Seth Rogen says Marvel films have become ‘the competition’ for smaller comedies
Seth Rogen has said that the commercial success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has made it more difficult for smaller-budget comedy films.
In an interview with Games Radar, the Superbad star noted that many of the films in the MCU could feasibly be categorised as comedies, such as 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.
“Something that me and [regular collaborator Evan Goldberg] talk about a lot is how Marvel movies are comedies,” he said. “Thor: Ragnarok is a comedy. Ant-Man is a comedy at its core. So that’s what’s out there.
“There are $200 million comedies out there, and so that’s something, as a comedic filmmaker, to be aware of. That is the benchmark that people expect!”
Rogen is known for starring in studio comedies. His latest release, An American Pickle, sees the actor play a man who was suspended in pickle brine for 100 years.
The filmmaker went on: “If you’re going to make a big huge comedy, just know that your competition is like Marvel. Not to say you should not make those types of films, but know that’s what audiences are seeing, and that, when you see those movies in theatres, they are playing like comedies. They are legitimately funny and star comedy stars.
“That’s something we talk about a lot – just to be aware of as filmmakers. These huge budget films function like comedies. Audiences still love comedy, and they want that – Deadpool – but the scope of them is huge. So when you’re not offering them that scope, you have to think, ‘What am I offering them?’”
Rogen is far from the only filmmaker to have complained about the prominence of Marvel films at the global box office.
Director Martin Scorsese was at the centre of a heated debate last year when he described the popular superhero franchise as “not cinema”, and likened them to “theme parks”.
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