Killers of the Flower Moon director Martin Scorsese famously made his opinion on Marvel movies known. Scorsese believes they are “not cinema” and suggests they’re closer to being theme park attractions than excellent films.
The acclaimed filmmaker, whose directorial filmography also includes classics like 1976’s Taxi Driver, 1980’s Raging Bull, 1990’s Goodfellas, 2006’s The Departed, 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street, and 2019’s The Irishman, is undoubtedly well placed to criticize. Still, his critique is, perhaps, a little harsh.
Martin Scorsese’s major gripe with Marvel movies is that audiences are being force-fed them. He believes the market saturation by such films is denying a lot of talented filmmakers theatre slots. However, if that’s what’s trendy and fans lap it up, nobody can blame Marvel Studios for taking advantage.
But what if Scorsese did a U-turn on his opinion and decided to direct a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie? Which ones would he direct to perfection? This piece will look at five MCU films he’d do an incredible job with.
The Punisher
Violence and grittiness are strongly associated with Martin Scorsese movies – look no further than Taxi Driver and Goodfellas for two excellent examples of that – and the world of The Punisher lends itself perfectly to that notion. Frank Castle dishes out punishment to the scum of the criminal underworld, and Scorsese is excellent at depicting mob life, thugs, and everything else associated with it – including the brutality of his methods. Moreover, Jon Bernthal portrays the character in the MCU, meaning a movie starring the actor would reunite him with Scorsese, who has already successfully directed him in The Wolf of Wall Street and would undoubtedly get the best out of him.
Howling Commandos
Martin Scorsese prides himself on historical accuracy in his films – 2016’s Silence and 2019’s The Irishman are great examples. An MCU period movie would, therefore, be right up his street. The Howling Commandos were introduced in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger and reappeared in the Agent Carter series in 2015. They’re an elite combat unit that operated in World War II and, for a time, were led by Captain America. They also had Bucky Barnes as a member until HYDRA got their hands on him. A Howling Commandos movie would be fantastic, and Scorsese would do an incredible job of developing the team’s characters, making the action gritty, and ensuring the details of the 1940s were meticulously depicted.
Sentry
If there’s one thing Taxi Driver proved, Martin Scorsese can brilliantly portray characters whose mental health deteriorates. Robert Reynolds, AKA the Sentry – set to debut in the MCU in 2025’s Thunderbolts – is a prime example of a character experiencing such deterioration. Reynolds, a meth addict, gained the power “of a million exploding suns” when he broke into a laboratory and consumed a Super Soldier Serum known as the Golden Sentry Serum. Already a troubled individual, the powers were too much for his mind to take and made him massively mentally unstable. Another side effect was that his dark side would manifest as an evil being called the Void. Should a Sentry movie be made, Scorsese could expertly direct Reynolds as a drug addict, his subsequent mental deterioration, and the manifestation of the dark side of his personality, and it would be a joy to watch.
Spider-Man 4
At heart, Martin Scorsese is just a kid from Queens. Guess who else falls into that category? None other than Peter Parker, AKA your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Scorsese directing a movie about a kid born in the same place he was would rock. Parker also spends much of his time in Manhattan, where Scorsese grew up. Their childhood experiences will, therefore, have many similarities. Moreover, Spider-Man 4 is expected to have Kingpin as its primary villain. Not only does Scorsese nail gangster characters, but it would also mean he’d be directing Vincent D’Onofrio, which is a mouthwatering team-up – and it’s sacrilegious that it hasn’t happened yet. Scorsese directing J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson is also an intriguing thought. The world needs a gritty Spider-Man movie, and Scorsese could undoubtedly deliver one impeccably.
Ruins
Now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become multiversal, the future could see the movies branching off into different realities, with some depicting alternate universes very different from the primary MCU reality. The 1995 two-issue miniseries Ruins depicted a dystopian version of the Marvel Universe. If a movie is made based on the series, Martin Scorsese would be a terrific choice to direct it. In this universe, “everything that can go wrong will go wrong.” All the accidents and experiments that normally give Marvel’s characters powers cause them pain, suffering, deformities, and mental breakdowns. Scorsese would depict that deterioration in the characters superbly.
Moreover, given his apparent hatred of all things superhero-related, he should relish the opportunity to convey how ridiculous the concept of receiving superpowers from an accident is. Ruins might seem like a leftfield choice – and it is – but it’s the closest thing to a Marvel movie that Scorsese might realistically consider making.
