It was inevitable that legendary director Martin Scorsese's comments bashing Marvel movies were going to lead to backlash. Not only were fans upset that he referred to Marvel's movies as "theme parks" and "not cinema", but so was Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, who took to Twitter to respond.
“Martin Scorsese is one of my five favorite living filmmakers,” Gunn responded on Twitter. “I was outraged when people picketed ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ without having seen the film. I’m saddened that he’s now judging my films in the same way. That said, I will always love Scorsese, be grateful for his contribution to cinema, and can’t wait to see ‘The Irishman.'”
Gunn's remarks are strong enough as it is, but because this is 2019 and we're talking about the Internet, he was forced to respond to angry fans who didn't like that he compared protests of The Last Temptation of Christ to what Scorsese is saying about Marvel.
“For those tweeting me I’m somehow saying zealots picketing ‘Last Temptation’ is the same as Scorsese judging my films, I’m not,” Gunn clarified. “What outraged me about the picketers at the time of ‘Last Temptation’ is NOT that they thought the film was blasphemous. Nor that they were picketing. Doing those thing are within their rights. What bothered me was that 99% of them were doing it without having seen the movie.”
>sigh<
Hopefully this will put the issue to bed.
HA HA HA HA! Who am I kidding? This shit won't end until Scorsese gives in and agrees to direct Robert De Niro in an Old Man Cap movie for Marvel.
Gunn's comments are on point, and as someone who makes superhero films that people really respond to he has every reason to feel the way he does. But going after Scorsese, even when he's clearly in the wrong, isn't going to win him any favors. The best thing he can do now is make a killer Suicide Squad movie next year.
That said, I will always love Scorsese, be grateful for his contribution to cinema, and can’t wait to see The Irishman.— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 4, 2019