Director Pedro Almodovar Says Marvel Movies Lack Sexuality

The Marvel Cinematic Universe famously depicts impressive displays of the human body, whether it be through shirtless scenes or skin-tight spandex, offering the audiences good looks at physiques that can be attained through hours, days, weeks, and months of training, but filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar notes that the series seems to be devoid of actual sexuality. Throughout the nearly two dozen entries, the PG-13 films have delivered a handful of scenes featuring characters kissing and displayed their emotional connections, but the Talk to Her director notes that independent films offer much more freedom in terms of the sexuality you can portray.

"Here, perhaps, there is a kind of self-censorship that doesn't allow the writers to write other kinds of stories," the filmmaker shared with Vulture. "There are many, many movies about superheroes. And sexuality doesn't exist for superheroes. They are neutered. There is an unidentified gender, the adventure is what's important. You can find, among independent movies, more of this sexuality."

He added, "The human being has such sexuality! I get the feeling that in Europe, in Spain, that I have much more freedom than if I worked here."

Between the subject matter of the films and the franchise's ownership by Disney, it's understandable why we wouldn't get any sexuality in these films, as they aim to appeal to all audiences. Some of the Marvel series on Netflix, however, had their fair share of sex scenes, though these were still a far cry from what can be seen in even relatively tame R-rated films.

This lack of sexuality is seemingly just one of the things that would prevent Almodóvar from taking a gig directing a Marvel Studios film, with another deterrent being the sheer scope of those films and requisite visual effects.

"No, no! I don't think so. It's too big for me! I like to see what I'm doing, to direct movies the same day," Almodóvar confirmed when asked about his interest in directing an MCU film. "You have to wait too long to see the results [with big movies]. I like being able to impose my opinion as a director. I've made 21 movies. I'm used to doing it the way I like, not fitting with the Hollywood system."

Following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, which owns the Deadpool franchise, fans have wondered if new films would move forward and honor its R-rated tone, which included plenty of sexual references.

Stay tuned for details on the future of the MCU.

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