Filmmaker and actor Terry Gilliam has joined the list of people who have criticised Marvel films. In an interview with IndieWire, the 12 Monkeys director said that their films have been dominating the market making it tough for everyone else to get their films funded.
‘I don’t like the fact they’re dominating the place so much. They’re taking money that should be available for a greater variety of films. Technically, they’re brilliant. I can’t fault them because the technical skills involved in making them are incredible.”
He also pointed that the Marvel films do not address human issues and are only focused on spectacle. “If you are that powerful, you should be dealing with reality a little bit more. What I don’t like is that we all have to be superheroes to do anything worthwhile. That’s what makes me crazy. That’s what these movies are saying to young people.”
And to me it’s not confronting the reality of, you know, the quote-unquote human condition. You know what it is like to be a normal human being in difficult situations and resolving them surviving. I can’t fault them for sheer spectacle, except it’s repetitive,” he added.
Before Gilliam, Martin Scorsese had criticized the Marvel Cinematic Universe, calling them “amusement park movies”.
Gilliam has been part of the comedy troupe Monty Python and has directed films like Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.