KINGSMAN Director Matthew Vaughn Thinks Marvel Needs To "Make Less Films And Concentrate On Making Them Great"

KINGSMAN Director Matthew Vaughn Thinks Marvel Needs To "Make Less Films And Concentrate On Making Them Great"

Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn has shared his take on what Marvel Studios needs to do amid continued claims of "superhero fatigue" among moviegoers. Check out his assessment here!

By JoshWilding - Oct 23, 2023 07:10 AM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Studios
Source: Screen Rant

Are comic book movies in trouble? Some people would have you believe so, though talk of "superhero fatigue" feels somewhat premature. The genre has delivered more misses than hits lately, but all it really needs is one huge box office hit like Avengers: Endgame or a critical darling like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to bounce back. 

Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn is no stranger to comic books after working on the X-Men, Kick-Ass, and Kingsman franchises. Even now, he's believed to be in talks to take charge of The Authority for DC Studios and, in the late 2000s, was even Marvel Studios' top choice for Thor

Talking to Screen Rant, Vaughn shared his thoughts on the current state of the genre and whether he believes superhero fatigue is an issue for the MCU's recent woes.

"I think there's been so many bad superhero movies as well that it's like when the Western got, you make so many than you get bored of the genre, not because the genre is bad, but because the films are bad. I was old enough, sadly, when Batman and Robin came out, and it was terrible. I was a big Batman fan, and we were like, Ah! And then superheroes stopped, and then they came back. Now, I'll be intrigued to see how The Marvels does."

"I genuinely don't know what's happening with the superhero in the sense that, I do think, maybe we all need a little bit of time off from it. Maybe someone will make something so great that we will get excited again and remind everybody that just having identical ways of making superheroes... Superhero films are films. It's a film that has superheroes in it. I think what happened was that they became superheroes, and the film part wasn't that important."

When you're making a superhero movie, you sort of have to work harder because you've got to make people believe it. That's why X-Men First Class was pretty grounded. We set it in the Cuban Missile Crisis; they had relatable human problems. And it wasn't relying on the CG. I think CG's f--ked up everything as well, because you feel like you're watching a video game. You're not with the characters."

"Apart from Guardians, I still think Groot and the racoon are f--king pieces of genius, that I feel so much for them. So I'll be intrigued. I think at least DC is under; I think James Gunn and Saffron they've got a good chance of popping, and hopefully, Feige will go back to less is more and make less films and concentrate on making them great."

He sure is heaping plenty of praise on DC Studios' co-CEO James Gunn there, eh? Rightly so in fairness, though we can't help but wonder whether Vaughn is essentially a lock for The Authority at this stage. 

There's long been a narrative among certain critics and outlets that superhero movies need to go away, hence why the superhero fatigue narrative is now being pushed so hard. The genre is here to stay - if not, the DCU will be in trouble - but Vaughn is correct that now might be a good time to lessen the quantity and focus on quality. 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. 

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FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 10/23/2023, 7:52 AM
Sounds like he’s licking Gunn’s ass to secure his gig at DC, without even acknowledging the fact most of the shitty superhero movies come from DC, not Marvel.
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 10/23/2023, 8:06 AM
@FireandBlood - what did he say that was untrue?
1. Rocket and Groot were the best parts of Guardians.
2. Gunn and Safron DO have a good chance of making something special because they are starting from scratch and can see the mistakes made by previous superhero movies.
3. It’s no secret that after Endgame Marvel’s quantity has increased and quality has taken a dive, even YOU have said that on here.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 10/23/2023, 8:20 AM
@WruceBayne - Marvel’s quality has taken a dip, that’s true. But for every good DC movie, the next 5 are all but guaranteed to suck. Quality control over there is non-existent, yet they’re releasing 4 movies this year (more than Marvel), and have how many more in the pipeline? It isn’t Marvel flooding the market with dogshit, it’s DC.

The only reason the superhero genre is even still viable, the only reason DC is even taking another crack at another shared universe after the last one failed, is because of what Marvel do. Hell, it’s only reason this guy is sucking James Gunn’s ass right now. We’re not going to sit here and act as if the plethora of shitty CBMs lately is down to Marvel, when even after a rare few misses, they couldn’t catch up to releasing as many duds as DC even if they tried.
mountainman
mountainman - 10/23/2023, 8:49 AM
@FireandBlood - You’re right that DC and Sony have had more stinkers than Marvel has. That being said, the MCU has declined in quality.

We don’t know what the future will hold for any studio, but if we just take Vaughn’s statement at face value, what he said was true.
Origame
Origame - 10/23/2023, 9:29 AM
@FireandBlood - this is literally just a "but what about them" argument.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 10/23/2023, 9:37 AM
@Origame - Vaughn’s been throwing stones at Marvel lately, a common tactic of filmmakers working at DC for the past decade. But if you want to ignore that because you don’t like Marvel’s practice of hiring minorities and woman, go ahead. Doesn’t change the fact it’s happening.

