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Dune director wonders if Marvel movies have “turned us into zombies”

By Mia Johnson

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - NOVEMBER 10: Denis Villeneuve attends the 31st American Cinematheque Award Presentation Honoring Amy Adams Presented by GRoW @ Annenberg. Presentation of The 3rd Annual Sid Grauman Award Sponsored by Hill Valley, presented to Richard Gelfond and Greg Foster on behalf of IMAX at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 10, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for American Cinematheque)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - NOVEMBER 10: Denis Villeneuve attends the 31st American Cinematheque Award Presentation Honoring Amy Adams Presented by GRoW @ Annenberg. Presentation of The 3rd Annual Sid Grauman Award Sponsored by Hill Valley, presented to Richard Gelfond and Greg Foster on behalf of IMAX at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 10, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for American Cinematheque) /
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Dune director Denis Villeneuve is stirring up controversy with his comments about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He spoke to Spanish-language publication El Mundo, which brought up Martin Scorsese’s infamous comments about Marvel movies are “not cinema.” Villeneuve agreed.

Here’s the English translation from The Direct:

"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."

This isn’t the first time Villeneuve has voiced this opinion. As one reporter shared on Twitter, Villeneuve also gave his take to the French site Premiere:

"Well, if we’re talking about Marvel, the thing is, all these films are made from the same mold. Some filmmakers can add a little color to it, but they’re all cast in the same factory. It doesn’t take anything away from the movies, but they are formatted. Dune is extremely personal. Whether it cost 3 million or 300 million, whether there is a Dune movie or three. I fully claim his paternity. I tried to make the most popular film possible."

The great Marvel debate

It’s interesting that Villeneuve says he wants to make Dune as popular as possible. Given how popular Marvel movies are, wouldn’t that mean he would have to include some of the same elements in his Dune movie?

The overall gist of his statement is that Marvel don’t movies don’t have much personality in them, where his Dune is “extremely personal.” Ironically, director Chloé Zhao recently revealed she used stills from Denis Villeneuve films to pitch her vision for Marvel’s Eternals. Call it derivative if you like, but Zhao has been praised for bringing her unique style and vision into this film.

It makes one wonder what the real root of the problem is. It could be Marvel fatigue. While each movie is tonally different, they all share some of the same DNA. But with the demand for the MCU still so high, it’s hard to criticize something if it works.

Next. When Broadway almost made an actual Captain America musical in the ’80s. dark

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