Quentin Tarantino has shared his disdain for superhero films, criticising the “chokehold” they have on the modern film industry.
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood filmmaker compared the ongoing glut of superhero movies – led by the multi-billion-dollar Marvel franchise – to the studio musical boom of the 1960s.
Recalling how pioneering New Hollywood auteurs rejoiced when the studio musical went into decline, Tarantino said modern filmmakers “can’t wait for the day they can say that about superhero movies”.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Tarantino claimed: “The analogy works because it’s a similar chokehold.”
However, he suggested that the end for the genre isn’t in sight just yet.
Tarantino said: “The writing’s not quite on the wall yet, the way it was in 1969 when it was, ‘Oh, my God, we just put a bunch of money into things that nobody gives a damn about anymore.’”
The Pulp Fiction director was then asked why he himself had not directed a Marvel film, despite a number of highly regarded filmmakers – including Ryan Coogler, Chloé Zhao and Sam Raimi – working for them in the past.
“You have to be a hired hand to do those things,” Tarantino said. “I’m not a hired hand. I’m not looking for a job.”
Tarantino joins a number of other high-profile auteurs in criticising superhero films.
Martin Scorsese famously likened the genre to “theme park” rides, stating in 2019 that it was “not cinema” but “something else”.
“We shouldn’t be invaded by it. We need cinemas to step up and show films that are narrative films,” said the Raging Bull filmmaker.
