Joe Russo Ignites Internet Backlash After Making a Joke About Martin Scorsese

Director Martin Scorsese has been quoted making comments about the argument of Marvel movies as cinema, taking jabs at the superhero genre, and the validity of films made by directors like The Russo Brothers. But Joe Russo made a joke this week at the expense of Scorsese’s dog, and the internet has gone wild.

This past week, Scorsese’s daughter posted a TikTok video featuring the iconic Flowers of the Killer Moon director, which showed the him talking to his Schnauzer, Oscar, and playfully talking about casting him in a film. In response, Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo created an Instagram video with his own dog, also a Schnauzer, and jokingly called him “box office.”

The playful joke was nothing more than harmless banter, but people were quick to take it to heart and post criticisms of Russo in response. ComingSoon reported that Toonami co-founder and Warner Bros. Discovery’s SVP of action and anime series Jason DeMarco went at Russo for his 2022 film The Grey Man, implying that no one would remember the film in 20 years.

“Joe Russo took hundreds of millions from Netflix to make whatever he wanted, and came up with…The Grey Man,” wrote DeMarco in his since-deleted tweet. “Marty got hundreds of millions from Netflix and Apple, and made The Irishman and Killers of The Flower Moon. I know which movies ppl will talk about in 20 years…”

Writer Louis Peitzman also chimed in, noting that “in 50 years no one will know who Joe Russo is,” while others in the film community also chimed in.

Dang, I don’t know about you, but those responses seem really disproportionate to the size of the insult against Scorsese… as I don’t think Russo was even going for a dig at Marty! It seemed like a funny little joke that people took way too seriously. I bet Scorsese has a better sense of humor than those going to bat for him. What do you think?