James Gunn Takes on Coppola and Scorsese: You’re Geniuses, But You Don’t Get Marvel

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It never ends. The anti-Marvel Cinematic Universe screeds from major auteurs continues to unravel, with Francis Ford Coppola recently responding to Martin Scorsese’s response to MCU films and their ilk, which “The Irishman” director labeled as “not cinema.” And now, “Guardians of the Galaxy” writer/director James Gunn, who’s currently filming Warner Brothers’ DC entry “The Suicide Squad” because apparently one of those movies wasn’t enough, has added tinder to the flames of the ongoing debate.

Gunn, who’s weathered his lion’s share of social media controversies over the years, including offensive tweets that led to him being fired by Disney, sounded off on Instagram Sunday afternoon in a lengthy post, embedded below.

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“Many of our grandfathers thought all gangster movies were the same, often calling them ‘despicable,'” he wrote. “Some of our great grandfathers thought the same of westerns, and believed the films of John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone were all exactly the same. I remember a great uncle to whom I was raving about Star Wars. He responded by saying, ‘I saw that when it was called 2001, and, boy, was it boring!’ Superheroes are simply today’s gangsters/cowboys/outer space adventurers. Some superhero films are awful, some are beautiful. Like westerns and gangster movies (and before that, just MOVIES), not everyone will be able to appreciate them, even some geniuses. And that’s okay.”

The post comes in the wake of a rant from Francis Ford Coppola, who accepted a lifetime achievement award at the Lumière Festival in Lyon, defending Scorsese’s position.

“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…I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again,” the 80-year-old filmmaker said. “Martin was kind when he said it’s not cinema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I just say it is.”

James Gunn recently revealed the warm welcome he received from Warner Bros. after Disney axed him, saying, “I was basically offered whatever I wanted. I most wanted to do ‘Squad.’”

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