During Neil Patrick Harris’ “Moving Pictures” opener at the Oscars on Sunday night, Jack Black joked about how superhero movies are made. But actors who play superheroes were up for several awards and James Gunn, director of double nominee Guardians of the Galaxy, defended the craft that goes into making these crowd-pleasers and entertaining movies.
Gunn wrote on Facebook that he didn’t really find Black’s joke offensive, but he was really annoyed with Nightcrawler writer Dan Gilroy’s comments at the Independent Spirit Awards Saturday. Gilroy, whose wife, Rene Russo, appeared in the Thor movies, said that the movies honored had survived a “tsunami of superheroes.”
“Whatever the case, the truth is, popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite,” Gunn wrote. “I've already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians. What bothers me slightly is that many people assume because you make big films that you put less love, care, and thought into them then people do who make independent films or who make what are considered more serious Hollywood films.”
Gunn insisted that it isn’t right to suggest that the filmmakers behind The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy don’t love their characters as much as an independent filmmaker loves theirs.
“If you think people who make superhero movies are dumb, come out and say we're dumb,” Gunn concluded. “But if you, as an independent filmmaker or a ‘serious’ filmmaker, think you put more love into your characters than the Russo Brothers do Captain America, or Joss Whedon does the Hulk, or I do a talking raccoon, you are simply mistaken.”
Gunn included a link to a TheWrap story that noted that nine actors with comic book roles were up for Oscars. In fact, Best Supporting Actor winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) was one of three nominated actors who appeared in Spider-Man movies. American Sniper actor Bradley Cooper even voiced Rocket Racoon in Guardians.
Guardians was up for Best Makeup/Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects, but lost both. Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past were also up for Visual Effects, but Interstellar won.
There was one bit of good news for comic book fans, though. Disney’s Big Hero 6, which is loosely based on a Marvel comic, won Best Animated Feature.