Despite his love for action-packed superhero movies, actor and comedian Adam DeVine believes that Marvel and big-budget superhero movies have ruined comedy films appearing in theaters.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed cinema forever. It has taken characters from Marvel Comics and made them more prominent than ever. Yes, people recognized heroes like Captain America, Black Panther, and the Avengers, but they have never been more prevalent than when Marvel Studios kicked off the MCU with Iron Man (2008).
Naturally, other studios have followed suit, resulting in an abundance of movies with budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars. While this has proven profitable for the biggest studios, smaller movies like comedies and horror films have been pushed to the wayside in favor of these financial behemoths. And one famous comedian, Adam DeVine, has taken note.
Adam DeVine: “Marvel Ruined It.”

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Adam DeVine is an actor most known for starring in comedic films and series, including Workaholics (2011-2017), The Righteous Gemstones (2019-present), Pitch Perfect (2012), and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) alongside Zac Efron. In an appearance on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von to promote his new film The Out-Laws (2023), DeVine explained to host Theo Von his theory that Marvel movies killed modern comedies.
“You watch comedies nowadays, and you’re like, this is not a f—–g comedy. Where are the jokes? Where are the bits? There’s still good shows, but movie comedy… it’s hard,” said Devine. “My theory: I think Marvel ruined it. I feel like superhero movies ruined comedies because you go to the theater and you expect to watch something that cost $200 million to make, and comedy movies aren’t that.”
DeVine continued, “So you’re like, ‘Why would I spend the same amount of money to go watch a little comedy in the theater if I can spend that and watch something that is worth $200 million?’ And they still make those movies kind of funny, like, ‘Oh my god, is that raccoon talking? This is hilarious!’ Which it is, but it’s not a real comedy.”
The clip has since blown up, with many fans and publications like Variety making it seem like he hates Marvel movies. However, DeVine quickly took to Twitter to say that that wasn’t true.
“As a guy who loves movies and tv, it’s cool to be in Variety, but this is misleading. I like Marvel and think these movies are cool. I was saying that studios (in trying to compete with Marvel) have stopped making mid-budget comedies. I miss seeing comedy in the theaters!” And he’s not wrong.
As a guy who loves movies and tv it’s cool to be in Variety but this is misleading. I like Marvel and think these movies are cool. I was saying that studios (in trying to compete with Marvel) have stopped making mid budget comedies. I miss seeing comedy in the theaters! https://t.co/a1S4GxO5W0
— ADAMDEVINE (@ADAMDEVINE) August 8, 2023
Especially with streaming, there has been less of an urge to watch movies in theaters. Tickets are expensive, and audiences want to feel like they’ll be getting their money’s worth. More often than not, these movies are released directly to streaming, where they are much more likely to be seen.
However, with these more expensive superhero blockbusters seeing less and less success post-pandemic, there is a chance for less costly projects to make their marks. For example, M3GAN (2022), Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), and Cocaine Bear (2023) were all made for less than $30 million and more than doubled their budget. Hopefully, we’ll see this trend continue with more traditional comedies.
Do you think the Marvel Cinematic Universe killed smaller movies? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!