Dune Director Denis Villeneuve Is Not A Fan Of Marvel Movies, Sorry

You know what I was just thinking the other day? "It's been far too long since the last time a prominent filmmaker was randomly asked about their opinions about Marvel and sparked another week of relentless social media chicanery." True story, I swear! "Dune" director Denis Villeneuve must have picked up on the vibes I was sending out into the ether (I'll try to do better to control this superpower of mine from now on, don't worry), as he has become the latest in a long line of industry figures to wade into the fray and publicly criticize Marvel Studios.

In this instance, Villeneuve has called out the films for feeling too alike without containing nearly as much variety as they ideally should. Look, I won't tell you how you should react to this news, but clearly it's of the upmost importance that we all get way too invested in these quotes and yell about it online for as long as we possibly can anyway.

Well, at least nobody can accuse Denis Villeneuve about being anything less than honest and forthright. The "Sicario," "Arrival," and "Blade Runner 2049" filmmaker hasn't exactly been shy over the last year or so when it comes to speaking his mind, first releasing a blistering statement in response to the entire slate of Warner Bros. films releasing day-and-date with HBO Max and again stirring up social media by referring to watching a movie like "Dune" on anything less than the big screen as akin to "[driving] a speedboat in your bathtub." In that light, maybe it was only a matter of time before Villeneuve set his sights on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the most popular and consistently profitable ongoing franchise at the moment. El Mundo brings us word of his latest comments (via ComicBook.com) directed towards the superhero shared universe as he enlightens us on his chief complaint.

"There are too many Marvel movies that are nothing more than a cut and paste of others."

In all honesty, I was expecting something a little harsher than that. That's not to say that it isn't newsworthy when an established filmmaker speaks in less-than-courteous terms about anyone else's work or that he's even all that wrong in the first place, but I guess a quote like this just doesn't feel as shocking anymore after over a decade of hearing this exact same criticism directed towards the MCU. That's not going to stop anyone on a lovely place like Twitter from getting all riled up about these comments, of course, as a certain tweet from fellow filmmaker Neill Blomkamp proved emphatically.

What's really interesting about these remarks is that it places a number of individuals in Villeneuve's circle in something of an awkward spot. Lest we forget, "Dune" cast members Josh Brolin and Zendaya have played integral parts of the MCU already as Thanos and MJ, respectively. Meanwhile, their "Dune" co-star Oscar Isaac is currently gearing up to make his first appearance as Moon Knight for the upcoming Disney+ series. With Villeneuve's latest film about to embark on its press tour for the upcoming release, well, let's just say we're looking forward to seeing the cast and crew squirm their way out of providing non-answers to some uncomfortable questions!

On a related note, there's also that pesky matter of "Nomadland" director Chloé Zhao specifically using stills from — who else? — Denis Villeneuve's previous movies in order to get the "Eternals" gig in the first place. Both filmmakers couldn't say enough good things about each other, which strikes a remarkably different tone from Villeneuve putting "too many Marvel movies" on blast like the way he did. You just can't make this stuff up, folks.

"Dune" will release in theaters and on HBO Max on October 22, 2021. The impending fistfight between Kevin Feige and Villeneuve, on the other hand, is yet to be determined.