let us know what you think about Brie Larson’s response to questions about Marvel fans in the comments!
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