In an interview with Radio Times, Simon Pegg -- known for his roles in 2009's "Star Trek" and "Shaun of the Dead" -- made a few disparaging comments about the state of the sci fi/fantasy film genre, which he later went on to clarify on his website.

"It is a kind of dumbing down in a way," he said in the original interview. "Because it's taking our focus away from real-world issues. Films used to be about challenging, emotional journeys or moral questions that might make you walk away and re-evaluate how you felt about... whatever. Now we’re walking out of the cinema really not thinking about anything, other than the fact that the Hulk just had a fight with a robot."

However, Pegg later cleared up the comment on his website, writing, "The 'dumbing down' comment came off as a huge generalisation by an A-grade asshorn. I did not mean that science fiction or fantasy are dumb, far from it... In the last two weeks, I have seen two brilliant exponents of the genre. 'Ex Machina' and 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' both of which had my head spinning in different and wonderful ways and are both very grown up films."

"I guess what I meant was, the more spectacle becomes the driving creative priority, the less thoughtful or challenging the films can become," he went on to say. "The spectacle of 'Mad Max' is underpinned not only multiple layers of plot and character but also by an almost lost cinematic sense of 'how did they do that?' The best thing art can do is make you think, make you re-evaluate the opinions you thought were yours."

He wrapped up the post with three points that clarify his stance on genre films: "I love Science Fiction and fantasy and do not think it’s all childish. I do not think it is all generated by dominant forces as a direct means of control…much. I am still a nerd and proud."

In the same post, he also confirmed the rumor that "Star Trek 3" would be titled "Star Trek Beyond."