Are Marvel movies cinema? Or are they something else and bad? Everyone has their own opinions on the subject, and Tim Blake Nelson – who will reprise his role as The Leader/Samuel Sterns in Captain America: Brave New World – is now speaking out.
Nelson made it clear that he disagrees with those who “attack” the Marvel Cinematic Universe because, in his opinion, Marvel is “keeping cinema alive.”
Nelson’s Words on the Marvel Cinematic Universe
“Marvel has become a phenomenon unlike anything in the history of cinema,” Nelson explained. “These dozens of films with characters coming in and out of their storylines, coming together, coming apart, fighting each other in one universe—that’s never happened before in cinema. When people attack these films and say, ‘Well, that’s not real cinema,’ or ‘It’s the death of cinema,’ I actually think (Marvel) is keeping cinema alive, and I really do.”
Nelson made these comments while speaking to TheWrap at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
The MCU debate ignited in 2019 when director Martin Scorsese expressed his opinion that Marvel films are “not cinema,” prompting several Hollywood icons to defend the franchise. Coppola also criticized Marvel, who was defended by (another) Coppola.
More recently, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito and MCU leader Kevin Feige acknowledged that the studio had been through a bit of a rough patch, but that they hoped to make up for lost ground “by having a big success” with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, which you can read our review of.
