Someone should make a list of all the A-list directors who have dunked on Marvel movies these past few years. Off the top of my head: Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg, Bong Joon-ho, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, James Mangold, Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, Lucrecia Martel, Tim Burton … Am I missing anybody?
You can now add “Dune” helmer, and ultra-popular French-Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve to that list of names. He’s been making the press rounds over the last couple of weeks to promote the upcoming sci-fi film. In an interview with French Premiere, he didn’t hold back when it came to Marvel:
“The problem today… Well, if we’re talking about Marvel, the thing is, all these films are made from the same mold. Some filmmakers can add a little color to it, but they’re all cast in the same factory. It doesn’t take anything away from the movies, but they are formatted.”
There’s also a Villeneuve interview with Spanish outlet El Mundo, which could be deemed a little bit harsher. “There are too many Marvel movies that are nothing more than a cut and paste of others,” Villeneuve said. “Perhaps these types of movies have turned us into zombies a bit… But big and expensive movies of great value there are many today. I don’t feel capable of being pessimistic at all.”
Villeneuve will maybe retract and claim his words were taken out of context. Fact of the matter is that a large swath of the people anticipating “Dune” are likely to also be Marvel fans. You just can’t isolate that demographic a few weeks away from release.
Marvel's "Ghost Rider" just hired one of the best cinematographers working today. Linus Sandgren will serve as DP on Shawn Levy's MCU flick, and, most notably, the project will be shot on film.