You probably won't see Oscar winning filmmaker Martin Scorcese sitting in the theater for the next Spider-Man or Thor. On Friday, he candidly told a reporter that those Marvel movies may be very popular, but they're not very good.
“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.” (Screen Rant)
That last part is debatable. All of the Marvel films, I'd argue, are more than just fist fights and explosions. They dig into the soul of the superhero. Love, friendship, and humanity feature in all of the movies, particularly in the final, heartbreaking chapter in the Avengers franchise, Avengers: Endgame. That scene between Black Widow and Hawkeye alone left the audience in a glass case of emotion. It's a real tearjerker.
A theme park can't do that!
Other Marvel fans jumped to the franchise's defense.
Just because the characters happen to have super powers doesn't make the stories told less valuable then others.
— JPhilm38 (@JPhilm38) October 4, 2019
Willing to bet a lot of this sort of sentiment from filmmakers like Scorsese is coming from their films being crowded out of cinemas/theatrical audiences by the 'theme park' films...but lashing out at a genre isn't the way to go about it. https://t.co/QCeDzNHnJJ
— Anton Volkov @ LFF (@antovolk) October 4, 2019
But who are we to argue with Scorcese, a wildly accomplished director? Especially one who may have another Oscar winner on his hands with his anticipated new film The Irishman.
Perhaps Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has more grounds to respond to Scorcese's missive against Marvel. As you can imagine, he was not amused that his fellow filmmaker had diminished his art.
Martin Scorsese is one of my 5 favorite living filmmakers. I was outraged when people picketed The Last Temptation of Christ without having seen the film. I’m saddened that he’s now judging my films in the same way. https://t.co/hzHp8x4Aj8
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 4, 2019
Of course, as mentioned, the Marvel Universe is wildly popular. Avengers: Endgame blasted past Avatar this year to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.