Joker Star Marc Maron Makes Fun of Marvel Fans in New Netflix Special

Marc Maron might have starred in Joker, but he’s making fun of Marvel fans in his new Netflix special. The funnyman has not been shy about criticizing pop culture in the past. He’s dialing it up to 11 in End Times Fun with some of these comments about the MCU. The star talks about the franchise’s fans being like “religious fanatics” when discussing the popular projects. Maron goes as far as to compare the structure of the films and their larger universe to a traditional religion. He makes no bones about discussing Marvel fans being upset when their ideas are challenged.

In the Netflix special, he goes so far as to say he’s “punching up” when addressing the MCU fans. “They’re no longer, ya know, the ‘huddled weirdos,’ the actor argues. He continues to call the Marvel Studios films a “cultural bubble” that’s “not as evil as Fox” but “culturally malignant.” That all sounds a bit deep, but culture has taken a turn to consume these films. But, the core idea that fans would flock to stories that play alongside each other in interesting ways is not very controversial. Maybe he’s taking more issue with how fervent the responses seem to be.

In contrast to these comments, Maron was nothing if not complimentary when discussing what Todd Phillips was doing with Joker. He talked about what drew him to that project with NME.

“I think it’s a very interesting approach to this world,” Maron explained. “I’ve been somewhat judgemental when it comes to comic book movies and I’ve got a little pushback in the press for being a hypocrite. Whatever I think, if you get a call and someone says, ‘Hey do you wanna do a scene with Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix?’ your principals fall to the wayside. If it’s relative to what I think of Marvel movies then it’s like, ‘Yeah, of course I’m gonna do that’. Oddly, it’s not that kind of movie. The approach that Todd Phillips has taken is more of an origin story and a character study of a mentally ill person that becomes The Joker. It’s more of an intimate and gritty movie with a very specific scope. It’s going to be really interesting to see how it comes out.”

Do you take issue with what Maron has to say here? Or do you think there’s some truth in there? Let us know down in the comments!