It should come as no surprise that Ethan Hawke is a fan of comic book movies, really. After all, he has just appeared in the MCU TV series Moon Knight, where he played the villain Arthur Harrow. But, a viral video of the actor praising superhero movies has resurfaced recently, and it’s a real delight to see someone of his stature talking so positively about the art form of filmmaking.
You may remember that initially, Hawke appeared to be critical of the superhero genre, that is, before he signed on for the Moon Knight role with streaming service Disney Plus. Hawke had commented on the X-Men movie Logan, in an interview with The Film Stage, where he said, “We have the problem that they tell us Logan is a great movie. Well, it’s a great superhero movie.”
The viral video that has resurfaced recently though, which comes from a 2018 interview with RayWork Productions, has Hawke setting the record straight. Far from criticising superhero movies like Logan, Hawke actually intended to praise the craft and the heart that goes into making superhero movies, even going so far as to profess his love for the genre.
“Let me correct the record, the reason I was talking about Logan, is because I love it,” Hawke explained. “I love superhero movies, I like every kind of movie. I don’t think there’s a difference between high art and low art.”
“There are movies that people put their heart into, and there are movies that people try to cash in on. The ones that I like are the ones that people put their heart into,” the actor added. “You can feel that in a superhero movie, you can feel that in a horror movie, or you can feel it in some art house movie.”
Hawke then makes a very valid point on the rapidly diluted film market we see today with the rise of superhero movies, claiming that there is “so much money being spent commercially, making it so that that’s all we see.”
If you were curious, Hawke cites Logan, The Dark Knight, and Doctor Strange as his favourite superhero movies, but insists there is no need to turn “everything into a competition” and wishes people would just “absorb a movie for how it meant to you.”
He’s not wrong! While we adore comic book movies here at The Digital Fix, there is more than enough room in the world for every kind of movie – the more the merrier!