Martin Scorsese Reveals Why He Turned Down Directing 'Joker'

Famed director Martin Scorsese made headlines a few weeks ago for his comments about Marvel movies being “not cinema.”

Now, he’s revealing why he turned down directing Joaquin Phoenix‘s Joker movie.

“I know the film very well,” Martin told the BBC. “I know [director Todd Phillips] very well. My producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff produced it. I thought about it a lot over the last four years and decided I did not have the time for it. It was personal reasons why I didn’t get involved. But I know the script very well. It has a real energy and Joaquin. You have remarkable work.”

“For me, ultimately, I don’t know if I make the next step into this character developing into a comic book character,” he continued. “You follow? He develops into an abstraction. It doesn’t mean it’s bad art, it’s just not for me…The superhero films, as I’ve said, are another art form. They are not easy to make. There’s a lot of very talented people doing good work and a lot of young people really, really enjoy them.”

Find out other famous faces who have slammed Marvel movies in the past.