Seth Rogen Explains Why Marvel Causes Problems for Comedies

When it’s not 2020 and theaters are open around the world, movies from Marvel Studios oftentimes dominate the box office; as of late, that’s been up to three times a year. It’s also one of the main issues with the comedy genre in this day in age, according to An American Pickle star Seth Rogen. As Rogen tells GamesRadar, the general comedic tone of Marvel blockbusters has set a standard most studios and production houses can’t achieve on modest budgets.

“Something that me and Evan talk about a lot is how Marvel movies are comedies,” Rogen says. “Thor: Ragnarok is a comedy. Ant-Man is a comedy at its core. So that’s what’s out there. There are $200 million comedies out there, and so that’s something, as a comedic filmmaker, to be aware of. That is the benchmark that people expect!”

The actor says that’s what he and Goldberg — his longtime collaborator — try to keep in mind while developing their wide variety of films and television shows. “These huge budget films function like comedies,” the Superbad alum adds. “Audiences still love comedy, and they want that – Deadpool – but the scope of them is huge. So when you’re not offering them that scope, you have to think, ‘What am I offering them?’ That’s why something like Good Boys does well, because we’re not offering scope. What we’re offering is pure comedy and emotion and relatability and nostalgia. That’s the trade-off.”

Since movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe aren’t strictly comedies per se, what with the larger-than-life set pieces and all, Rogen doesn’t think the mid-size comedy is dead. At least, as it stands now, not quite yet. “What’s funny is, I’ve been told for the last 10 years that mid-size comedies are dying,” he concludes. “Yet, throughout that time, luckily we’ve been able to release enough mid-size comedies that have done well that they keep allowing us to make them.

“Movies like Sausage Party and Blockers have managed to do really, really well, even though they’re the exact type of thing that people say doesn’t do that well. But then every once in a while we’ll have a Neighbours that does really, really, really well. It allows us to keep making them.”

If Rogen were to get his shot at appearing in, writing, or producing an MCU flick, what do you think he should take a stab at? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section below or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

Cover photo by Amy Sussman/FilmMagic