Sebastian Stan Defends Marvel After Francis Ford Coppola’s Criticisms

Francis Ford Coppola is in the news for slamming Marvel movies in a recent interview, going the length to call them despicable. It’s a pretty tough thing for Marvel fans to hear from one of the most revered filmmakers to ever grace Hollywood. Fans have since started firing back at The Godfather helmer and now, Avengers star Sebastian Stan has broken his silence on the matter. During a panel at Fandemic Tour Houston Sunday afternoon, Stan said that while Coppola is his personal hero, he disagrees with the filmmaker’s sentiment.

“He’s one of my heroes and I was listening to him and meanwhile, I just spent the day with all of you,” Stan revealed. “People have been going up to me like ‘Thank you so much for this character,’ ‘This movie helped me out so much,’ ‘This movie inspired me. Now I feel better. Now I feel less alone,” so how can you say these movies are not helping people?”

The comments stem from an interview Coppola did after being honored with the Prix Lumiere award. “When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he’s right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration,” Coppola told French reporters. “I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again. Martin was kind when he said it’s not cinema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I just say it is.”

Coppola was directly referring to Martin Scorsese’s previous comments suggesting Marvel movies weren’t a legitimate part of cinema. “I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese said. “Honestly, 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.”

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is expected to launch sometime in the fall of 2020.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 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+.

Which of Marvel’s Disney+ shows are you looking forward to seeing most? Share your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!