Marvel’s dip in quality can’t be blamed for any type of superhero fatigue, because for every Ant-Man 3 or Thor 4, there’s an entire catalogue of movies from DC and Sony being shat out each year, but Vaughn doesn’t want to talk about that. Just the studio his people are busy at work still trying to emulate.
Origame
Origame - 10/23/2023, 10:53 AM
@FireandBlood - this isn't like mamoa saying "f@#$ marvel". It's basic criticism. No stones are being thrown.

Do you think your teachers were throwing stones when they gave you a bad grade?
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 10/23/2023, 11:03 AM
@WruceBayne -


Gunn has no experience being a CEO and judging by his slate and recent comments it's gonna be a mess



Connecting tv, video games, comics and movies is a terrible idea. Love him as a filmaker though.


dont get me started on safron🤣
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 10/23/2023, 8:21 AM
Ryguy88
Ryguy88 - 10/23/2023, 8:54 AM
@DrReedRichards - love that line
NoAssemblyReqd
NoAssemblyReqd - 10/23/2023, 8:23 AM
The triple-threat combo of ENDGAME being a pretty solid finale (and an exit point for fatigued fans), a pandemic limiting both filming and theater-going, and the Disney+ streaming service needing more content, regardless of quality… all these have made MCU phases 4 and 5 feel like too much and not enough at the same time.

I still think there have been more high points than lows. It’s very easy to forget that MCU’s phase 1 build-up to the Avengers was pretty uneven and even quaint compared to phases 2 and 3.
mountainman
mountainman - 10/23/2023, 8:50 AM
@NoAssemblyReqd - Calling Phase 1 quaint is fair, but I’ll take any movie from Phase 1 over a lot of the Phase 4/5 stuff.
Gorka
Gorka - 10/23/2023, 8:51 AM
It's "fewer films" not "less films"
Matchesz
Matchesz - 10/23/2023, 8:57 AM
3 spideys in one 2 1/2 hr long movie.. 6 hours of ms marvel, 6 hours of ironheart, 6 hours of agatha.. make it make sense
TheShellyMan
TheShellyMan - 10/23/2023, 9:02 AM
He's completely right.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 10/23/2023, 9:24 AM
First thing he said in the last few days that doesn't sound dumb.

Although I guess an argument that could be made is that the more movies are made, the more bad movies there. Even if the percentage good/bad remains the same.

That said, I don't really care how many movies they make. I'll just pick what I want. Same like walking into a comic store, I don't set out to read everything
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 10/23/2023, 11:06 AM
Vaughn really wants a job at DC 🤡



He should give Gunn advice. Gunn is connecting video games, tv, comics and movies....yikes 😅
marvel72
marvel72 - 10/23/2023, 3:33 PM
He's definitely not wrong,it's going to be a struggle/slog getting to Avengers:The Kang Dynasty and Avengers:Secret Wars.

Deadpool 3
Fantastic Four (maybe, waiting for the castings)
Avengers:The Kang Dynasty
Avengers:Secret Wars

How many more fans/general audiences will drop off before than.
dragon316
dragon316 - 10/23/2023, 3:51 PM
Dam right they do
BritishMonkey
BritishMonkey - 10/23/2023, 5:56 PM
I really want there to be no superhero film releases next year.
marvel72
marvel72 - 10/23/2023, 11:07 PM
@BritishMonkey - We definitely could do with a break from them.

There is so much coming out be it movies or streaming shows,it won't all be good.

Only looking forward to Deadpool 3 and maybe the second Joker movie.
IronSpider101
IronSpider101 - 10/24/2023, 4:23 AM
I think there are a handful of GREAT comic book movies. Ones that are not only great movies in the genre, but great films period. Not a single one has been MCU. They've come close, but they always shoot for middle of the road. If CBM's are horror, "The Dark Knight" is The Exorcist, and the MCU, at best, is Newline cranking out Nightmare on Elm Street sequels. Fun? Yes. Kind of shallow? Yes. Peaked at the first movie? Yes.

It's why I don't understand why people moan at Scorsese. He's not only right in his assessment, but that seems to be the appeal. These movies were never trying to be thoughtful pieces of story-telling. They were designed to be fun, disposable distractions. A classier, less juvenile version of what Michael Bay was doing with Transformers. That tier of film. There's never been an MCU movie that's come close to Dark Knight level. Even when people try to convince you it's Winter Soldier. Is it more serious than the typical MCU fare? Sure. But it's still a pretty basic action blockbuster with a bit of a contemporary subject. It doesn't explore the subject, it's not interested in being a metaphor or a character study or anything. It's interested in being a big, fun, summer Captain America movie where things go "BOOM!" and a big tower gets demolished.

If they want to survive, they simply have to start making better movies. Not allowing the tail to wag the dog in terms of crossovers and future teases. Let people make Marvel movies that look different, that feel different, that aren't obligated to be action comedies shot in front of a green screen where every character is either a socially awkward pop culture reference machine or an asshole manchild. People didn't like Iron Man because of Avengers teases and suit combat. They enjoyed it because the characters were allowed to be endearing and charming. You had scenes like Pepper replacing Tony's arc reactor or their dance together that gave the movie heart. Make a movie that has slow sequences where people talk about things that have nothing to do with Zippy McGoo and his death machine. It's not that hard. Spider-Verse is able to do it to great effect. The audience will respond.

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