Thanks to the very massive success ofCaptain America: Civil War, theCaptain Americafranchise can now count itself among the most financially successful and well regarded action trilogies of all-time. Many fans find the character very refreshing in a landscape of superheroes who are otherwise very flawed or dark.Die HarddirectorJohn McTiernanseems to feel very differently about Steve Rogers than most of us do.
John McTiernanwas recently interviewed for the French publicationPremiere, and The Playlist decided to translate it. The subject of superhero movies eventually came up, and as it turns out, the director is not a fan. In fact, he downright hates them and thinks that Marvel’sCaptain Americais among the worst of the worst. Here is what he had to say.
“These are films made byfascists. Comic book heroes are for businesses. Captain America…The cult of American hyper-masculinity is one of the worst things that has happened in the world during the last fifty years. Hundreds of thousands of people died because of this stupid illusion. So how is it possible to watch a movie called Captain America?”
There is a lot to pick apart in that statement, but let’s start at the top. Firstly, he is calling filmmakers likeJoe JohnstonandThe Russo Brothersfascists, which might be a bit unfair. At the very least, we are fairly certain that they don’t publically identify as fascists. His statement about comic book heroes being for businesses isn’t totally wrong, but that is not all they are for, according to the many people who seem to love them. But then it kind of goes off the rails by saying thatCaptain Americais among the worst things that have happened to the world in the last half century. That is a very bold statement.
The illusion he is speaking about is seemingly the American superiority complex, which he seems to be sayingCaptain Americais perpetuating. While in name that may seem logical enough, that is very much not what theCaptain Americamovies have been promoting. Anyone who has actually seenThe Winter Soldierknows that the character ofCaptain Americais very much standing firmly against whatMcTiernanis upset about. It is one thing to not enjoy Hollywood’s current obsession with superheroes, but an awful lot of bad things have happened in the last fifty years. It seems at the very least an exaggeration to lump theCaptain Americamovies and the character in with theworst of the worst.
John McTiernanmade what very well may be the greatest action movie of all-time withDie Hard, and made a handful of other classic movies that we will always love him for. He essentially invented the best “everyman” superhero ever with John McClane, which is pretty much the opposite of what comic book superheroes are. So it makes sense he may not love those movies, but his extreme feelings are pretty surprising. It seems safe to assume we can rule outJohn McTiernanas a possibility or directing any upcoming Marvel movies.
