Sir Ridley Scott Attacks The Superhero Genre

Sir Ridley Scott has made it abundantly clear that he isn’t a big fan of modern cinema. Not only has he opined that the current movie landscape is very much subpar, but he’s even gone as far as to admit that he’s actually “concerned” about the movie industry.

The legendary director, who has overseen the likes of Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and The Martian, made these remarks to Digital Spy, insisting to them that “cinema mainly is pretty bad.” But rather than just being vaguely dismissive of the medium, the English filmmaker then got into specifics, as he admitted that he’s not a big fan of superhero genre. Sir Ridley Scott also revealed that he’s been offered several times to make a superhero film but he just can’t bring himself to do it.

Sir Ridley Scott remarked the following.

“Superhero movies are not my kind of thing – that’s why I’ve never really done one. [I’ve been asked] several times, but I can’t believe in the thin, gossamer tight-rope of the non-reality of the situation of the superhero.”

At the same time, though, Scott insisted that in his mind, he’s actually already done a comic book movie, as he noted that Blade Runner shared very similar traits to that world. But he then used this comparison to attack the genre even further, insisting that what set Blade Runner apart is the fact that it had a good story. Ridley Scott continued.

“I’ve done that kind of movie – Blade Runner really is a comic strip when you think about it, it’s a dark story told in an unreal world. You could almost put Batman or Superman in that world, that atmosphere, except I’d have a f*****g good story, as opposed to no story!”

Sir Ridley Scott isn’t the only legendary director to have admonished the superhero genre over the last few months. In fact, at the start of December Martin Scorsese, who has overseen the likes of Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas, told a press conference full of journalists that he no longer watches modern movies. According to Hey U Guys Scorsese, who was out promoting his recently released drama Silence, remarked at the event.

“There’s over saturation. Particularly in our world as it is now, and nothing really does have a meaning. Images, for example, are everywhere. Cinema used to be in a building and even on television, you’d see a film or whatever. I must say a lot of the films that I’m aware of and I don’t see that many new ones over the past two or three years, I stopped because the images don’t mean anything.”

Even Mel Gibson has joined in the attack on modern movies. Newsarama previously reported that at the press conference for Hacksaw Ridge, which Gibson directed, the fabulously bearded Australian took aim at the superhero genre. But while Scorsese and Scott didn’t specifically name a film, Gibson had no qualms calling out Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

Gibson said the following of the blockbuster, which was met with terrible reviews when it was released back in March.

“It’s a piece of sh**. I’m not interested in the stuff. Do you know what the difference between real superheroes and comic book superheroes is? Real superheroes didn’t wear spandex. So I don’t know. Spandex must cost a lot. I look at them and scratch my head. I’m really baffled by it. I think there’s a lot of waste, but maybe if I did one of those things with the green screens I’d find out different. It seems to me that you could do it for less… You’re spending outrageous amounts of money, $180 million or more, I don’t know how you make it back after the tax man gets you, and after you give half to the exhibitors.”

At the same time, though, Mel Gibson admitted that he really enjoyed the likes of Guardians Of The Galaxy and Iron Man, noting that they are “kind of funny,” while he was previously linked with directing Iron Man 4, too, which suggests that he might be tempted to try and right the wrongs of the genre from the inside.

[Featured Image by Warner Bros]