Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director Rian Johnson Reacts to Martin Scorsese’s Criticism of Marvel Films

Earlier this month, Martin Scorsese made some comments about Marvel movies that left actors, filmmakers, and fans alike a little bit sour when he said that Marvel movies aren’t “cinema” and suggested that the films don’t convey emotional and psychological experiences. After Scorsese’s comments came out, it seemed like everyone had an opinion about them including Nick Fury actor Samuel L. Jackson, filmmaker Kevin Smith, and many more. It isn’t just those connected to the superhero genre that have an opinion, though. During an appearance BFI London Film Festival recently, Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson shared his thoughts on Scorsese’s comments — and he thinks the filmmaker can like or not like whatever he wants.

When asked by a fan about his thoughts on the matter, Johnson quickly established that Scorsese was entitled to his own thoughts and preferences, but he also noted that to an extent Twitter may have contributed to blowing the comments a bit out of proportion.

“First of all, I think Martin Scorsese can like and not like whatever the f*** he wants, and I think, you know, I always want to hear what Scorsese has to say about movies and hear his perspective on it,” Johnson said.

“I’m on Twitter too much, anyone who is on Twitter is on Twitter too much and I will say, I mean, I think that, you know, I love film Twitter,” he continued. “I’m very entertained by it and I think there is also a pattern of outrage that is very much just a pattern and it’s just a slightly commodified, slightly gamified pattern that happens, taking a fragment of an interview, putting the craziest part of it in a headline and getting everybody to tweet, you know, ‘f*** you’ back and forth about it. And the thing is that can be entertaining. It also starts to get boring after a while, I think. Look, like I said, anyone — Scorsese in particular — can think whatever they like about the movies. I’m someone who loves small stuff, I also love big stuff, I love franchise stuff, too.”

Whatever social media’s part in the spread of Scorsese’s comments, he’s sticking by them. During a screening of The Irishman at the BFI London Film Festival, he repeated part of his previous statement, comparing Marvel films to theme parks and went a bit further, stating that theaters shouldn’t be “invaded” by such films, his comment suggesting that the screens of movie theaters need to also have space for smaller, narrative films.

“As I was saying earlier, it’s not cinema, it’s something else,” Scorsese said. “Whether you go for that or not, it is something else and we shouldn’t be invaded by it. And so that’s a big issue, and we need the theater owners to step up for that to allow theaters to show films that are narrative films.”

What do you think about Johnson’s reaction to Scorsese’s comments? Let us know in the comments below.