While everyone was happy to see this new MCU dominate Hollywood (as it was their childhood heroes coming to life) the veterans of the industry soon identified the problem with the MCU. In 2019, Martin Scorsese talked about how he finds all Marvel movies problematic and doesn’t consider them as real art. In his words, “they’re adventure park movies”. At the time, I was petrified at Scorsese as I loved Marvel. But, soon I got the maturity of understanding what he was trying to say. I switched sides as I too faced the superhero movie fatigue. After Scorsese many other industry greats like Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron stepped into the fire where they shot arrows at Marvel. The most recent addition to this Marvel vs Real Art debate was Quentin Tarantino.
Years have passed since then but Scorsese’s stand on the superhero genre as a whole hasn’t changed. He recently made a comment on how superhero films are “killing the culture”. That’s a bold statement to make. Let’s try to understand what the veteran filmmaker is trying to say.
Are Martin Scorsese’s Superhero Criticisms Valid? Nolan Speaks Up
During a promotional tour for Killers of the Flower Moon, legendary director Martin Scorsese once again targeted superhero movies and said that they’re killing the culture. This obviously extracted many reactions from various people online. Some were for while others were against the statement. I’ve previously explained why we need to listen to these gurus of filmmaking and take their opinions seriously. Whatever little we understand of filmmaking today is thanks to the extensive work done by these people in their era.
No movie lover can deny that Martin Scorsese is arguably the Greatest Director alive. So, why does the legend despise superheroes movies so much? There is a reason. I understand Scorsese’s fears. He is afraid that in their greed, studios will resort to only one kind of cinema. Only guaranteed profitable ventures will be made which roughly translates to franchise films that are led by superhero movies. Meaning original cinema will be smothered and only one kind of cinema will prevail and dictate the industry.
This is truly a serious problem for Hollywood. If studios only resort to formula films and never take risks then the canvas of cinema won’t ever expand. Audiences’ palate will forever be limited. The kind of cinema that franchise films celebrates is mostly of the frivolous kind. They’re more movies than you’d consider them as films. The zeitgeist is rarely captured in them that reflect the culture of the time it is made in and set in. We might have never seen films like Sound of Freedom, Oppenheimer or Barbie if studios didn’t take risks and only resorted to formulas.
All these films were extravagant successes, which tells us about the audience appreciating original cinema just as much if not more than franchise movies. Films that talk about serious subjects or present a unconventional style of the cinematic artform would be lost if original cinema is restricted. Big budgets for serious films are only given to big reputed directors. So, naturally the new directors of this generation choose to do franchise pictures to make a living as that is what is selling. They’re not able to tell the stories that made them into filmmakers.
Which is where franchise films might just become the norm and by extension the culture. Cinema, once considered to be an ever evolving medium will become stagnant. Considering all this one can understand why Scorsese believes that superhero movies are killing culture. However, one needs to be mindful that there are always two sides to an argument. While Scorsese’s criticisms of the Hollywood ecosystem are valid, we can’t just kill franchise films. Not everyone just loves original cinema, many like franchise films or even prefer it.
Even I, an avid cinephile, tunes into such pictures from time to time for the escapism of it. There is a reason why these films work, which is why we have no right to singularly just stop making them. It would unfair to the section of the audience who enjoys them. We’ll be no better than the studios then. What we need is to strike a balance. I think Christopher Nolan summarized this in the best way possible. In a recent interview with Associated Press he was asked to comment on Scorsese’s criticisms on superhero movies.
Nolan maturely told the outlet his take on the veteran’s words, “There’s always a balance in Hollywood between established titles that can assure a return in audience and give people more of what they want, that’s always been a big part of the economics of Hollywood. And it pays for lots of other types of films to be made and distributed.” He further added, “But there also always needs to be respect for the audience’s desire for something new…that’s one of the big thrills of going to the movies is, frankly, seeing a trailer for a movie you’ve never heard of…a type of movie you haven’t seen. A healthy ecosystem in Hollywood is about a balance between the two things and always has been.”
If you have any questions regarding Movies and TV shows, feel free to ask in the comments below. For more content, stay tuned. As usual, like, subscribe and share our articles as we here are trying to build a community of people High on Cinema!
