Zack Snyder is one of the most successful superhero movie directors, having been behind the camera for films like Watchmen, Man of Steel, and Justice League most recently. He’s now responded to Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese’s comments about Marvel movies. Snyder also commented on what he would have done different with the MCU if he were in charge.
Speaking to The Guardian, Snyder said Scorsese has every right to speak his mind and is free to saying superhero films are “not cinema” if he wants to.
“Oh, it’s fair. Martin Scorsese is a genius,” Snyder said. “If you’re really good at something, commenting on that world is completely within your rights. And it doesn’t diminish my respect for him. I’m certain he wasn’t talking about my movies [laughs]. He might’ve been, but I like to think he wasn’t. He meant the other ones.”
In 2020, Scorsese–whose 2006 mobster movie The Departed won Best Picture–said Marvel movies are “not cinema” and that they’re more like “amusement parks.” He later clarified his comments, saying in a follow-up interview that Marvel and superhero movies represent a “new art form” compared to the kinds of movies that were historically shown in theatres.”
Snyder has directed numerous DC superhero movies, but he’s never crossed over into the MCU. Asked if he would change anything about Marvel movies, Snyder told The Guardian that he wouldn’t change anything–at least nothing that would have helped.
“I could have changed it so it would have maybe made less money or been less beloved. But for what they’ve created–I don’t know that there is a better way to do it,” he said.
Snyder’s newest movie, Army of the Dead, debuted in theaters on May 14 and came to Netflix today, May 21. It stars Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Tig Notaro.
