Spider-Man: No Way Home star, Alfred Molina, is the latest MCU actor to address Martin Scorsese's criticism of Marvel, but does so from a unique perspective. Scorsese is a legendary and highly decorated American filmmaker, however, he has drawn mixed responses over his opinion of Marvel movies. The filmmaker infamously compared Marvel films, and the superhero genre, to "theme parks." Essentially, he expressed the belief that Marvel movies are effective at providing one-time thrills for adrenaline seekers, but failed to be true cinema by refraining from conversing on the human condition. His perspective has sparked debate within the film industry and has drawn responses from several Marvel stars and filmmakers.

In an interview with The Independent, Molina addressed Scorsese's criticism of Marvel films. However, he approached the issue a little differently by disagreeing with Scorsese's statement, but also conceding that there is a problem with Marvel films. According to him, the problem isn't that Marvel is a lesser form of art, but that its films are way too expensive. When a single film costs $300 million, it suggests a failure to give all films an equal opportunity. Check out his statement below:

"[Film is] a very broad church and there’s room for any kind of denomination. Ultimately, the making of those movies isn’t the problem. The problem is the inequitable distribution of available funds for making movies. Do films really have to cost $300m? Do those films have to have $150m spent on them in order to get an audience? Whatever the accountants may say, or whatever the economics of it, there’s a kind of inequality with that. [I'd like to see] some of that Premier League money go down to the lower leagues. For all the kind of egalitarian sheen we like to put on this business, there’s not a lot of it in real terms."

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Why Marvel Movies Are So Expensive

Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, and Green Goblin

Molina makes an interesting point in his response to Scorsese. While individuals like James Gunn and Tom Holland have addressed and largely dismissed Scorsese's criticism, Molina is willing to admit that the franchise could be negatively impacting the film industry. The massive budget of these films and their domination of the box office is sometimes disproportionate to the funds and attention that other films get. However, his discussion also raises the very interesting question of whether Marvel films really need to be so expensive. While a $300 million budget seems astounding, it makes a bit more sense when the cost of Marvel films is broken down.

A huge chunk of the budget in Marvel films goes towards CGI. Part of what makes Marvel films successful is the incredible visual effects that they offer audiences. However, these effects do not come cheap, and the more visual effects, the heftier the budget. This is largely the reason why Avengers: Endgame came with a whopping $330 million budget. Plus, each film hires hundreds of artists, producers, and other crew members to make the films happen, who each come with a salary.

Then, there is the massive cost that comes with employing the lead cast. With how big the franchise has grown and how much star power some of these actors have accumulated, they have serious negotiating power. Robert Downey, Jr. reportedly received a salary of $20 million upfront for Avengers: Endgame – and that's just one member of a massive cast. Meanwhile, once Marvel has spent millions on a film, they can't risk the film flopping at the box office. Hence, they put millions more dollars into promoting the film and ensuring box office profits. When breaking it all down, it isn't difficult to see why Marvel movies are pushing over $100 million budgets. It is difficult, though, to tell if they could pull off the spectacle, grandeur, and hype around these films without the massive budgets. Expenses are part of what makes Marvel movies unique and attractive to theater-goers. As Spider-Man: No Way Home's Molina pointed out, it's no secret that Marvel films are expensive, but what's harder to tell is how these budgets impact the rest of the industry.

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