Chris Hemsworth was bothered by Marvel criticism from Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola

“Those guys had films that didn’t work too — we all have,” he said.

Chris Hemsworth isn’t pleased with Marvel’s haters, including Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.

Speaking with The Times of London, the Thor star shared his thoughts on anti-Marvel criticism from legendary filmmakers. “It felt harsh, and it bothers me, especially from heroes. It was an eye-roll for me, people bashing the superhero space,” Hemsworth said. “Those guys had films that didn’t work too — we all have. When they talked about what was wrong with superheroes, I thought, cool, tell that to the billions who watch them. Were they all wrong?”

Related: Hitting the Fury Road: Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth go inside Furiosa, their full-throttle Mad Max prequel

The Furiosa star also opined that Scorsese and Coppola had misdiagnosed the cause of the fall of moviegoing. “Cinema-going did not change because of superheroes, but because of smartphones and social media,” he said. “Superhero films actually kept people in the cinemas during that transition and now people are coming back. So they deserve a little more appreciation.”

Later, Hemsworth discussed how he might approach a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and how associations with Thor might have affected his career. “If I ever went back to [Thor] I’d wonder how we could change it again,” he said. “But there is a superhero curse in the sense you get pigeonholed, and I’ve felt a little hamstrung with what I could do, so [I] desperately wanted something to scare the shit out of me. And Furiosa did.”

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Scorsese’s criticism came in 2019, the year that Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame shattered box office records and his own The Irishman was relegated to a Netflix release. “I don’t see them,” he first told Empire that October. “I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well-made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

Related: Every Martin Scorsese movie, ranked from worst to best

Scorsese’s criticism prompted journalists around the world to ask other prominent filmmakers what they think of superhero movies, including Coppola. “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,” he told journalists in Lyon that same month. “I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again. Martin was kind when he said it’s not cinema. He didn’t say it’s despicable, which I just say it is.”

Related: George Miller breaks down all the head-shaving, lore-filled, epic moments in new Furiosa trailer

In November 2019, Scorsese clarified his comments in a New York Times opinion piece. “Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures. What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger,” he wrote. “Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes. They are sequels in name but they are remakes in spirit, and everything in them is officially sanctioned because it can’t really be any other way. That’s the nature of modern film franchises: market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they’re ready for consumption.”

Related: See Adam Driver as a 'genius artist' in Francis Ford Coppola's long-awaited Megalopolis

Coppola also doubled down on his opinions in a 2022 GQ interview. “There used to be studio films,” he said. “Now there are Marvel pictures. And what is a Marvel picture? A Marvel picture is one prototype movie that is made over and over and over and over and over again to look different.”

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis both premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this week. Furiosa hits theaters nationwide on Friday, May 24.

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