“Not everyone will be able to appreciate them, even some geniuses”
Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn has once again stepped forward to defend Marvel movies after filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola called the superhero franchise “despicable”.
In a lengthy Instagram post yesterday (October 20), Gunn pointed out that even old-school gangster films were sometimes considered unoriginal and one-note. “Some of our great grandfathers thought the same of westerns, and believed the films of John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone were all exactly the same,” he wrote.
“I remember a great uncle to whom I was raving about Star Wars. He responded by saying, ‘I saw that when it was called 2001, and, boy, was it boring!’ Superheroes are simply today’s gangsters/cowboys/outer space adventurers,” Gunn continued.
Gunn then added that while some superhero movies may seem “awful”, there are others out there that are equally “beautiful”. “Like westerns and gangster movies (and before that, just MOVIES), not everyone will be able to appreciate them, even some geniuses,” Gunn explained.
Coppola’s criticism of Marvel comes after Martin Scorsese compared Marvel films to “theme parks”, saying the movies weren’t “cinema” enough. During an interview last week, Coppola agreed with Scorsese, explaining “I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again. Martin was kind when he said [Marvel isn’t] cinema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I just say it is.”
Scorsese’s initial comments ruffled feathers in the Marvel world, causing stars like Samuel L. Jackson, Karen Gillan and Robert Downey Jr. to come to the MCU’s defence. Thor director Taika Waititi also responded to the criticism, saying “Of course it’s cinema! It’s at the movies. It’s in cinemas.”
Last month, Gunn, who was the first to voice his opinion on Scorsese’s remark, tweeted that he was “saddened” that the legendary director was “judging” his films. Gunn is currently filming DC’s The Suicide Squad, and will be holding off production on Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 until The Suicide Squad is completed.
