Coppola calls Marvel movies 'despicable' in defense of Scorsese's criticism
Godfather director's comments come after Martin Scorsese called MCU movies "not cinema."
Francis Ford Coppola receives the Lumiere Award during the 11th edition of the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, France, on Friday.
Francis Ford Coppola jumped into the fray over Martin Scorsese's criticism of Marvel movies, calling his fellow director "right" and calling the wildly successful film franchise "despicable."
"When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he's right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration," the 80-year-old director of the Godfather series and Apocalypse Now said Friday.
"I don't know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again," Coppola told reporters in Lyon, France, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency and France 24.
Coppola's comments come a week after Scorsese, director of classics such as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, called the blockbusters in the marvel Cinematic Universe "not cinema" and said "theaters have become amusement parks."
Coppola, who was in France to be honored with the Prix Lumiere for his contribution to cinema, added a bit of his own criticism of MCU movies in support of his fellow director.
"Martin was kind when he said it's not cinema," Coppola said. "He didn't say it's despicable, which I just say it is."
The remarks by Coppola prompted an outcry on social media from Marvel fans. James Gunn, director of MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy, responded Sunday on Instagram with a video of himself petting a Pomeranian with quiet intensity -- perhaps mocking Coppola for the Godfather scene where Marlon Brando pets a cat.
The MCU is the most successful film franchise of all time, having grossed more than $18 billion worldwide -- $4 billion of which it made in 2018 alone -- and now owning the title of highest-grossing movie of all time with Avengers: Endgame.
A Marvel representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
