The Marvel and DC franchises boast a mammoth fan base across the world who adore their comic universes and their diverse superheroes. While some celebrated filmmakers help make up that list, science fiction, and epic titan James Cameron begs to differ. According to the Avatar director, movies from both comic franchises simply lack the depth to tickle his fancy, even going so far as to say that the way DC and Marvel films are made is “not the way to make movies.”
“When I look at these big, spectacular films — I’m looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn’t matter how old the characters are, they all act like they’re in college. They have relationships, but they really don’t,” Cameron detailed to The New York Times. “They never hang up their spurs because of their kids. The things that really ground us and give us power, love, and a purpose? Those characters don’t experience it, and I think that’s not the way to make movies.”
“Avatar: The Way of Water” will be released 13 years after the original record-breaking blockbuster “Avatar” that followed Jake (Sam Worthington) exploring the Na’vi culture and falling in love with local Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). The sequel picks up with Jake and Neytiri being parents to three children, as well as a fourth adoptive teen daughter played by Sigourney Weaver. The newfound responsibilities for both parent characters play into their decision-making process and stunts, according to Oscar winner Cameron.
Zoe and Sam now play parents, 15 years later,” Cameron said. “In the first movie, Sam’s character leaps off his flying creature and essentially changes the course of history as a result of this crazy, almost suicidal leap of faith. And Zoe’s character leaps off a limb and assumes there’s going to be some nice big leaves down there that can cushion her fall. But when you’re a parent, you don’t think that way. So for me, as a parent of five kids, I’m saying, ‘What happens when those characters mature and realize that they have a responsibility outside their own survival?’”
As actor Worthington added, “Jim wrote this family in a great way where not only are the stakes life and death, but the conflicts are quite domestic. You’re still having these arguments with kids that you have every day, like, ‘Pick up your clothes, eat your food,’ even though the world is at war.”