The debate over the merits of superhero cinema have largely seen the elder statesmen of Hollywood deride the genre at every available opportunity.
Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola have both openly blasted Marvel on several occasions, with the two legends opening a massive can of worms that saw some of the biggest names in the business weigh in to offer their two cents.
We can now add Ridley Scott to the Scorsese/Coppola camp, after the 83 year-old was almost hilariously dismissive of the comic book blockbuster during an interview with Deadline. Discussing his recent and upcoming slate of projects that includes historical epic The Last Duel, true-life drama House of Gucci and upcoming Napoleon biopic Kitbag, Scott absolutely let rip.
“Almost always, the best films are driven by the characters, and we’ll come to superheroes after this if you want, because I’ll crush it. I’ll f*cking crush it. They’re f*cking boring as sh*t .. Their scripts are not any f*cking good … They’re superhero movies. So, why don’t the superhero movies have better stories? Sorry. I got off the rail, but I mean, c’mon. They’re mostly saved by special effects, and that’s becoming boring for everyone who works with special effects, if you’ve got the money.”
As a four-time Academy Award nominee that’s helmed Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, The Martian and many more during his long and highly illustrious career, you can’t say that Scott hasn’t earned the right to voice his opinions on the current state of big budget filmmaking.
You can bet that some folks on social media aren’t going to take too kindly to his words, though, with loyal supporters of the superhero genre always happy to defend it to the hilt.
