Recently, director James Cameron had some less than flattering things to say about superhero movies. He voiced a hope that the moviegoing public would hit "Avenger fatigue" at some point soon, because, while he loves the movies, he felt that they tended to tell the same story over and over again, and he hopes that other stories can be given the spotlight in the future. Over the weekend, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige was asked about Cameron's comments. Ever the politician, Feige decided to focus on the positive side of what Cameron said, while utterly ignoring the criticism. According to Feige...
Uh, he loves the movies! That's awesome! Wow, James Cameron loves our movies! That's exciting!
It's the brief "uh" that started the statement that makes it art. Kevin Feige needs a beat to consider how he's going to respond to Vulture as they quoted James Cameron's words at him. Then he sees the glimmer of light that has been left for him and he grabs it. Well played sir.
Nobody wants to get into a war of words like this. The idea that the superhero movie is becoming too large a presence at the movie theater isn't a new idea and this won't be the last we hear about it. At the same time, there really isn't a polite way to argue against James Cameron's comments, as the language does come across a little harsh. Here's what he said...
I'm hoping we'll start getting 'Avenger' fatigue here pretty soon. Not that I don't love the movies. It's just, come on guys, there are other stories to tell besides hyper-gonadal males without families doing death-defying things for two hours and wrecking cities in the process. It's like, oy.
While James Cameron's language is tough, he also says he loves the movies, and he wouldn't need to make such a qualifying statement if he was intending to be brutal on them. He probably doesn't mean to come across in quite the way that he does, which may also be why Kevin Feige decided against engaging. He doesn't know what James Cameron really means hearing a quote out of context.
Still, there are people who do hold the current crop of superhero movies in fairly low regard. Zoe Saldana, who works both in the MCU and with James Cameron as part of the Avatar movies, has herself recently spoken about the way that some have been critical of the fact that she makes such movies.
At some point, we likely will hit a point of Avenger fatigue and superhero movies, while they may never go away entirely, will probably become a smaller part of the landscape than they are now. Having said that, there's little indication that day is going to come anytime soon. Avengers: Infinity War, the movie with more hyper-gonadal males without families than one movie has ever seen, comes out Friday.
