Martin Scorsese Says Marvel Movies Are 'Not Cinema'

It is safe to say that renowned director Martin Scorsese is not a fan of comic book films.

Digital Spy reports that the iconic filmmaker sat down with Empire this week for an interview promoting his forthcoming film The Irishman, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. During the chat, Scorsese shared his opinion about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it wasn’t pretty.

The Goodfellas director admitted that he doesn’t watch MCU films anymore, explaining, “I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks.”

Ouch. That has got to feel bad for the numerous MCU stars and directors to hear.

Scorsese continued, “It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

Though the Taxi Driver director has had a successful career in film for over 50 years and a plethora of awards under his belt, I think millions of people would challenge him on this point. But, I guess when you are Martin Scorsese, you can afford to have the world disagree with you on cinema.

This article also appears on Mental Floss.