Brad Pitt Throws Shade at Marvel-Era Actors: "We Didn't Sell Out"

Now, nearly 40 years into his career, he's offering some lightly barbed commentary on how things have changed — especially in the age of actors suiting up for Marvel.

Speaking on the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, Pitt talked about how the pressure to "not sell out" used to be a real thing — and how that's basically vanished.

"We were a little more uptight — and had to be — about acting," Pitt said. "You didn't sell out. And now it's this thing of, 'Hey, man, we can be artists in many different arenas. So let's do it. Let's enjoy it.'"

Then came the dig:

"But this idea that they have to have a franchise or have to be a superhero or something… I keep going, 'Don't, don't.' They will die."

Pitt's comments land in the middle of a generational divide — where young actors freely bounce between prestige indies and mega-budget IP without shame, while older stars look on in disbelief at how normal the sellout path has become.

In the same breath, Pitt did acknowledge that the newer generation seems to actually be enjoying themselves more.

"I like watching what the new generations are coming in with," he said. "I like to see what they're up against and also the way they negotiate their way through it. I feel they enjoy it more."

Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh — who directed Pitt in Ocean's Eleven — weighed in recently on this same evolution of the movie star, citing Timothée Chalamet as a rare example of someone navigating it smartly.

From a 2024 interview with Men's Health, Soderbergh said:

"It would appear Timothée Chalamet is a movie star. Like, this guy can make movies hits, and they're a wide range of movies. So, everybody's chasing him... He seems to be pretty savvy about finding things that allow him to build out a range that people will accept, which is smart."

Soderbergh added that casting today revolves around already-established names, because building a new star from scratch — the old-school way — barely exists anymore.

"It's interesting to think about how you make a movie star now, because movies aren't the same as they were 25 years ago. Leading men, or people who become stars, do so by getting opportunities and making good on them."

In other words: these days, you're either born into stardom via franchise IP… or you're stuck clawing your way out of a green screen in spandex.

As for Pitt, he'll next be seen in F1 — a racing movie from Apple and Warner Bros. due out in 2025. No cape in sight.