Jordan Peele shuts down 'best horror director of all time' praise, won't tolerate 'John Carpenter slander'

We now know what scares modern horror master Jordan Peele: Dismissing the impact of the legends that came before him.

The Get Out and Us helmer hilariously responded to a tweet Wednesday from a fan who expressed interest in declaring him "the best horror director of all time" after positive reviews for Peele's latest feature, Nope, rolled in from movie critics.

"Sir, please put the phone down, I beg you," Peele replied. "Sorry. I love your enthusiasm, but I will just not tolerate any John Carpenter slander!!!"

The original tweet pointed out that the positive reaction to Peele's Oscar-winning 2017 debut Get Out, 2019's Us, and now Nope signified an unmatched trio of masterworks among horror filmmakers.

Still, responses to the tweet noted that while Peele has an impressive track record across his first three films, Carpenter is credited with creating well-regarded, time-tested projects like Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Thing, and They Live.

JC Olivera/Getty Images; Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images Jordan Peele and John Carpenter.

Regardless of where audiences land on the debate, there's no denying Peele's prowess in the genre in such a short amount of time.

Get Out — about a Black man (Daniel Kaluuya) who travels to his white girlfriend's (Allison Williams) rural family home and discovers a grim secret — earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, and eventually won Peele his first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. After that film grossed $255 million at the global box office, Peele released the Lupita Nyong'o–starring Us to similarly glowing reviews (and a $255 worldwide box-office haul).

Universal Pictures/Youtube Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya in 'Nope'

Though reviews for the UFO-themed sci-fi/horror hybrid Nope — starring Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun — are split more than those for Get Out and Us, it still earned standout praise from mainstream movie journalists, and is expected to become a massive hit at the box office when it opens Friday.

"I think this film, more than anything, is about the Hollywood mythology of the Wild West — and not only the sugarcoating of the barbarism of it, but the erasure of the Black cowboy," Peele told EW while discussing the film's plot. "That's all wrapped up in this movie. In a lot of ways, it's about Hollywood."

Nope opens Friday in theaters nationwide.

Hear more on all of today's must-see picks on EW's What to Watch podcast, hosted by Gerrad Hall.

Related content:

• Nope's Jordan Peele: 'I need to start with something I'm not supposed to do'

• Jordan Peele says Nope explores race through the lens of 'Black people in a flying saucer film'

• Critics call Jordan Peele's Nope both 'frustratingly perplexing' and 'unquestionable genius'