Russo Brothers Hit Back At Martin Scorsese: 'You Don't Own Cinema'

Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of the highest-grossing movie of all-time “Avengers: Endgame,” have finally broken their silence on the controversial comments by Martin Scorsese against Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and shared their own thoughts while promoting their upcoming movie, “21 Bridges.”

Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, the 48-year-old filmmaker, Joe Russo, shared his first public comments on the matter and quashed the myth that superhero movies don’t try to convey an emotional and psychological experience to another human being.

The duo also noted that they don’t see the success of “Endgame” as a “financial success” but they see it as an “emotional success.”

Joe told the publication that whenever he and his brother look at the box office of “Endgame,” they don’t see those gigantic numbers as a signifier of financial success, they see it as a signifier of “emotional success.” According to them, the movie had a lot of impact on audiences across the globe, which means the viewers did not only see their film but “experienced” it as well.

“It’s a movie that had an unprecedented impact on audiences around the world in the way that they shared that narrative and the way that they experienced it. And the emotions they felt watching it,” Joe said.

The Russo Brothers also explained that it is quite challenging to convince someone to have a dialogue about cinema if they haven’t seen the movies that they are talking about.

Meanwhile, Anthony strongly suggested that nobody owns “cinema.” He further added that the other way to look at this matter is that cinema can’t be owned by one person. “We don’t own the cinema. You don’t own cinema. Scorsese doesn’t own cinema,” Anthony said.

Last month, Kevin Feige noted that it is really unfortunate to hear such remarks from a legendary director who has done so much for the cinema and he added that everyone who works on these movies absolutely “loves cinema.”

The chief creative officer of MCU stated that people love to go to the theaters and watch superhero movies in big numbers because they feel it is a “communal experience.”

The comments made by Feige and the Russo Brothers came after Scorsese stirred a controversy with his interview with Empire last month when he compared the films produced by Marvel Studios to theme parks and stated that superhero movies are practically not “cinema.” He further added that these kinds of superhero movies don’t depict the emotional and psychological experiences of a human being.

Feige is not the first one to publicly address Scorsese’s statement. James Gunn, director of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, took to Twitter and said that “The Irishman” director is one of his favorite filmmakers but he was saddened after learning that Scorsese is judging his movies without even seeing them.

In related news, the Russo Brothers are currently serving as producers for “21 Bridges.” The cast of the movie includes Chadwick Boseman in the lead role, with J. K. Simmons, Sienna Miller and Taylor Kitsch in supporting roles.

The movie will hit the theaters on Nov. 22, 2019.