Lucrecia Martel Rips Into Marvel Movies For Their “Very Ugly” Sound: “The Way Music Is Used Is Actually Horrible”

Once upon a time, after “Zama” wowed audiences at the Venice Film Festival, Marvel Studios had its eye on Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel to direct “Black Widow.” The short version: Marvel wanted a woman to helm the Scarlett Johansson vehicle, and they met with several female filmmakers about the movie in 2018. Martel wasn’t interested, and directing duties eventually landed with Cate Shortland. And why would Martel be interested in “Black Widow” anyway? Does the woman behind “La Ciénaga” and “The Headless Woman” feel like a good match for a Marvel movie?

READ MORE: Lucrecia Martel Defends ‘Joker’ Golden Lion Win & Still Thinks Todd Phillips’ Film Is “Incredible”

And Variety reports (via The Film Stage) that Martel still hasn’t seen “Black Widow.” “No, no, no — I didn’t see “Black Widow,”” said the director. “I tried to. They contacted a great number of female directors. I never would have imagined that Marvel could contact and bring together a pool of directors and I would be a part of it; I never thought that would be possible. I would have loved to make a film with them, but I would have had to provide something that I would like to see in that world.”

And Martel may never wind up seeing “Black Widow” at all, because she can’t stand the sound effects in the Marvel movies she has seen. “It turns out some of the Marvel films are available on planes so I’ve seen a few,” the director continued. “I find the sound in them is absolutely in very poor taste, the visual effects and the sound of the effects…It’s the selection of the sounds that they’re connecting to the effects, which is actually very ugly. And the way the music is used is actually horrible.”

Martel detailed her meeting with Marvel about the blockbuster as much as she could. “I received an e-mail from Marvel for a meeting,” she went on. “So I went to the [Marvel 10th Anniversary] reunion. I actually signed this thing where I can’t talk about that reunion. Marvel and other such production houses are trying to involve more female filmmakers…What they told me in the meeting was ‘we need a female director because we need someone who is mostly concerned with the development of Scarlett Johansson’s character.’”

But Martel also said Marvel didn’t want her fussing over the film’s action scenes, which she didn’t like. “They also told me, ‘Don’t worry about the action scenes, we will take care of that,'” she continued. “I was thinking, well I would love to meet Scarlett Johansson, but also I would love to make the action sequences.”

After delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “Black Widow” eventually hit theaters and Disney+ in July 2021, kicking off Marvel’s Phase 4. The film made $379 million at the global box office. And as for Martel, she’s hard at work on “Chocobar,” her hybrid doc about the murder of indigenous leader Javier Chocobar. “I am learning as I’m doing, that’s why it’s taking so long,” she told Variety earlier this year about the film. “I am currently on version four of the edit.” Martel uses Chocobar’s murder to explore the subjects of colonialism, land ownership, and indigenous peoples in Latin America, tracing five centuries of colonial rule.

No word on when “Chocobar” will premiere, but it’s safe to say that Martel won’t make a Marvel movie after she’s done.