Logan Director James Mangold Explains How Martin Scorsese Is Right and Wrong About Marvel Movies

Logan director James Mangold is weighing in on the Martin Scorsese vs. Marvel Studios debate. Mangold is promoting his latest film, Ford v. Ferrari. The film is distributed by 20th Century Fox, which makes it a Disney movie now that Disney's purchase of Fox has gone through. This led to Mangold talking about big studios and Disney's dominance, which brought up Scorsese's New York Times op-ed about Marvel movies. Mangold tells UPROXX that he thinks that Scorsese is wrong to call out Marvel Studios, in particular. "I think that the point is less about whether the source is a comic book or not and much more salient is just the freedom the filmmaker has in whatever creative arena there is, because I certainly had 100 percent freedom in Logan," Mangold. "I mean exactly what we wanted to make."

He goes on to say that Scorsese's core complains aren't wrong, but they apply to a much wider swath of films than just those bearing the Marvel banner. "Clearly he hasn't watched that many of them," Mangold says. "That's the only tragic part of his dissertation. But the reality is that what he's saying, it couldn't be more true. It just doesn't have to only be true for that specific stripe of film. It's true across the boards. I see shitty comedies made by the numbers. I see shitty romantic films made by the numbers. I see gobs of adventure films made by the numbers. And you know they've been tested through the wazoo and re-shot and extra ending and an extra coat and an extra cherry on top. That isn't just the province of comic book movies. That's the province of mainstream corporate filmmaking all around, and it's up to folks like him — or me to the degree I can do it — and others to push back against it in any genre."

Marvel Studios' head Kevin Feige finally broke his silence in regard to Scorsese's criticisms. "I think it's unfortunate," Feige said on a podcast. "I think myself and everybody that works on these movies loves cinema, loves movies, loves going to the movies, loves to watch a communal experience in a movie theater full of people... I think it's fun for us to take our success and use it to take risks and go in different places. Everybody has a different definition of cinema. Everybody has a different definition of art. Everybody has a different definition of risk. Some people don't think it's cinema. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. Everyone is entitled to repeat that opinion. Everyone is entitled to write op-eds about that opinion. And I look forward to what will happen next. But in the meantime, we're going to keep making movies."

What do you think of Mangold's comments? Let us know in the comments section.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk are also in the works for Disney+.

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