Don't expect to see Westworld star Vincent Cassel in a Marvel or DC movie anytime soon.
Known for his roles in the Oceans movies and Black Swan, Cassel joined the all-star cast of HBO's Westworld for Season 3. Although his character Engerraund Serac was akin to a technological supervillain, it seems Cassel isn't a fan of today's comic book movies.
"I was a big fan of the comics at the time when I was a kid. Nowadays, I think these are movies for kids, really," Cassel told Inverse. "And even though I still have a part of me who's a kid, I would say no. I wouldn't watch it."
As to whether or not he would appear in one of these movies, Cassel said, "Maybe if you had a great villain and it's done with by somebody who's really intelligent and talented enough to give it a twist so it doesn't look like a movie for kids, then maybe I would do it. But otherwise, no. The few approaches that I had, I felt like it would have been a long time commitment for something that I wouldn't even watch to the end."
While Cassel said he was originally a fan of comic book movies and praised the use of groundbreaking technology, he said it soon became "normal" and he lost interest. There was a boom in superhero movies in the early 2000s, as X-Men and Spider-Man turned the genre into a series of blockbusters. Since 2008's Iron Man launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the box office has been dominated by comic book movies.
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Cassel joins a wave of actors and directors who have called out the current box office domination by Disney and Warner Bros.' superhero movies. Martin Scorsese famously slammed Marvel movies as "theme park rides," while even Logan director James Mangold weighed in on the current state of the industry. Nevertheless, this current generation of comic book movies remains as popular as ever; only last year, Avengers: Endgame toppled James Cameron's Avatar from its perch to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.
As it stands, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is powering ahead with its Phase 4 plan, which starts with Black Widow on Nov. 6. Warner Bros. also has a packed slate, with upcoming titles including Wonder Woman 1984, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad and Aquaman 2.