In the 80s/90s Arnold was a huge movie star, playing huge men in both serious and comedy roles.
I guess that what I am asking is; what actor today could occupy the same kind of decade defining place as Arnold did in the 80s/90s?
They don’t have to be a massive bodybuilder, but they should be the first name that anyone would think of when someone say “2010s/2020s”.
Lots of media theory was aimed at the depictions of men on screen in the 80s. I’d say a modern equivalent might be (hear me out….) Ryan Gosling. Start with La La Land, where he establishes himself as a guy who can sing and dance, then go through to Barbie. Sure, it’s not the muscle men of the ‘80s, but it’s a new male archetype.
Honestly I didn’t even enjoy it much but in a way the only memorable action movie I’ve seen in the last 2 decades was Drive.
There has been big stuff like Inception but that’s more of a mind fuck movie. Everything else is a sequel or a comic book. The only others I can think of was the Accountant and the Kingsman
Where Arnold’s action movies seem like an example of the 80’s (at least looking back on movies at that time). Drive seems like a fit for the 2010s. Man just struggling to get by, finding it difficult to fit in, doing what he has to do. Lot more gritty and depressing.