Denis Villeneuve Says Marvel Movies Are ‘Cut and Paste’ and Turning People Into ‘Zombies’
Sooooo... Denis Villeneuve is probably not going to direct the next Avengers movie.
Doing press for his upcoming remake of Dune, Villeneuve had some pointed comments about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how they reflect on the broader state of Hollywood. Speaking with El Mundo (via The Direct), Villeneuve claimed that Marvel’s movies are all very similar, and that so many of them could even turn the audience into “zombies.”
Here was his quote:
Perhaps the problem is that we are in front of too many Marvel movies that are nothing more than a ‘cut and paste’ of others. Perhaps these types of movies have turned us into zombies a bit ... But big and expensive movies of great value there are many today. I don’t feel capable of being pessimistic at all.
It’s worth noting that most of Villeneuve’s big budget movies are adaptations of existence material. Dune is obviously based on a classic sci-fi novel (and has been made into a movie once before). Blade Runner 2049 was a sequel to a cult film that was also adapted from a beloved book. Even Arrival was based on a short story.
Certainly those movies are quite different from each other; no one would say Villeneuve’s movies are “cut and paste” jobs. They do have some similar themes though — the same way Shang-Chi is quite different than, say, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, or Black Widow is different than The Incredible Hulk, even if we can find some similarities between all of them.
Villeneuve is not the first person to criticize Marvel’s movies for their perceived uniformity. (Martin Scorsese would likely agree with everything he said.) But so what? Nothing is everyone’s cup of tea. We say enjoy what you enjoy and don’t worry if someone else doesn’t like it. If you enjoy Denis Villeneuve’s movies and want to see Dune, it opens in theaters and premieres on HBO Max on October 22.