Barely a day goes by without a high-profile figure being asked for their opinions on the current state of superhero cinema, with Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran Robert Downey Jr. recently weighing in on Quentin Tarantino’s criticism of the genre. It’s going to be one of those never-ending debates, then, but it looks as though James Gray may have exposed himself as a hypocrite.
The versatile filmmaker behind crime thriller We Own the Night, romantic drama Two Lovers, period-set adventure The Lost City of Z, and underrated sci-fi Ad Astra made waves a few years back when he was asked for his thoughts on blockbuster comic book adaptations, and responded in kind by describing them as “a level of bullsh*t the culture is now embracing.”
Not only that, but he additionally revealed that when his doctor asked him if he’d gotten around to seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron, Gray laughed it off by saying of course he hadn’t, because he’s not nine years old. And yet, during an appearance on Marc Maron‘s podcast, the filmmaker opened up on his hypothetical interest in making a Batman movie of all things.
“Why not, it’s a great tapestry to play with. Batman’s cool, right? Batman is a real person at least. Do I want to do a comic book movie? I’m saying if they offered me one, would I contemplate one? That’s the one I would do, Batman. He’s a real person, he’s not like a talking fox or whatever.”
The internet being what it is, you can imagine that it won’t be long until Gray’s prior comments are picked up on by everyone and their talking fox. Opinions can soften and change over time, but maybe he wants to indulge his inner child and tackle a sprawling tale of spandex-clad crimefighting on the broadest possible canvas. Either that, or his hatred for superheroes has subsided entirely.
