Kevin Smith has now weighed in on Martin Scorsese’s controversial Marvel Cinematic Universe comments. Scorsese previously said that the MCU movies were not “real cinema.” Everybody from James Gunn to Robert Downey Jr. have talked about the situation from the Marvel point of view. However, Smith is looking at it from a fan’s perspective (or a superfan’s perspective). There’s no question that Smith is a huge fan of superhero movies and comic books, so his remarks should come as no surprise to anybody really. But, he does comes up with a good counterargument.
Martin Scorsese’s MCU comments have not sat well with fans over the past few weeks. Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr. accepts the opinion, but doesn’t think it makes any sense. James Gunn was hurt to hear one of his heroes was putting down his work, possibly without having even seen it. But going back to the fans, Kevin Smith gets it and understands why fans are bummed on the comments. He explains.
“Martin Scorsese probably doesn’t have the emotional attachment to those movies that I do. When he sees those movies, he’s like, ‘That’s a theme park.’ When I see those movies, that is the closest I get to being with my dad at a movie theater again. I respect his opinion, but I don’t think he has the same emotional attachment that a lot of us have. It’s the men and the women that we relate to in the movie, not the ‘super’ part.”
Marvel movies and superhero movies in general, have been getting more emotional over the years with more character-driven stories that show emotion. We are seeing some of the human element to these characters and fans can identify to certain traits, just like Kevin Smith was referring to. Joker is getting criticized for being too human at the moment. He also argued that Martin Scorsese himself might have actually made a superhero movie. He had this to say.
Related: Robert Downey Jr. Said No to Oscars Campaign for Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame
“Martin Scorsese has made such wonderful movies. He’s been doing the job since I was a kid. I’m not going to sit and be like, ‘I know better than him.’ That’s his feelings. I would say this, and I’m not countering Mr. Scorsese: Martin Scorsese made perhaps the biggest superhero movie ever made.”
Kevin Smith is referring to Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, which was seen as controversial when it came out. Smith says, “I’m not diminishing Jesus by any stretch of the imagination. But who is Jesus if not a superhero?” That’s a pretty good argument. Scorsese has yet to respond and probably won’t ever do so, but he more than likely would get a kick out of Smith’s response to him.
Leave it to Kevin Smith to bring everybody back together again. The writer/director is currently preparing to release Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, which takes a comedic look at the age of reboots and remakes. The movie hits select theaters next week and then Smith and Jason Mewes are taking the movie on the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Roadshow. The interview with Smith was originally conducted by Yahoo.