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Seasoned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has been outspoken and quite critical about contemporary superhero movies.
Quentin Tarantino stands as one of the most renowned and iconic directors today. Having won prestigious Oscar statues for Best Original Screenplay in 1995 and 2013, he's regarded as a master storyteller through visuals, with a plethora of cinematic masterpieces under his belt.
Throughout his illustrious career, Tarantino has never taken the helm of projects under the Marvel or DC banners - two of the largest cinematic empires today. In a recent interview with LA Times, the 59-year-old director candidly shared the reasoning behind this decision.
'Those projects are for hirelings,' Tarantino stated, 'I'm not a hireling. I'm not in need of employment.'
Tarantino's perspective might unsettle many Marvel and DC fans, as well as directors involved in superhero projects. However, from an objective standpoint, it's easy to comprehend his standpoint.
Firstly, both Marvel and DC currently adhere to the cinematic universe model, meaning individual films will somewhat interconnect within an overarching storyline. Consequently, their directors, while granted creative freedom to an extent, still need to abide by certain regulations of those cinematic universes. In other words, the directors' authority is somewhat restricted rather than entirely free as when producing independent films. And Tarantino isn't fond of this.
Secondly, Tarantino's filmmaking style, considered somewhat 'eccentric' in Hollywood, doesn't align with today's superhero movies. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that some of this director's works cater to niche audiences, whereas projects from DC or especially Marvel target mass audiences, with straightforward scripts and high entertainment value.
However, in the past, Quentin Tarantino almost ventured into the superhero film genre twice. In 2012, he planned to undertake a film project based on Luke Cage following the success of Reservoir Dogs (1992), even considering Laurence Fishburne for the lead role. Later, he proposed the idea of a Silver Surfer movie and sent a complete script to Constantin Film in Germany. However, for various reasons, both projects were scrapped.
Quentin Tarantino isn't the only one expressing less-than-positive thoughts about superhero films in general and the Marvel cinematic universe in particular. Previously, legendary director Martin Scorsese vehemently criticized the MCU and viewed Marvel's film projects as an 'amusement park,' lacking cinematic value.
