Based on global box office numbers, it's no major stretch to say that people love superhero movies. However, that doesn't mean that everybody loves superhero movies. Independence Day director Roland Emmerich is not a fan. He's really not a fan. He's come out for the second time in as many days to bash the entire genre. This time, he's focusing on the fact that he believes they're all trying to steal his gimmick.
20 years ago Roland Emmerich began what would become a series of films that included large set pieces of the world being destroyed. Some of Independence Day's most memorable scenes are the ones in which major landmarks, like the White House or the Empire State Building, were blown up by aliens. In an interview with Loaded, the director, about to make his return with Independence Day: Resurgence, says that he's seeing something very familiar in the modern superhero movie trend.
I felt that when I saw some of these Marvel movies or DC movies from Warners. I felt, 'Oh my God that looks familiar to me'. Why is Superman bashing so many buildings?' I was actually warned already by Steven Spielberg that this will happen. He said Independence Day will be the most imitated film of the next 20 years -- and he was right. Smart man.
While many people, fans and critics alike have taken issue with some aspects of superhero movies, like the amount of wanton destruction that has taken place in the DCEU, we can't remember anybody who complained about it because they thought the movie was just trying to ape Roland Emmerich. While it is true that between ID4, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, and 2012 the director has carved out a niche when it comes to movies in which large parts of the planet explode, he's hardly the first one to make a disaster movie. Also, we feel compelled to point out that, while it wasn't destroyed, the White House was significantly trashed by aliens in Superman II back in 1981.
Roland Emmerich might not be so harsh to superhero movies if he didn't already make it clear that he just doesn't get it. A couple of days ago the director said he simply didn't like movies where people ran around in capes and masks, claiming that superheroes were simply not popular when he grew up in Germany, so he wasn't exposed to them for his entire life the way so many were.
In the end, Roland Emmerich and comic book fans will simply have to agree to disagree. It's clear that the genre can do little to make him happy.
Do you think the Marvel and DC movies are stealing their ideas from Independence Day? Let us know your thoughts below.
