Moonfall Director Calls Superhero Movies Boring: “How Many Superhero Movies Can You Make?”

Moonfall director Roland Emmerich had some more comments about superhero movies. In a recent interview he called them “boring” and wondered just how many comic book stories you can tell on the big screen. He talked about how many Spider-Men films were in development during the comments to Discussing Film. A lot of critics say that these arguments carry a lot of weight. However, fans of the genre view statements like this as elitism. Ever since Martin Scorsese talked about comic book movies two years ago, this topic comes up almost weekly. Emmerich will not be the last director to voice his opinion on superhero movies. However, the genre does not look to be slowing down any time soon. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the best performing movie of the last couple of years. More comic book titles get greenlit with every passing year. 

“Well, it gets harder and harder. I’m really not very happy about that,” he admitted. “How many superhero movies can you make? They’re making like, 7 or 8 Spider-Man [films]? It’s just very boring for me, as a filmmaker. You don’t want to keep making the same movies over and over.”

Previously, Den of Geek asked Emmerich about this trend in blockbuster filmmaking. In recent years, he’s become frustrated with the landscape and said so much. “Because naturally Marvel and DC Comics, and Star Wars, have pretty much taken over. It’s ruining our industry a little bit, because nobody does anything original anymore,” he explained.

While pointing toward these quotes, it’s important to note that Emmerich is mostly talking about IP’s role in this turn for the theater industry. He’s not completely against comic book movies, but he wishes there was more an avenue for projects that didn’t hinge on pre-existing narratives. In the director’s career, he made a lot of progress for blockbuster movies by crafting exactly what he’s talking about. Executives see this IP-driven development as preferable because of the potential for more profit.

“You should make bold new movies, you know?” Emmerich argued. “And I think, actually, Christopher Nolan is the master of that. He is someone who can make movies about whatever he wants. I have it a little bit harder, but I still have a big enough name — especially when it’s a disaster [movie] or has some sort of disaster theme.”

What do you think about the director’s comments? Let us know down in the comments!