SHARES
It would be hard to argue that “Deadpool” didn’t change the landscape of superhero/comic book adaptations. The successful R-rated “X-Men” adjacent film cemented Ryan Reynolds as a full-fledged action star and launched director Tim Miller as someone on the pulse of genre filmmaking. Miller would eventually exit “Deadpool 2” over creative differences to instead focus on working with James Cameron on “Terminator: Dark Fate” and David Fincher on their acclaimed mature animated anthology series “Love, Death & Robots.”
Earlier this month, the filmmaker spoke with Collider, gave his two cents on the superhero fatigue narrative, and said the following, which has a glimmer of hope of things being turned around.
“I think there is tons of life in the genre because, as a comic book fan, you know that superhero comics are only the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of other stories to be told, just like there are all kinds of movies. Men and women in tights aren’t the only comic books to be made…I believe there are so many types of stories. I still get a box of comics; half of them are superhero stuff, and the others are different kinds of stories, from science fiction to period pieces to horror. I think there is tons of room if you say comic books; if you say superhero movies, I do think there’s a limit to how much people can enjoy. That said, I don’t know if we’ve reached that limit because there are so many good stories to tell and so many kinds.”
Miller also mentioned Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Thor: Ragnarok” as recent superhero films that he’s enjoyed. Miller hopes that studios will attempt more mature outings by name-checking a comic like “The Authority” (James Gunn’s newly formed DC Studios is trying an adaptation) along with the success of both “Deadpool” and Oscar-winning “The Joker.” Also, to dig a little deeper into their backlog of genres, such as dabbling into horror (“Werewolf By Night” and “Blade” being good examples at Marvel Studios) and not just focus on the regular beats/tropes of the superhero genre that audiences will eventually get sick of due to repetitiveness.
Toward the end of the interview, Miller was asked why he was interested in coming into Eli Roth’s “Borderlands” and helping out with the film’s reshoots as Roth had to exit to make his holiday-themed slasher, “Thanksgiving” (which started as a fake trailer attached to Tarantino/Rodriguez’s “Grindhouse”) that released on November 17 from Spyglass Media/Sony Pictures. Miller highlighted that he felt a little rusty but wanted to help as much as he could, and it was an excellent excuse to work with Cate Blanchett alongside the rest of the cast of “Borderlands,” calling the video game film a “good ride.”
Miller isn’t just interested in superhero projects, as his next feature film is a fantasy revenge pic based on the novel “Best Served Cold,”which stars “Dune” actress Rebecca Ferguson. The filmmaker likens the project to “Kill Bill” meets “Game of Thrones,” which sounds like a fun genre romp mash-up. He added during his chat that he’s been trying to get a feature film adaptation of the string of Joe Abercrombie (a longtime friend and collaborator) fantasy novels over the last 12 years and hopes it will be his next movie to go in front of cameras soon.
You can watch that full interview with Miller below.
Director Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) comments on superhero fatigue, “Borderlands” reshoots, and his pitch for his next big film. Read More