Despite combining to create one of the most beloved franchises in movie history, Marvel's Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige have recently found themselves at the receiving end of a bit of criticism regarding Hollywood's so-called 'superhero fatigue' problem. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone to promote Age Of Ultron, the pair sat down and addressed some of their critics' concerns...
Kevin Feige, upon being asked about whether superhero films are "ruining hollywood":
"Well, I will say we're in good company. If you look through the decades of people who've been accused of that. Star Wars ruined Hollywood, Steven Spielberg ruined Hollywood — I'll be in that company any day of the week.
"But the truth is, we don't spend a lot of time looking at that stuff because we're too busy trying to make the movies. I haven't been involved in a project that's been nominated for an Independent Spirit award, but I imagine those people put all their blood, sweat, and tears into it to try to get it done. That's exactly what we do over here every single day."
Whedon seemed to take the criticism in good humor, while building on Feige's earlier comments:
"They don't have the Hulk. The Hulk wants to do more independent stuff. It's just his agent… The Marvel paradigm is new and is being copied by a lot of people, because it worked. But they're being blamed for something that happened long before comic books became the basis for a lot of these blockbusters."
"As for whether the paradigm will sustain itself or whether or not people will get sick of superheroes, who knows? Sure, I could stand to make a movie where guys don't have to be sewn into their outfits. That would be fun. But a lot of vitriol has come Kevin's way and Marvel's way. I think perhaps that is misguided."
Feige concluded the interview by responding to a question many people have been wondering about - when he thinks the superhero bubble will pop:
"As soon as there are a bunch of them that are terrible, that's when it will end. I don't believe in the superhero-movie genre. With Guardians of the Galaxy, we wanted to do a big space movie; with Ant-Man, we wanted to do a heist movie; Winter Solider, we wanted to do a political thriller."
"I'm more entertained by all of those kind of movies when there's superheroes in the middle of them, so that works out for me. But, I do believe and hope that that's what we'll continue to sustain, at least the ones we're responsible for. The other ones we have nothing to do with – and we go see them when they come out on opening weekend."
Many casual moviegoers and comic book fans have found the criticsm that these two (and their colleagues over at DC, Fox etc.) have received to be somewhat unfair. Here, I felt they addressed the complaints very well. But what about you? What did you think about the Marvel duo's comments. Let us know your thoughts below!