Matthew Vaughn Addresses Apparent Superhero Fatigue: “Maybe We All Need A Little Bit Of Time Off From It”

As Matthew Vaughn makes the press rounds to promote his upcoming movie “Argylle,” in theaters next February, he’s talked about all sorts of topics, from his burgeoning spy cinematic universe at MARV to time working on the “X-Men” series. So how does Vaughn weigh in on the apparent superhero movie fatigue that’s permeating moviegoing recently? In a new interview with ScreenRant, the director stated that “maybe we all need a little bit of time off from” superhero films, at least until somebody makes one that gets audiences truly excited again.

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After defending Andy Muschietti‘s “The Flash,” which he enjoyed, Vaughn compared today’s sheer glut of supermovie movies to the Western’s popularity decades ago. “I think there’s been so many bad superhero movies as well that it’s like when the Western got, you make so many than you get bored of the genre, not because the genre is bad, but because the films are bad,” said the director. “I was old enough, sadly, when “Batman and Robin” came out, and it was terrible. I was a big Batman fan, and we were like, ‘Ah!’ And then superheroes stopped, and then they came back. Now, I’ll be intrigued to see how “The Marvels” does.”

As for whether superhero fatigue is a legitimate concern, Vaughn kept his response measured. “I genuinely don’t know what’s happening with the superhero in the sense that, I do think, maybe we all need a little bit of time off from it,” he continued. “Maybe someone will make something so great that we will get excited again and remind everybody that just having identical ways of making superheroes… Superhero films are films. It’s a film that has superheroes in it. I think what happened was that they became superheroes, and the film part wasn’t that important.”

That sounds like a softer criticism than Martin Scorsese‘s 2019 indictment that equated Marvel movies to “theme parks,” arguing that they’re “not cinema.” Since Scorsese’s editorial, several other filmmakers and critics have spoken out against Marvel’s products and blockbuster franchises in general. Having worked on “X-Men” films, Vaughn has an insider’s perspective. “When you’re making a superhero movie, you sort of have to work harder because you’ve got to make people believe it,” he said about making those kinds of films. But he’s not sure what the future holds as more audiences reject DC and Marvel’s recent output en masse. “I think at least DC is under,” Vaughn speculated. “I think, James Gunn and [Peter] Safran, they’ve got a good chance of popping, and hopefully, [Kevin] Feige will go back to less is more and make less films and concentrate on making them great.”

But as for blockbuster franchise overall, Vaughn wishes more of them would go big or go home. “Because for me, it’s got to be something so bold, so different, and so brave,” he said of recent “Star Wars” movies, arguing that the franchise should do new renditions of its older, fan-favorite characters. “There’ve been three Spider-Mans, Bonds,” Vaughn continued, “Like, what are you talking about? Why can’t that happen? I don’t control “Star Wars,” but I would do something big, brave, and with the great characters. I want to see Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewie doing their sh*t. Not some distant cousin. Who cares? I need an event for “Star Wars.””

Indeed, and audiences need events, too: movies that feel like a big-time, once-in-a-lifetime thing. And let’s face it, Marvel’s post-“Endgame” really doesn’t feel like big-time events. And, ironically, Scorsese’s “Killers Of The Flower Moon” feels like a momentous cinematic occasion in comparison to, say, “Ant-Man: Quantumania.” Maybe Vaughn had a point here, albeit an obvious one.