In 2019, filmmaker Martin Scorsese opened a can of worms when he decided to make the declaration that superhero movies are not "cinema."
The past five years have seen countless writers, directors, and actors hit back at his comments, while plenty of others have rallied around Scorsese and agreed with his appraisal. Which camp does legendary Star Wars creator George Lucas fall into?
In a rare interview conducted at Cannes this week, Lucas was asked for his thoughts on Scorsese's scathing take on superhero fare (the topic turns to Marvel around the 8:00 mark in the video below).
"Look. Cinema is the art of a moving image," he responded. "So if the image moves, then it's cinema. I think Marty has kind of changed his mind a little bit." Lucas then shifted gears to talk about how he pioneered digital film and the fact many directors, Scorsese included, were initially adamant that he was doing the wrong thing.
While Lucas stopped short of sharing his thoughts on Marvel fare (saying "if the images movies, then it's cinema" may or may not be telling), he did offer a no-holds-barred assessment of Hollywood's current output elsewhere in this conversation.
"The stories they're telling are just old movies," he said. "'Let's do a sequel, let's do another version of this movie' There's no original thinking. The big studios, they don't have an imagination."
However, those of you hoping Lucas, who also created Indiana Jones, will step behind the camera to right the ship will likely be disappointed.
"No, I'm retired," he confirmed. "The last one I did as a producer was a thing called Strange Magic, which is an animated film. So I was doing movies that I wanted to do rather than...I was financing myself and had my own studio. I am building a museum in Los Angeles. It's keeping me very busy."
It's always fascinating to hear from Lucas and we'll be bringing you his thoughts on Disney's Star Wars movies soon. We'd be shocked if he doesn't appreciate Marvel movies from a technical standpoint (without Jar Jar Binks, there would be no Thanos) but whether he's a fan of the MCU remains up for debate.
Check out the full interview below.