Here's what Martin Scorsese is getting totally wrong about Marvel films

At their core, all Marvel films are about human desire and human motivations and failings, even if they are slicked up and packaged in (...)

Whether it comes as a surprise or not, legendary director Martin Scorsese is not crazy about Marvel films.

In a recent interview with Empire, the director admitted the wildly popular series of superhero films weren’t exactly what he would consider high art. Here’s what he had to say, via Screenrant.

“I don’t see them,” revealed Scorsese. “I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. 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.”

It’s honestly not a huge surprise to me that the guy who traffics in long epics that try and empathize with anti-heroes might not like the fairly straightforward MCU, even though some of the movies, like the Oscar- winning Black Panther, are fantastic examples of film making.

Taste is a subjective thing, and whether Scorsese’s disdain is generational or just rooted in some binary notions of low culture versus high culture, he’s not alone in dismissing Marvel films as any kind of serious art. Plenty of people don’t like the MCU, but there is one serious flaw in Scorsese’s statement and that’s in not realizing that the entire reason the Marvel franchise is such a unbeatable juggernaut of success is because, at their core, the films are absolutley about “human beings trying to convey motional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

Iron Man connects with audiences not just because it’s about a rich dude escaping a dark cave, but because it’s about a man trying (and constantly failing) to atone for a lifetime of warmongering.  Captain America: The First Avenger resonates not because we care about the world being blown up by Hydra, but because we can relate to the underdog who’s just trying to do the right thing. Arguably, all Captain America: Civil War is about is two friends who just can’t see eye to eye on an issue. The entire central tension of the Avengers is Steve Rogers and Tony Stark not being able to understand each other. That’s what makes it so good! Black Panther, when looked at from Killmonger’s point of view, is about racial inequality and injustice.  Thor is practically Shakespearean in that the central conflict is between an aging king and his unworthy heir. Infinity War is a gut punch not because that special affect is cool, but because Peter Parker disappears right before Tony’s eyes.

At the core,  all of these films are about human desire and human motivations and failings, even if they are slicked up and packaged in colorful costumes.

It’s fair that Scorsese might not get that about the films, considering he hasn’t been able to make it through a single one. The Marvel films aren’t just an empty thrill ride in an amusement park.  Empty thrill rides don’t inspire the kind of devotion that fans have shown to the films and characters.  And if the failure of the DCU says anything, it’s that all superhero movies aren’t created equal.

So sure, Scorsese can’t really see why Marvel are so popular, but that’s because he hasn’t really looked.