'They all act like they're in college': James Cameron calls out DCEU, MCU characters for being 'immature'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Oscar winning director James Cameron reportedly criticized the immaturity of characters in the long-running DCEU and MCU franchises, saying that they all acted like they were in "college", according to a New York Times interview on Tuesday, October 25.
The filmmaker of the anticipated 'Avatar' sequel, 'Avatar: The Way of Water', criticised Marvel and DC superheroes for being "one-dimensional figures devoid of deeper motivations or feelings."
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According to the outlet, Cameron said, “When I look at these big, spectacular films — I’m looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn’t matter how old the characters are, they all act like they’re in college,” he said. “They have relationships, but they really don’t. They never hang up their spurs because of their kids. The things that really ground us and give us power, love, and a purpose? Those characters don’t experience it, and I think that’s not the way to make movies.”
Superhero movies have dominated the box office in recent years, and Cameron was not the first well-known filmmaker to condemn them. In 2019, Martin Scorsese claimed that Marvel movies were not "cinemas" and contrasted them with amusement parks. He expanded on his remarks in a later Times op-ed stating, "Many of them are well made by teams of talented individuals. All the same, they lack something essential to cinema: the unifying vision of an individual artist," reported Buisness Insider.
The sequel to 'Avatar,' from 20th Century Studios, on December 16 after 13 long years of waiting. “Zoe and Sam now play parents, 15 years later,” Cameron said in the interview. “In the first movie, Sam’s character leaps off his flying creature and essentially changes the course of history as a result of this crazy, almost suicidal leap of faith. And Zoe’s character leaps off a limb and assumes there’s going to be some nice big leaves down there that can cushion her fall. But when you’re a parent, you don’t think that way. So for me, as a parent of five kids, I’m saying, ‘What happens when those characters mature and realize that they have a responsibility outside their own survival?'” Cameron added.
In the sequel, Jake, Neytiri and their family are trying to protect the Na'vi from a fresh menace. The new movie also stars Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Yeoh, Stephen Lang and Kate Winslet among others. At least three sequels are in the works, slated to be released on December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026, and December 22, 2028.