The closest thing Ridley Scott will ever make to a superhero movie: “Except I’d have a good story”
There’s an argument to be made that Ridley Scott is, pound for pound, the greatest director of all time. It hasn’t always run smoothly for the knight of the realm, given that he’s put out his fair share of clangers over the years, but when you look at his filmography, the hits speak for themselves.
One of the most impressive things about Scott and his back catalogue is the sheer variety of successful movies he’s made. He conquered the world in 1979 with Alien, one of the most influential and lauded science fiction films of all time. Gladiator and Napoleon are standouts of the historical epic genre, while Thelma & Louise is still regarded as a feminist classic to this day. Fantasy, action, romance, gangster romps, biopics, the guy can do it all; plus, he directed that Hovis advert where the kid pushes the bike up a hill. Where was his Oscar for that?
One thing you’ll never find Sir Ridley dabbling in is superheroes. The outspoken filmmaker has given his opinion on the popular genre in the past, calling them “boring as shit”, among other things. “Superhero movies are not my kind of thing,” he reiterated to Dark Horizons, rather more politely this time. “That’s why I’ve never really done one [I’ve been asked] several times, but I can’t believe in the thin, gossamer tight-rope of the non-reality of the situation of the superhero. [I want to] keep making smart films.”
“I’ve done that kind of movie,” he continued. “Blade Runner really is a comic strip when you think about it, it’s a dark story told in an unreal world. You could almost put Batman or Superman in that world, that atmosphere, except I’d have a fucking good story, as opposed to no story! I want to keep doing cinema, and I hope [the popularity of superhero films] doesn’t affect those of us who still keep making smart films. I’m hoping it doesn’t affect me.”
Released in 1980, Blade Runner is another Scott production that changed the game. This stalwart sci-fi isn’t actually based on a comic book, rather a book by Philip K Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Interestingly, Boom! Studios adapted the story into a 24-issue limited series in 2009, and Marvel Comics, Scott’s hated adversary, actually produced a comic book version of Blade Runner in 1982. A number of Dick’s other stories have also gotten the graphic novel treatment, including We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, which would form the basis of the film Total Recall.
If he were to ever change his mind, Scott wouldn’t be the first Oscar-nominated filmmaker to try their hand at the comic book film. Ang Lee directed Hulk in 2003, five years before Marvel officially launched their Cinematic Universe. Everybody always forgets that Kenneth Branagh directed the first Thor film, while Chloé Zhao’s first project after Nomadland was Marvel’s Eternals. Although she’d probably prefer if we all forgot that ever happened.
All of this is moot, however, because Scott is never ever going to go back on his word. He’s made it exceptionally clear that he wants nothing to do with superheroes, so we’ll all have to settle for Blade Runner. How awful…
