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Each year, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe movies continue to take up a significant portion of theatrical releases, more big names in entertainment continue to come out and criticize what they see as the issue with these films. One of the most notable instances happened a few years ago when Martin Scorsese criticized the MCU, saying Marvel movies weren’t cinema. 2022 continued this critical trend, with some of the most famous directors coming out with their own personal critiques of Marvel movies.
James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino are both very well-respected directors in the film industry, and both had some critical comments about Marvel movies in 2022. Cameron’s issue was with the writing of the characters, while Tarantino seemed more concerned about what the MCU is doing to the film industry. Apart from filmmakers, prolific comic book writer Alan Moore also shared his thoughts on superhero films.
James Cameron Questioned the Maturity of Marvel Characters
In an interview with the New York Times about Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron compared the characters in his new film to those in Marvel and DC movies. He said that the characters in superhero movies don’t seem mature and act more like college students. One of his main points was that the characters never “hang up their spurs because of their kids.” When talking about how Avatar‘s characters acted in the new film, Cameron said he was focused on “[w]hat happens when those characters mature and realize that they have a responsibility outside their own survival.” Without offering too many other examples, it almost seems as if Cameron’s criteria for a character being mature or not depends pretty heavily on whether they have kids.
Cameron’s fixation on child-rearing being the only way a character can be mature may be off base, but his comments about superhero movies, in general, are more mixed. The MCU has frequently relied on quippy dialogue to break the tension during action scenes, but this writing technique is far from an invention of superhero films. Shakespeare, for instance, would frequently include short humorous scenes between the more dramatic ones as a sort of emotional palette cleanser. If Cameron believes that characters realizing they have a responsibility outside themselves makes a character mature, then Marvel and DC characters seem to meet that standard. Most superheroes tend to be acting in service of others and are willing to lay their life down for others. Not to mention multiple MCU heroes are now parents. Audiences can decide for themselves whether they think superheroes are too immature, but Cameron may need to elaborate on his critique if he wants to persuade anyone.
Quentin Tarantino Doesn’t Like the Over Abundance of Superheroes
When Quentin Tarantino criticized MCU films on the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast, reports focused pretty heavily on his saying that MCU actors aren’t movie stars. Various actors, including Samuel L. Jackson, who has worked with both Marvel and Tarantino, responded to this claim with their own thoughts on their stardom. However, Tarantino’s true criticism of superhero movies wasn’t about the actors but what he saw as the “Marvelization” of Hollywood. Tarantino expressed concern that superhero movies seemed to be the only movies that big studios were interested in making and the only kind a lot of audiences wanted to see. Tarantino expressed his concern that many fans are more invested in the franchises than individual films.
Tarantino may have been wrong about MCU actors not being movie stars, but his concerns about the number of superhero movies may be more valid. Disney and Warner Bros. seem to be largely focused on making superhero films, and Sony Pictures keeps trying to start its own Spider-Man adjacent film universe. Apart from the sheer amount of money and effort spent creating these shared universes by studios, many fans also give preference to the next installment of the MCU or DCU over standalone films. If superhero films continue to be some of the most successful at the box office, they will likely continue to take precedence at studios.
Alan Moore Thinks Fixation on Superhero Stories Is Dangerous
Writer Alan Moore had one of the harshest critiques of superhero films in 2022. Moore has been critical of superhero media for a long time, especially the way that the comic book industry treats its creators. In an interview with The Guardian, Moore said that he thought superhero films were “infantilizing.” He went on to say that audiences watching the films and wishing for life to be morally simple was a “precursor to fascism.” This isn’t entirely surprising for readers familiar with Moore’s politics and critique of superheroes present in his works like Watchmen, but it is still a strong condemnation of superhero films.
By his own admission, Moore hasn’t seen a superhero film since Batman in 1989. This means his critique of modern superhero films stems more from his opinions of the genre than anything specific in the films themselves. Like all fiction, each individual audience member will take something different from a film. While some viewers may feel the kind of longing for a simpler reality that Moore is concerned about, others may find a completely different appeal in superhero films, like the humor, action or visual effects.
Marvel and DC Aren’t Slowing Down Despite Criticism
Prominent members of the entertainment industry may continue to critique the existence of superhero film franchises, but this hasn’t done anything to deter studios from continuing to make them. At the end of the day, as long as the movies keep making money, they are going to continue getting made. This is good news for fans of the franchises but could have some consequences for the film industry as a whole. Even critically praised movies like The Banshees of Inisherin make far less at the box office than widely panned superhero films like The New Mutants. This gives studios little incentive to make other types of films if they know they can make more money relying on established IPs.
Though Marvel and DC are going to keep making superhero films, they may run into an issue if more prominent members of the film industry sour on franchise films. If talented filmmakers decide they no longer want to work with the big studios on their superhero films, then the quality of the movies will suffer. Marvel and DC may be smart to take the issues brought up by people like Cameron and Tarantino into consideration going forward if they want to attract similarly high-profile directors to their franchises.
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