Credit: Disney ParksJames Cameron hasn’t been shy in his commentary…
For one reason or another, 2022 saw many high-profile directors like Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino, and others slandering the superhero genre and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in specific. It does make sense from a certain point of view Marvel movies are immensely popular, drawing away audiences from more traditionally “artistic” cinema. One such director, who ironically has strong ties to Disney, was James Cameron, but it’s not clear it’s not the genre that he dislikes, just one particular studio.
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So what has the Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) director said about Marvel? Quite a bit, actually. Despite saying early on that he wasn’t going to “diss the Marvel or DC Universe”, Cameron couldn’t seem to help doing just that. The director went on a rant about the characters themselves, saying how, regardless of age, they all acted like they were in college and never really developed real relationships. He then, of course, compared it to his work with the Avatar franchise.
His other big criticism came down to VFX. To be fair, one of the chief reasons that the Avatar franchise has been so popular is the incredible attention to detail when it comes to visual effects. They are some of the best in the business! James Cameron wasn’t afraid to let people know that in other comments when he said that Thanos (Josh Brolin) wasn’t even close to the effects audiences would see in his film. Given all these statements, it would be easy to assume that Cameron just hates the genre, but apparently, that’s not the case.
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In a recent interview with Time, covered by The Direct, the director opened up on a superhero movie that he actually enjoyed, and it wasn’t Marvel! Though he still had issues with it, Cameron revealed that he was a big fan of Warner Bros. Discovery/DC’s Wonder Woman (2017), crediting director Patty Jenkins as the right person for the job:
“I don’t have an issue with ‘Wonder Woman.’ I loved the movie. What was elusive to me at the moment was it’s OK if the woman wants to be beautiful and dress well not for the male gaze, but for her own gaze in the mirror, right? I had maybe missed that part of it at the time.”
With what the director has said about other superhero films, especially in Marvel, this is very high praise, saying that he loved the movie. The director also mentioned another DC character by name, saying how he’d like to see a female director take the helm of a Batman movie. So it seems that Cameron’s problem isn’t necessarily with superheroes or the comic book genre, just with Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
What do you think about James Cameron’s comments? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!