‘Shang-Chi’ star Simu Liu pushes back on Quentin Tarantino’s anti-Marvel comments

Quentin Tarantino has made it clear that Marvel movies are not his cup of tea, but actor Simu Liu has kindly reminded the director that the films and the studio behind them have provided underrepresented communities a chance to be seen on the big screen unlike ever before.

“If the only gatekeepers to movie stardom came from Tarantino and Scorsese, I would never have had the opportunity to lead a $400 million plus movie,” Liu, the star of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” wrote on Twitter. “I am in awe of their filmmaking genius. They are transcendent auteurs. But they don’t get to point their nose at me or anyone.”

He continued: “No movie studio is or ever will be perfect. But I’m proud to work with one that has made sustained efforts to improve diversity onscreen by creating heroes that empower and inspire people of all communities everywhere. I loved the ‘Golden Age’ too.. but it was white as hell.”

Liu seemingly made his comments on social media in response to a podcast interview Tarantino gave in which he criticized the “Marvel-ization of Hollywood.”

The films, Tarantino said on the “2 Bears, 1 Cave” podcast, are “the only things that seem to generate any kind of excitement amongst a fanbase or even for the studio making them.”

He also said that the actors who appear in those films are “not movie stars” because its “franchise characters that become a star.”