Ridley Scott Will Never Make Superhero Movies For A Good Reason

“I’m not a superhero fan, even though I used to love the comic strips,” Ridley Scott told the website. The curmudgeon then begrudgingly—possibly with a gun to his head, we don’t know—admitted to liking “a couple” or “pretty good Batmans,” and Richard Donner’s 1978 masterpiece Superman: The Movie. Scott went on to reveal that he’s been offered a Marvel or DC film before but didn’t specify which studio approached him or over which character.

“Yeah, been offered, but just said, no, thank you. Not for me,” Scott said when asked if he’d ever been offered a superhero script to direct. “I’ve done two or three superhero films.” the director continued before proceeding to immediately name a movie he didn’t direct. I think Sigourney Weaver’s a superhero in Aliens.” It’s entirely possible that the 85-year-old Ridley Scott confused Alien—which he did direct—with the one letter off Aliens, which was helmed by James Cameron.

However, without trying to gatekeep genre definitions and the like, we have to point out that the conceit that Ellen Ripley is a superhero in everything but name really does apply more to the action-oriented Aliens and not so much the “haunted house in space” that is the original Alien. That being said, Ridley Scott’s other two examples, Gladiator and Blade Runner, which he did direct, also don’t fit the idea of a “superhero” movie, so it could be possible the director is just confused about what constitutes a superhero in general.

Ridley Scott followed up his list of “superhero” movies by saying that the difference between his movies and actual superhero movies is, “The f***ing stories are better.”

This new tirade by the director of arguably the best and worst movies in the Alien franchise echoes a similar rant Ridley Scott went on in 2021 while doing press for House of Gucci. The main difference is that in 2021, Scott said the right Alien movie and was less merciful in his attack on superhero movies in general.  “They’re f***ing boring as sh*t,” Scott said, referring to the superhero genre two years ago.

Ridley Scott went on in both interviews to say that special effects are the only draw for superhero movies and that those special effects are becoming commonplace for all movie genres, effectively leaving audiences with no reason whatsoever to go and see superhero movies when they come out. The irony of that particular angle coming from someone who has made several special effects-heavy films—Alien, Blade Runner, Legend, Prometheus, etc—is not lost on anyone.

Meanwhile, Scott may not have any respect for superhero movies, but when it comes to Hollywood’s other current obsession—legacy sequels—he’s apparently all for it. Once Ridley Scott’s newest film, Napoleon, comes out in theaters on November 22, the director will be free to get back to work on Gladiator 2, a sequel that comes over 20 years after the first Gladiator.