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Martin Scorsese has doubled down on his comic book movie comments, this time taking them to the next level.
"The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture," the filmmaker told GQ, speaking on franchise and comic book movies specifically. "Because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those – that’s what movies are."
Scorsese, one of the most prolific directors of our time, previously referred to comic book movies as theme parks, but said that this simply meant that cinema is changing and that it's fine that they exist – as long as they don't "crowd out" films from directors like Greta Gerwig and Paul Thomas Anderson.
"They already think that. Which means that we have to then fight back stronger. And it’s got to come from the grassroots level. It’s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves," he continued. "And you’ll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and you’ll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit ’em from all sides. Hit ’em from all sides, and don’t give up. Let’s see what you got. Go out there and do it. Go reinvent. Don’t complain about it. But it’s true, because we’ve got to save cinema."
Marvel and DC have dominated the box office over the last 10-plus years, with movies like Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home grossing in the billions at the global box office.
Scorsese added: "But what I mean is that, it’s manufactured content. It’s almost like AI making a film. And that doesn’t mean that you don’t have incredible directors and special effects people doing beautiful artwork. But what does it mean? What do these films – what will it give you? Aside from a kind of consummation of something and then eliminating it from your mind, your whole body, you know? So what is it giving you?"
Considering that the filmmaker has made arguably some of the greatest films of all time, including Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and Raging Bull, we'd say he's more than entitled to his opinion.
Scorsese's next film, Killers of the Flower Moon, is set to hit theaters on October 20. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond.
