Simon Pegg has responded to the controversy around his belief that cinema has been 'dumbed down' in recent years.
The actor, who is currently co-writing the script for Star Trek 3, criticised the industry's focus on 'childish' comic book and superhero subject matter.
However, he has now published a blog post to clarify his position and reassure fans that he is "still a nerd and proud".
He wrote: "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. How could I say that? In the words of Han Solo, 'Hey, it's me!'
"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've yet to see Tomorrowland but with Brad Bird at the helm, it cannot be anything but a hugely entertaining think piece."
What to Read Next
He continued: "I guess what I meant was, the more spectacle becomes the driving creative priority, the less thoughtful or challenging the films can become. 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. It's interesting to see how a cerebral film maker like Christopher Nolan, took on Batman and made it something more adult, more challenging, chasing Frank Miller's peerless Dark Knight into a slightly less murky world of questionable morality and violence.
"But even these films are ultimately driven by market forces and somebody somewhere will want to soften the edges, so that toys and lunch boxes can be sold.
"In that respect, Bruce Wayne's fascistic vigilantism was never really held to account, however interesting Nolan doubtless found that idea. Did he have an abiding love of Batman or was it a means of making his kind of movie on the mainstream stage?"
Pegg concluded by saying that his only concern about the current dominance of science fiction and fantasy is that the genre has been "monetised and marketed", while the things fans consider "precious" are not "the primary concern".
