Recently prolific comedy actor Adam Devine spoke out about how Marvel Studios movies ruined the theatrical comedy. He’s now come out to clarify that the situation is much more complicated than many outlets have made it seem.
Last month, Adam Devine found himself stopping by the podcast This Past Weekend with Theo Von. When speaking about the current state of comedy films in theaters, Devine explained that the reason not as many comedy films are being made any more is because of the prolific nature of Marvel Studios superhero films and the audience expectations that come along with them:
“Marvel ruined it,” DeVine stated during an appearance on Theo Von’s podcast. “You go to the theater, and you expect to watch something that cost $200M to make, and comedy movies aren’t that … and they still make those [Marvel] movies kinda funny, like “Oh my god, is that raccoon talking? This is hilarious!’ …. which it is, but, it’s not a real comedy.”
Many people took Adam Devine’s statements to mean that Marvel Studios films were meant to be a substitute to comedy films in the current marketplace, essentially being comedy films themselves cloaked in a higher budgets and explosions. However, followig his comments being blown up by outlets like Variety, Devine clarified that Marvel movies aren’t a substitute for comedies, but that studios trying to compete with their success aren’t making mid-budget films:
What Adam Devine says is true. Intentionally or not, the prominence of Marvel Studios has led to an arms race in Hollywood where every film needs to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and earn nearly a billion. While the film industry certainly needs its blockbusters, it seems as though the age of mid-budget B-movies that can appeal to a niche audience have been left behind for only projects with mass appeal. Though given Marvel Studios VFX artists have finally begun to unionize, that era may be coming to an end.
