Kevin Smith On Why We Should Appreciate Comic Book Adaptations

Kevin Smith isn’t shy about his love of comic books. The self-professed geek runs one of the country’s coolest comic shops and stars in AMC’s Comic Book Men. As a filmmaker, Smith has even taken his love for DC Comics and turned it into directorial work on shows like The Flash. And, during a panel at New York Comic Con today, Smith told fans they better appreciate today’s comic book adaptations – no excuses.

The filmmaker told a packed crowd that he spent “12 hours” of his life last week and dedicated them to Luke Cage, Marvel’s new Netflix series.

“It was f**king good,” Smith said. “I had no expectations of that and they told a much better story than I thought they would. I mean we live in a world were they are making a f**king Antman sequel. We didn’t have this sh!t when I was growing up.”

He went on to say, “Creation path is wide open, man. We should appreciate it. It is easy to pay to see a movie, s**t on it, and be negative – but I am on the other side of this. F**k that.”

If you’re a fan of comic movie adaptations, then you should be well aware of what Smith is ranting about. As a genre, superhero films and televisions series are often overlooked by critics and award organizations. Recently, Suicide Squad was tossed through the ringer when critics panned the film, and DC Entertainment suffered similar attacks when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered.

Frustrated, Smith talked about ‘holier-than-thou’ critics, saying, “As you sit around taking s**t on things, the world is passing you by. There is no good reason to do it.”

“You try to ascend in life and people try to drag you down. I guess misery loves company. There will be always people to sh!t on things. I just think about being that 10 year-old dreaming that people would make these films and now they are so be happy.”

Of course, one of those films Smith is referring to is Suicide Squad. The filmmaker has gone on record to profess his love for the film and even took to Facebook to praise David Ayer’s work.

“I look up to [Suicide Squad] maker, David Ayer,” Smith wrote. “When I heard he was shepherding a cinematic [Suicide Squad], my already high interests in a DC Comics movies shot other top.”

“The [Suicide Squad] movie doesn’t look like any other comic book flick I’ve ever seen. The periodic use of both Batman and the Joker as background characters instead of the usual leads was thrilling and felt like our first real glimpse at an interconnected DCEU. The cost is top notch but Harley, as expected, steals the show…The flick as a whole had me smiling the whole time.”

Smith has gone so far as to compliment Warner Bros. and how they have handled their critics. The filmmaker said it seems like they’ve heard the complaints and have addressed them in Justice League. “It looks like (Warner Bros. and DC Comics) heard that loud and clear and everything that was missing or perceived to be missing from Batman v Superman seems like it’s in full display on Justice League, so I’m on board,” he said.