Dune is a little over a month away from opening in domestic theaters, but not only are certain European territories already screening it, the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel has also played at several film festivals. But over the course of director Denis Villeneuve discussing Dune with various publications and outlets, other things have come up in conversation, including Villeneuve taking a shot at Marvel movies. District 9 director Neill Blomkamp subsequently dropped an f-bomb-laced response to what Villeneuve said, but now he’s clarified what he was actually doing.
To set the stage, in an interview Denis Villeneuve did with El Mundo, Martin Scorsese’s comments from 2019 about superhero movies not being “cinema” were brought up, and Villeneuve agreed with that sentiment. He specifically posited that there were “too many Marvel movies that are nothing more than a ‘cut and paste’ of others,” and that these “types of movies have turned us into zombies a bit.” Here’s what Neill Blomkamp had to say about that on Twitter:
For several hours, that tweet stood on its own, but then Neill Blomkamp told a fan that he wasn’t being serious, and that he’s really one of Denis Villeneuve’s fans. As he put it:
Phew, so at least we don’t have to worry about a feud unfolding between these two directors (this also just goes to show how much harder it is to read sarcasm through text). But now I’m curious about how Neill Blomkamp truly feels about Marvel movies. Does the filmmaker who also gave us Elysium and Chappie enjoy the offerings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and disagree with what Denis Villeneuve had to say, or does he side with Villeneuve, Martin Scorsese and various other directors who don’t particularly enjoy this superhero franchise? Either way, it’s good that Blomkamp set the record straight on his earlier tweet rather than let that f-bomb keep lingering without context.
While opinions on Marvel movies will obviously differ depending on who you ask, the MCU continues to be one of Hollywood’s most popular franchises. This year alone has seen the release of Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings so far, and we’ll also get Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home in the coming months. 2021 has also been notable for the MCU through its expansion into Disney+ with the original shows WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and What If… ?, and Hawkeye is on deck for a November premiere.
For those of you interested in Denis Villeneuve and Neil Blomkamp’s work, U.S. audiences will be able to see how the former’s Dune adaptation turned out when it premieres in theaters and on HBO Max October 22. As for the latter, his most recent movie, Demonic, was released last month, and he’s next set to tackle Inferno, which will star Friday Night Lights’ Taylor Kitsch (not to be confused with the same-named 2016 Tom Hanks-led movie).
Keep track of movies arriving in the near future with our 2021 release schedule and 2022 release schedule. The Marvel movies guide and Marvel TV shows guide are also available to those of you keeping close tabs on the MCU.
