INDEPENDENCE DAY Director Roland Emmerich Thinks Marvel Movies Are "Silly"

For the past twenty years, Roland Emmerich has been one of Hollywood's go-to guys for disaster porn blockbusters. Movies like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, The Patriot, 2012, and White House Down are absolutely stuffed with profoundly ludicrous moments, but thanks to a new interview with The Guardian, it now appears Emmerich is totally oblivious to the insanity of his own movies — he just called out Marvel movies for being "silly."

“When you look at my movies it’s always the regular Joe Schmo that’s the unlikely hero. A lot of Marvel movies, they show people in funny suits running around. I don’t like people in capes. I find it silly when someone dons a superhero suit and flies. I don’t understand it. I grew up in Germany, that’s probably why.”

I'm not sure that growing up in Germany is a great excuse for finding superhero stories silly, but I guess we should give him the benefit of the doubt on that. (I'd love for some of our German commenters to sound off about their thoughts on his statement.)

Also maybe worth noting for Emmerich, who has a bit of a "holier than thou" attitude here: his new movie Independence Day: Resurgence isn't even screening for critics until 11am Friday morning, hours after it opens on Thursday night. That's the clearest possible sign that the studio has absolutely zero confidence in the film. It sounds like the director could benefit from a little self-awareness on his part.