Back in 2014, when “Birdman” was taking Hollywood by storm, Alejandro G. Iñárritu had some choice words about the rise of the superhero film, calling it a form of “cultural genocide.” “I don’t respond to those characters,” he added. “They have been poison because the audience is so overexposed to plot and explosions and shit that doesn’t mean nothing about the experience of being human.”
Iñarritu’s comments, while not entirely off the mark, laid the groundwork for what happened next. In the lead-up to “Avengers: Age Of Ultron,” Robert Downey Jr. responded to the director’s comments in a controversial way. In an interview with The Guardian, Downey Jr. said that, while he “respects the heck out of” Iñárritu, he didn’t appreciate his commentary about superhero films. “For a man whose native tongue is Spanish to be able to put together a phrase like ‘cultural genocide’ just speaks to how bright he is,” Downey Jr. commented. Yikes.
Downey Jr.’s comeback still smarts years later for Iñárritu. Variety reports that in a new interview with Indiewire at the Telluride Film Festival last weekend, Iñárritu reflected on Downey Jr.’s retort. “It was like ‘Oh, you guys from your banana country,’” Iñárritu said. “If I were from Denmark or Sweden, I might be seen as philosophical, but when you’re Mexican and you say things, you’re pretentious.”
Just the word “superhero” bothers Iñarritu. “What the fuck does that mean?” he said in the IndieWire interview. “It’s a false, misleading conception, the superhero. Then, the way they apply violence to it, it’s absolutely right wing. If you observe the mentality of most of those films, it’s really about people who are rich, who have power, who will do the good, who will kill the bad. Philosophically, I just don’t like them.”
Iñárritu’s opinion on superheroes echoes the likes of other commentators, including the late, great David Graeber. But will Robert Downey, Jr. respond to Iñárritu’s new comments? The actor is now a few years removed from his stretch as Tony Stark/Iron Man, but one imagines he’ll have an answer in due time.
“Bardo (Or False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths)” has a limited theatrical release on November 18 before it hits Netflix on December 16.