Meryl Streep says filmmakers ‘Marvel-ize’ movies too much now: ‘It’s so boring’

Marina WattsMon, May 4, 2026 at 3:58 PM UTC

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Meryl Streep in New York in April 2026Credit: ANGELA WEISS / AFP via GettyKey Points -

Meryl Streep doesn't think movies always need to declare which characters are heroes and villains, calling it "so boring."

Despite Streep's Miranda Priestly antagonizing her assistant in The Devil Wears Prada, many fans believed Adrien Grenier's Nate was the true villain of the 2006 film.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is now in theaters.

Meryl Streep believes humans are more complex than being simply good or evil.

On May 1, appearing alongside The Devil Wears Prada 2 costars Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway on Hits Breakfast Radio Show, the three-time Oscar winner spoke about filmmakers projecting Marvel movie archetypes onto characters. During the conversation with host Fleur East, the fan theory that Nate (Adrian Grenier) was the real villain instead of Miranda Priestly was brought up.

"He's okay. He's so gorgeous," Streep joked. "He's a good actor, and you know he's going to be all right."

Meryl Streep in London in April 2026Credit: Tristan Fewings/Getty

Host East then brought up how fans see a "soft side" of Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada 2, which Streep attributed to characters being more complex simply by nature.

"I feel like you get a realistic view," she said. "I think we tend to Marvel-ize the movies now. We got the villains, we got the good guys, and it's so boring."

Streep continued, "And what's really interesting about life is that some of the heroes are flawed and some of the villains are human and interesting in their own right, and have their own strengths. So that's what I like about this one. It's messier."

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Grenier, who doesn't return for the Devil Wears Prada sequel, addressed the villainizing of Nate with Entertainment Weekly in 2021. Nate, who was Andy's (Hathaway) chef boyfriend in the first film, fails to support her as her job at Runway becomes all-consuming; he's more focused on making grilled cheese sandwiches.

"All those memes that came out were shocking to me," Grenier said at the time. "It hadn't occurred to me until I started to really think about it, and perhaps it was because I was as immature as Nate was at the time, and in many ways, he's very selfish and self-involved, it was all about him, he wasn't extending himself to support Andy in her career."

He continued, "But after time to reflect and much deliberation, I've come to realize the truth in that perspective."

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Grenier also poked fun at Nate's absence for the sequel in a Starbucks ad. "Okay, so, he wasn't perfect. So, let's leave Nate in 2006 and keep this good energy going!"

Watch Streep's full interview in the video above. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is now in theaters.

on Entertainment Weekly

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