James Cameron hates superhero cinema, but “can relate” to one supervillain
James Cameron is, without question, one of the most prolific filmmakers working today.
His multi-genre-spanning catalogue has brought him plenty of success both critically and commercially, being no stranger to crossing the illustrious $1billion checkpoint at the box office. Cameron’s first feature film in the director’s chair came out in 1981, with Piranha 2: The Spawning being nothing short of a perilous risk in hindsight. The film hasn’t exactly aged well, nor did it find a place among the best sci-fi films of the decade when it was released.
Three years later, he would co-write and direct a film called The Terminator. Now one of the most important films in sci-fi history, he didn’t have any major hits before it came out in 1984, shooting him to the top of the industry in spectacular fashion. This led to him landing his next major directorial role for Aliens in 1986, blending classic ’80s style action with the foundations laid by Ridley Scott’s original. Terminator 2: Judgement Day is rightfully considered another one of the best films in sci-fi history, with Titanic rounding off the century for Cameron by being the first film to reach $1billion worldwide.
Then he went a little quiet in terms of the films he released in the early 2000s. He made sure to let quite literally everyone know that he was back in 2009, with the sci-fi epic Avatar taking the record away from Titanic by earning $2billion before re-releases took it closer to $3billion. Now, arguably on the sci-fi Mount Rushmore, you may think that Cameron would be a fan of a certain sub-genre in superhero films. But by the sounds of it, he really doesn’t like them at all.
Recently, he spoke to The New York Times about how he opposes the character direction superhero films take, saying, “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. 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.”
Despite not being a fan of the heroes and their Peter Pan antics, he has expressed his empathy for the MCU’s most prominent villain. Avatar didn’t just make waves on a technical level; it was one of the first major blockbusters to deal with the topic of climate change at the core of its story. Avengers: Infinity War handled it differently, with Thanos wanting to wipe out half of the universe. When speaking to Time, Cameron said, “I can relate to Thanos. I thought he had a pretty viable answer. The problem is nobody is going to put up their hand to volunteer to be the half that has to go”.
Avatar is often scrutinised for its rather basic plot, which is certainly a fair criticism, but the same can be said for countless other sci-fi giants, particularly with superhero films that Cameron can’t seem to get behind. One thing that the film was unquestionably successful in was taking climate change to the next level of recognition in pop culture, making the director’s understanding of Thanos’s master plan no surprise.
