Marvel has a global presence, with fans and haters all across the globe. These include commoners and celebrities alike. While Marvel has had and continues to have a successful run in terms of box office collections and fan appeal. Critics have scrutinized the Marvel Cinematic Universe now and then for a wide spectrum of reasons. Including the likes of cinematography, direction, and marketing campaigns. One such critic of the MCU franchise is the Oscar-winning director, screenwriter, and producer Martin Scorsese.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, the filmmaker’s reply to a question about Marvel movies made headlines last year. In the past, many filmmakers have come out against Marvel for snatching away direction freedom among other reasons. Edgar Wright, for instance, left Ant-Man due to his frustration at not being able to make the movie that he wanted.
Martin Scorsese vs Kevin Smith.
In an interview last year, Martin Scorsese had been critical of films under the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. He remarked that the films aren’t “real art.” He further added he doesn’t consider these films as “cinema” and the films within the franchise are more like “theme parks”. Scorsese was quoted saying, “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks.” He further said, “It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
Recently, Kevin Smith of Clerks (1994) fame in an interview was queried about the long-running Martin Scorcese and Marvel feud. To which Kevin Smith came in defense of Disney’s MCU saying, “In our very tribal culture, somebody like Martin Scorsese referring to comic book movies as amusement parks and theme park rides gets a bunch of people who have made comic book movies their lives for the last 10 years very unhappy.” Kevin Smith has strongly expressed his disapproval of Martin Scorsese’s concerns, he wonders why the Taxi Driver director’s validation is sought by comic book fans in the first place. Smith remarks, “You’re asking a guy who made ‘Goodfellas’ what he thinks about Spider-Man, what do you think you’re going to get?”
Twitteratis have been quick as ever, to express their opinions and side with either of the two directors.
Jordon Hoffman commented on the remarks on Twitter. He wrote, “Asking Kevin Smith for an opinion on Martin Scorsese is like asking a man who farts into a tuba to comment on Mozart.” Another user, @HoulihanActor commented, “Imagine Kevin Smith patronizing Martin Scorsese.”
There was a thread of other tweets that trashed Kevin Smith for backing up Marvel and speaking against Martin Scorsese. Like @Marcissist wrote, “LOL at the idea that Martin Scorsese has a more “stuck in his ways” oeuvre than Kevin Smith”
“He’s a very serious filmmaker, and he’s a man who’s of a certain age and stuck in his ways. You should not be surprised that’s his response.” Kevin Smith was quoted as saying. The Degrassi: The Next Generation director believes, the larger conversation of criticism of Marvel movies could be avoided if filmmakers were more press savvy and avoided loaded questions about these topics.
Fan service or art. What’s more important?
In conclusion, Kevin Smith sees no reason why fans of different types of cinema can’t peacefully coexist despite their disagreements. He says, “It doesn’t take away from your enjoyment of the thing. Guess what? For every old filmmaker who’s like, ‘I don’t get it,’ there’s a bunch of young filmmakers who are like, ‘I get it and I want to do it.’” Smith further said, “We don’t have to ostracize the people that maybe don’t get or aren’t into the same movies we are.”