It’s okay if Martin Scorsese blasts comic book movies and Marvel films but when Joe Russo has a little fun, everyone loses their mind.
On more than one occasion, Scorsese has come out against Marvel movies and CBMs offering they aren’t cinema. Scorsese even went so far as penning an op-ed in the NY Times to further explain things.
What did Martin Scorsese say?
In a recent interview, Scorsese said the Marvel movies are dangerous.
“The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture,” Scorsese told GQ. “Because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those — that’s what movies are.”
Scorsese continued, “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. 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.”
Scorsese also told Empire Magazine back in 2019 that Marvel movies are not cinema.
“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese asked. “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. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
Scorsese would go on to write in his op-ed that the Marvel movies have no risk and are closer to theme parks.
“I said that I’ve tried to watch a few of them and that they’re not for me, that they seem to me to be closer to theme parks than they are to movies as I’ve known and loved them throughout my life, and that in the end, I don’t think they’re cinema,” said Scorsese, adding later in the article, “Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures. What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger. Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes.”
Avengers: Endgame vs. Killers of the Flower Moon?
So this past weekend saw the release of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Joe Russo posted a video on Instagram featuring Martin Scorsese and his dog, which is named Oscar. Joe followed it up with his own dog, which he jokes is named Box Office (it isn’t).
“Aw look, he’s got a schnauzer! I love schnauzers. And his name is Oscar. That’s really cute,” Russo says in the video and then his own dog: “Ok come on, Box Office.”
Regarding the jab, Joe Russo and his brother Anthony Russo happen to be the directors behind some of the largest box office movies of all time including The Avengers: Endgame which you could argue is the largest as Avatar has had multiple releases.
This weekend saw the release of Scorsese’s Killer of the Flower Moon which reportedly cost $200 million+ to make and only brought in $40 million and is expected to lose money.
Following Joe Russo’s video, many film snobs have gone online to take swipes at Joe Russo.
My reply to them is: How is Marvel doing now that Joe Russo isn’t there?
And do you think the type of movies that Martin Scorsese makes (or any indie artsy film) would actually be made if not for the Marvel types of films that actually make the studios lots of money?
