Are we not all Tom Holland in this photo with regard to this ongoing drama?
Just when you'd thought that you've had enough of the Great Marvel Debate of 2019 – featuring auteurs Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola – along comes Marvel extraordinaire Jon Favreau with his take on the opinions of both storied filmmakers. Recently, Scorsese let his contempt for Marvel films be known by saying that the studio's superhero spectacles are "not cinema." Not long after that, Coppola chimed in to offer his take, at which point he claimed that Marvel's slate of films are "despicable." Are we having fun yet? No? Then perhaps this next part will have you splitting your purple pants with rage.
While speaking with CNBC, Favreau offered what I consider to be a measured response to Scorsese and Coppola's opinions, saying:
These two guys are my heroes, and they have earned the right to express their opinions,” Favreau reasoned. “I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if they didn’t carve the way,” he said. “They served as a source of inspiration, you can go all the way back to Swingers. They can express whatever opinion they like.
Well I … wait, what? Did someone who's involved in this mess just deliver a level-headed response to the debate? Imagine a world where you can think what you want about Marvel movies – or Scorsese and Copolla's films for the matter – and still manage to go about your day. No backlash. No articles designed to coyly drag legends through the mud. No podium for negativity. No embarrassing displays superiority. Man, just thinking about a world like that makes me feel as if I've just inherited my own version of the "Peter tingle."
Favreau, who directed and starred in the first Marvel-produced film, IRON MAN, has been a major player in the MCU more or less since its conception. Since that time, THE LION KING helmer has starred in both SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING and SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, in addition to appearing in all four Avengers films. To think that Favreau is content to involve himself in the "same movie over and over again" strikes me as rather foolish. To each their own and all that jazz, though a part of me wonders if this is simply a bitter case of "out with the old and in with the new."
What do you think of Favreau's response? Are you of the mind that opinions are like assholes, everyone has one? Or do you think the sanctity of cinema has been threatened by Marvel's ability to capture the hearts of millions? Let us know where you stand in the comments section below.