Adam Devine Thinks Marvel Ruined An Entire Genre Of Movies
Between his ventures with Comedy Central projects such as Workaholics and Adam Devine’s House Party and his major placements in comedy classics such as Game Over Man and the Pitch Perfect franchise, it’s safe to say Adam Devine knows comedy in and out. Therefore, it was highly surprising to many fans listening in on stand-up comedian Theo Von’s podcast when Adam Devine blamed Marvel for effectively ruining comedy films. Per Deadline, Devine stated, “I feel like superhero movies kind of ruined comedies. Because people go to the theater and you expect to watch something that costs $200 million to make and comedy movies aren’t that.”
Adam Devine believes the decline in Hollywood comedies comes from Marvel, and superhero movies, taking over theaters.
It’s no surprise to film fans that comedies rarely get major theatrical releases since the rise of the MCU effectively brought all studios into the business of striving for a billion-dollar bottom line. For Adam Devine, whose roots are deeply planted in his identity as a comedian, he has expressed difficulty in getting films made since Marvel took over cinema.
During his guest appearance on This Past Weekend with Theo Von, Adam Devine described the filmmaking process before and after Marvel, and other comparable studios, had extended their stranglehold over the landscape of modern film. The Righteous Gemstones star expounded upon this thought by referencing the rise of prestige television series, some of which rival the budget and scope of feature films.
As comedies have been pushed out of theaters, many comedic actors have learned to look elsewhere for their latest and greatest roles, with performers such as Adam Scott, Bill Hader, and Bryan Cranston each making major pivots to drama in recent decades. Adam Devine didn’t exactly knock Marvel for the ripple effect it’s had on the landscape of film, explaining that the nature of the business calls for movies to become bigger and bigger in order to provide more bang for the audience’s buck.
“I feel like superhero movies kind of ruined comedies. Because people go to the theater and you expect to watch something that costs $200 million to make and comedy movies aren’t that.”
Adam Devine on how Marvel destroyed comedies
This comes on the heels of Devine recently explaining why it was impossible to finally bring the long-awaited Workaholics film to fruition, with many fans still holding out hope that the series can get a direct-to-streaming film conclusion. While Adam Devine has never been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he has played a comic book superhero on the big screen, lending his voice as The Flash in Warner Brothers’ 2017 Lego Batman Movie.
Clearly, if it’s difficult, bordering on impossible, for someone with the star power of Adam Devine to get a non-Marvel film in theaters, it speaks volumes about the current state of cinema regarding new up-and-coming creators looking to break into the industry. Of course, it’s not all doom and gloom for comedians looking to strike big in theaters, as some films are still able to squeak by with a theatrical release.
Adam Devine has found success in streaming, with The Out-Laws on Netflix and Bumper In Berlin on Peacock, but his Workaholics movie hasn’t beena ble to entice a studio.
Most recently, comedian Bert Kreischer managed to get his feature film The Machine into a theatrical release, as well as It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘s Charlie Day, whose directorial debut Fool’s Paradise premiered on the big screen back in May. Though neither of these films premiered at number one, seemingly confirming Adam Devine’s Marvel hypothesis, they did manage to push limits by skipping the streaming-only curse which seems to have plagued comedy films of the past 10 years.
