Martin Scorsese slams Marvel films again, explains why he is against comic book movies

Martin Scorsese has been upfront about his disdain towards the superhero films. The filmmaker previously got massive backlash from fans for calling Marvel movies “more theme parks than cinema.” The Goodfellas director has once again come under fire for calling comic movies a danger to film culture. He urged the audience to fight back against the comic book culture. 

2 things you need to know 

• Martin Scorsese is a well-known filmmaker in Hollywood.
• The director has helmed several classic films like Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. 

Martin Scorsese calls upon filmmakers to save cinema

In a conversation with British GQ, Scorsese went into detail about his long-held belief that IP franchises with a superhero theme are harmful to the cinema industry. The filmmaker said, “It’s manufactured content. It’s almost like AI making a film. There are going to be generations now that think movies are only those, which means that we have to fight back stronger. And it’s got to come from the grassroots level. It’s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves.” 

(Martin Scorsese called comic book film "manufactured content" | Image: AP)

Scorsese listed some prominent directors who are leading the fight against the comic book film phenomenon. He added, “And you’ll have the Safdie brothers, and you’ll have Christopher Nolan. Hit ’em from all sides, and don’t give up... Go reinvent, because we’ve got to save cinema.”

While Nolan did helm three Batman movies for Warner Bros. and DC in 2005 and 2012, he hasn't gone back to the genre or comic book sources since. The global box office for his recent movie, Oppenheimer, surpassed $900M last week.

Scorsese on a quest to tell "real stories" 

According to Scorsese, studios are no longer interested in supporting individual voices that express their personal feelings or their personal thoughts and personal ideas on a big budget and now they've pigeonholed these movies into what they call indies. However, Scorsese emphasised that he would continue to strive for the creation of big-budget films that "say something."