Spider-Man Star Bruce Campbell: Martin Scorsese is “Full of Crap” Over Marvel Movie Criticisms

Spider-Man star Bruce Campbell says filmmaker Martin Scorsese is "full of crap" for criticizing Marvel movies when The Irishman, Scorsese's gangster epic that utilizes CGI to digitally de-age stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, has "more digital effects than any Marvel movie." Scorsese first said Marvel movies are "not cinema" when promoting Irishman, telling Empire, "The closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn't the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."

"[Scorsese] was ragging on Marvel movies, right? Martin Scorsese is one of our greatest filmmakers, so when he says stuff like that, it hurts," Campbell said at horror-centric convention Spooky Empire. "Because it's not like movies like that are easy to make, and it's not like The Irishman doesn't have digital effects out the ass."

The Irishman has "more digital effects than any Marvel movie, I can tell you right now," Campbell continued. "To get Robert De Niro to go from nine to 108, that's a lot of work, that's a lot of digital work. So he's kind of full of crap in that respect."

Campbell then added all movies are "bullsh-t."

"Every movie is just as fake as the other one. Nothing is real," he said. "Guess what? You're doing a real story about Erin Brockovich, that's not even what Erin Brockovich looks like! It's not a real story, even though they say it's a real story, so nobody gets to play, 'I am a filmmaker, you make silly Marvel movies!' No, they're all bullsh-t. Every single bit of every movie is bullsh-t. Good bullsh-t, lousy bullsh-t, boring bullsh-t, they're all as fake as you can get."

At the heart of Scorsese's complaint is a desire for theaters to "continue to support narrative cinema of this kind," Scorsese said of The Irishman at Rome Film Fest. The film will screen in select theaters before streaming on Netflix.

"But right now the theaters seem to be mainly supporting the theme park, amusement park, comic book films. They're taking over the theaters," Scorsese said. "I think they can have those films; it's fine. It's just that that shouldn't become what our young people believe is cinema. It just shouldn't."

When addressing the criticisms made against Disney-owned Marvel, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger told BBC Radio's The Media Show Marvel is "making movies. They're movies. That's what Martin Scorsese makes. And they're good movies."

"Good directors, and good writers, and good actors, and good cinematographers, and good costume designers, and good sound engineers, and good editors, I could go on and on," Iger said. "These are talented, talented people that are putting their hard work and talent into making films that entertain people in theaters around the world. Everybody goes, the lights go down, people buy popcorn, they have a good two-hour experience, they come out feeling happy or better about themselves."