Recently, there was a comment by renowned director Martin Scorsese about Marvel movies. He doesn’t think they fit into the “cinema” world. Could that be just an opinion from an old-school director or does have a valid point?
The spicy remark was made during a press conference related to the release of Scorsese’s new film “The Irishman,” covered by Hollywood Reporter. The director elaborated that Marvel Studios’ movies were “theme park films” and did not belong in theaters:
It’s not cinema, it’s something else. We shouldn’t be invaded by it.
It is well known that box offices have a special kind of love for Marvel Studios’ films, because they are bringing a lot of income and are welcome in any theater around the world. At the same time, “The Irishman” is not going to be projected in major movie theaters, because of a particular agreement between cinemas and streaming platforms to withhold streaming for three months after the release on the big screen. Netflix didn’t want to comply with that restriction, and maybe this was one of the reasons for Scorsese’s harsh comment.
Despite his critique, he shared his admiration for the work that was behind those movies and praised the performance of the actors “under these circumstances.”
However, his main point remained:
We need cinemas to step up and show films that are narrative films.
Do you think Scorsese was right about Marvel films?