James Gunn has responded to Francis Ford Coppola describing Marvel movies as "despicable".
Martin Scorsese recently hit headlines for labelling the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flicks "not cinema", and on Saturday, Coppola supported his fellow moviemaker after accepting his Lumiere Award in France by insisting filmgoers learn nothing from Marvel boss Kevin Feige's blockbusters and commented, "Martin was kind when he said it's not cinema. He didn't say it's despicable, which I just say it is."
Guardians of the Galaxy director Gunn took to Instagram on Sunday to defend Marvel, and while he didn't call out The Godfather filmmaker explicitly, did repeat his use of the word "despicable" in his argument.
"Many of our grandfathers thought all gangster movies were the same, often calling them 'despicable'. Some of our great grandfathers thought the same of westerns, and believed the films of John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone were all exactly the same. I remember a great uncle to whom I was raving about Star Wars. He responded by saying, 'I saw that when it was called 2001, and, boy, was it boring!'" the 53-year-old wrote.
"Superheroes are simply today's gangsters/cowboys/outer space adventurers. Some superhero films are awful, some are beautiful. Like westerns and gangster movies (and before that, just MOVIES), not everyone will be able to appreciate them, even some geniuses. And that's okay."
Gunn previously posted his take on Scorsese's view on his Twitter page, claiming he was disappointed to hear the Oscar-winning director "judging" his films.
"Martin Scorsese is one of my five favourite living filmmakers. I was outraged when people picketed The Last Temptation of Christ without having seen the film. I'm saddened that he's now judging my films in the same way," he stated.
Other Marvel movie stars to defend the studio include Thor: Love and Thunder star Natalie Portman and Captain America: Civil War actor Sebastian Stan.
