In the latest interview with GQ magazine, Film Director Martin Scorsese urged the industry to fight back strongly against the superhero mega-franchise, for which he has received spiteful remarks abundantly.
This is hardly a new development, however, as he has religiously made his stance clear on the franchise culture over the last couple of years. As a result, hundreds of viewers, including some prominent actors, have taken a reactionary swing at him on several occasions. But his critical opinions of the ever-growing cash cows of Marvel and DC are something that goes way deeper than ‘just’ an old man’s fool words.
So, as we glance at the industry and the state of cinema as a whole, we ask ourselves today: What is Scorsese trying to tell us?
Martin Scorsese explained that superhero movies have an omnipresence in the cinematic culture. He argued that the tidal wave of these franchises asserts a toxic cultural dominance over the youth, as the comic bubble will influence them to grow up thinking “movies are only those”. When the interviewer responded that it might already be the case, Scorsese replied, “Which means that we have to then fight back stronger, and it’s got to come from the grassroots level.”
To truly understand his concerns, however, we need to contemplate a handful of factors. It starts with understanding the role and setbacks of theaters first. Any moviegoer will agree that theaters are the basic medium for movies. We buy tickets, get popcorn, and watch a movie to our delight. However, theaters have schedules and they can only screen so many movies in a day. It leaves them with only one choice: screen movies that are the talk of the town.
With the growing number of superhero movies released every year, the hype expands. The theaters are then left with more superhero movies and fewer independent movies. The slots are fewer in number and it is increasingly becoming difficult for new, promising directors to manage a slot for their features.
These franchises are also eliminating any chances to compete simply by putting in larger numbers of releases for every phase. In phase one, Marvel had only six movies released in a span of five years (2008–2012). In phase two, they released six movies again, but now in only three years (2013–2015). In phase three, they had eleven installments in three years (2016–2019), and for phase four (2021–2022) alone, they have released an astronomical number of 23 movies and series while generating $5.711 billion worldwide.
The sheer scale of superhero franchises has become very frightening. They have cunningly made sure that no one can compete with their endless streams of movies, series, and merchandise. The numbers are growing, both in total and on a yearly basis, and it successfully creates an exclusive franchise culture. Moreover, since these movies especially target teenagers and young adults, the manufactured experience might stay with them for the rest of their lives, solidifying superhero franchises as the only definition of “movies”.
Scorsese also seems to be very concerned with the quality of these movies. As more of them are released annually, we can see a decline in storytelling quality. In phase three, we experienced extravagant storytelling through Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. But since then, we have had twenty-three installments and we can only count one or two as “decent”. The quantity-over-quality approach is severely harmful to the audience since we are swayed more toward the flashy special effects than empathizing with the story. Will we, in the near future, forget what it is to experience intense grief from a scene of The Pianist or how we rejoiced when Sauron was defeated in The Lord of the Rings? It is hard to tell.
Overall, cinema needs to be saved. It needs to be realized, appreciated, and protected at all costs. Martin Scorsese has not stated something as radical as banning superhero films entirely, but a line needs to be drawn.
The comic book universe is taking up too much space in theaters, serving us with half-baked stories, and manipulating what we think of cinema as a whole. Nevertheless, the good thing is that we have seen people’s renewed interest in cinema as they showered theaters this year with their attendance for Oppenheimer and Barbie. This is an important development in the rejuvenation of traditional theater culture.
It is also absolutely imperative to acknowledge diversity in any form of art, and so we need to eradicate the linear definition of cinema hanging over our heads: CGI, superpowers, and beating villains.
Saugata Debnath can be reached at [email protected]