Benedict Cumberbatch is a surprise supporter of the criticism being levied against Marvel films by other film directors.
Days after Disney CEO Bob Iger defended the blockbuster films that comprise the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cumberbatch – who plays Doctor Strange – said he “agrees” that there should not be ”one king to rule them all”.
“I know there’s been a lot of debate recently with some very fine filmmakers coming to the fore saying these film franchises are taking over everything,” he told SiriusXM’s The Jenny McCarthy Show.
“I agree, we don’t want one king to rule it all and have a monopoly and all that, and it’s hopefully not the case and we should really look into continuing to support auteur filmmakers at every level.”
Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, joined Martin Scorsese in his criticism of Marvel films, with the former telling Agence France-Presse: “When [Martin] says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he’s right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration.
He went on to call superhero films “despicable”. Other directors to have criticised Marvel include Ken Loach and Pedro Almodóvar.
While many agreed with Scorsese’s initial sentiments, a lot of actors and directors who have worked on Marvel films – including James Gunn, Taika Waititi and Natalie Portman – jumped to the studios’s defence.
Cumberbatch, who was last seen in Avengers: Endgame, is seemingly the first Marvel cast member to agree with the criticism.
