Ridley Scott Talks Superhero Movies and Says He's Turned Down Offers to Direct Them Because His "F –kin' Stories Are Better"

Director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) has once again opened up about his distaste for comic book movies and revealed that he’s turned down offers to direct them. Instead, he says some of the films he has made are actually superhero movies… and that those stories he told are better.

While talking to Deadline about his latest historical epic, Napolean, it was brought up that a lot of moviegoers are now more interested in TikTok and superheroes, prompting him to share his thoughts on the matter, saying:

"There’s this idolization of the superheroes, which really is just a comic strip extension, and from that, it’s very difficult to write a comic-strip story and carry it out successfully on film. That said, I’m not a superhero fan, even though I used to love the comic strips."

He went on to say there are superhero movies that he did enjoy back in the day with Richard Donner’s Superman, and some Batman movies, but explains that the way they are made now feels less real:

"I think there’s a couple of pretty good Batmans, and that Superman movie by Dick Donner captured the tradition of the comic strip. As we’ve enlarged upon our capabilities visually, I think funnily enough, everything gets less real and less real, and now it seemed to become an excuse for actors to make a lot of money on the side playing superheroes."

When asked if he's ever been offered a superhero project, Scott responded:

"Yeah, been offered, but just said, no, thank you. Not for me. I’ve done two or three superhero films. I think Sigourney Weaver’s a superhero in Aliens. I think Russell Crowe‘s a superhero in Gladiator. And Harrison Ford is the super anti-hero in Blade Runner. The difference is, the f*cking stories are better.”

I totally do understand why some filmmakers just don’t like superhero movies. Hell, even right now audiences and fans are getting tired of them. This isn’t the first time that Scott has given a rant about superhero movies. He previously said:

"The best films are driven by the characters, and we’ll come to superheroes after this if you want, because I’ll crush it. I’ll f***ing crush it. They’re f***ing boring as s***."

"Their scripts are not any f***ing good...why don’t the superhero movies have better stories? Sorry. I got off the rail, but I mean, c’mon. They’re mostly saved by special effects, and that’s becoming boring for everyone who works with special effects, if you’ve got the money."

I don’t really want to see Scott make a superhero movie, I want him to continue making the films he makes because most of them definitely do tell great stories! His films are definitely more interesting than the kinds of superhero movies we are seeing get made these days.