Die Hard Director Hates Comic Book Movies & Captain America

Once known as a go-to Hollywood director, John McTiernan found plenty of success with his work on films such as Predator and Die Hard years ago. However, following a few flops and financial losses, McTiernan is ready to return Hollywood for his cinematic comeback. The director, though, seems quite unwilling to take on any sort of comic book movie. Apparently, he’s not a fan.

Speaking with Premiere, McTiernan called out Hollywood’s love of comic book adaptations by saying, “…these are films made by fascists,” and that, “Comic book heroes are for businesses.”

Well, you can’t say his second statement is wrong. With Marvel Studios and DC Entertainment literally bringing in billions of dollars with their cinematic universes, the comic book boom has greatly assisted Hollywood during some troubling box office slumps. With Marvel’s recent release of Captain America: Civil War so far grossing over $1.15 billion, the film has become one of Marvel’s most successful installments of all-time. But, when it comes to the film’s hero, McTiernan has got a special bone to pick with Captain America.

“Captain America…The cult of American hyper-masculinity is one of the worst things that has happened in the world during the last fifty years,” he said. “Hundreds of thousands of people died because of this stupid illusion. So how is it possible to watch a movie called Captain America?”

Captain America isn’t the only franchise McTiernan apparently hates. The director also spoke out against Mad Max: Fury Road, a film which garnered critical success by both fans and critics. McTiernan found the film to be yet another “corporate product,” but he did say he admit that he enjoy the first Mad Max when it debuted in 1979.

Clearly, McTiernan doesn’t care to hold back his opinions. The director did take some time to applaud those films he’s enjoyed over the past few years, and he spoke very highly of Ben Affleck’s Argo.

McTiernan said, “He [Affleck] did something incredible. And he was a better actor than in all his other films. Normally when a filmmaker gets to the screen, it’s the opposite. He put aside his ego, he began to act like a hero in a John Ford film… And it’s very different from his other roles. There is something about him that a lot of people find annoying. This arrogance, coldness…It disappeared in this film.”

Currently, McTiernan is working to get an upcoming project of his green-lighted for production, so his fans might soon find the director releasing a film which adheres to his standards. Audiences, however, can be assured of one thing: There’ll be no capes or comic book heroes present in any of his films. No, definitely not.