In 2019, Martin Scorsese famously called out the MCU, adding that these movies should not be defined as “cinema.” However, according to Scorsese’s longtime friend, George Lucas, the filmmaker might be coming around to the idea that superhero movies are indeed cinema.
Speaking at Cannes, Lucas tackled the debate surrounding comic book movies and whether they constitute “art” and, when asked about Scorsese’s dismissal of them, briefly mentioned that there might have been a recent change of heart on Scorsese’s part:
Look. Cinema is the art of a moving image. So if the image moves, then it's cinema. I think Marty has kind of changed his mind a little bit.
It’s not surprising that Lucas is a Marvel fan, he’s banked his entire career in making CGI-driven movies that adhere to all ages. I’m still not sold on the idea that Scorsese has had a reversal of opinion about these movies — he’s constantly spoken about his ill opinion towards them.
It’s interesting to note that ever since Scorsese bashed Marvel movies, more than 5 years ago now, it coincided with a sudden change in the way these films were met and perceived. Marvel movies used to get glowing reviews, but not anymore, critics have soured on them. Was this in effect due to Scorsese’s comments?
In October 2019, I wrote that Scorsese might have just started a “cinematic revolution” in dismissing these films. Scorsese’s comments caused a domino effect, as, a few days later, Francis Ford Coppola followed suit, calling Marvel movies “despicable,” with many more filmmakers to follow in their criticism. In other words, it took someone of Scorsese’s ilk to finally shake things up.
Up to that point, it had been 11 years of film critics, the media and audiences alike succumbing to the “holier-than-thou” billion-dollar-making Disney machine and its grandiose enterprise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And so, in the context of initially having Coppola and Scorsese being denounced as old men screaming at clouds, they did have a point and changed the discourse. For me, up to that point, the inherent dangers of Marvel were just how seriously these movies being greeted by not only mass audiences, but many reputable critics as well. It was time to call these movies out, to stop pretending they constituted art.
Ever since Scorsese’s comments, I’ve been updating a list of all the directors who publicly criticized superhero movies. It’s a lengthy list, filled with true masters of the craft:
Francis Ford Coppola, David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, Bong Joon-ho, Lucrecia Martel, David Cronenberg, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, David Lynch, Woody Allen, Paul Verhoeven, Terry Gilliam, James Cameron Ridley Scott, James Gray, Jane Campion, Sean Baker, James Mangold, Martin McDonagh, Luc Besson, William Friedkin, Ken Loach, Oliver Stone and John Woo.