Terry Gilliam Isn't a Fan of Marvel Movies Either and Says BLACK PANTHER Is "Utter Bull***t"
First Martin Scorsese, then Francis Ford Coppola, and now director Terry Gilliam has jumped on the Marvel movie hate train! Another director that I’m a fan of, who has made films such as Time Bandits, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and more, suggests that Marvel does a poor job accurately depicting reality. Ummm… has he watched his own movies!? He tells IndieWire:
“If you are that powerful, you should be dealing with reality a bit more. What I don’t like is that we all have to be superheroes do anything worthwhile. That’s what makes me crazy. That’s what these movies are saying to young people. And to me it’s not confronting the reality of, you know, the quote-unquote human condition. You know what it is like to be a normal human being in difficult situations and resolving them surviving. I can’t fault them for the sheer spectacle, except it’s repetitive. You still have to blow up another city.”
With a statement like that, I’m not entirely sure that Gilliam has even ever watched any Marvel movies. Anyone who has watched these movies will probably disagree with that statement. Just because something is labeled a superhero or comic book movie doesn’t mean you can’t dive in and tell a great story about the human condition. Marvel has done a great job with that!
The director then goes on to trash Ryan Coogler's Black Panther, calling it "utter bullshit" for giving young fans a false sense of belief. He says:
“I hated Black Panther. It makes me crazy. It gives young black kids the idea that this is something to believe in. Bullshit. It’s utter bullshit."
Gilliam goes on to say that he doubts the people who made the movie bothered to visit Africa in preparation for the film:
"I think the people who made it have never been to Africa. They went and got some stylist for some African pattern fabrics and things. But I just I hated that movie, partly because the media were going on about the importance of bullshit.”
While Black Panther isn’t my favorite Marvel movie, I still enjoyed it. I’m just kind of fascinated by these directors who seem so threatened by Marvel movies that they have to come out and tear them down like this. What are your thoughts on Gilliam’s comments regarding Marvel movies and Black Panther?