Director Terry Gilliam talks Marvel's "brilliant" but "predictable" Ant-Man

Director Terry Gilliam talks Marvel’s “brilliant” but “predictable” Ant-Man

October 29th 2015, 10:58am

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Terry Gilliam recently got a chance to see ANT-MAN, and he ended up sharing his opinion on the Marvel flick during a one-hour conversation with Sam Rubin for LiveTalksLA. While the director mostly enjoyed the film, he still had some issues with the Peyton Reed-directed movie.

Strangely enough, I watched ‘Ant-Man’ on the plane coming over here. Now, ‘Ant-Man’ I quite liked, I think there’s a lot of really good stuff in there. And technically, it’s brilliant. But it’s also predictable, ultimately. We know where it’s gonna go, so the structure and the shape is all there. And okay, they play with it in various ways. But, that’s my problem, I don’t get the surprise I used to get, I want to go and be more surprised.

Gilliam also went on to explain why he isn't a fan of shared cinematic universes and comic book movies in general.

I also worry when things become so repetitive, and now we’ve got to get all the Marvel universe dancing with each other, so Superman has now got to make love to Batman or something. And these are the things that create that complete and hermetically sealed world, [and that] really bothers me, because the Bible is more interesting, and the stories are more surprising, and actually more human…I was thinking about this the other day, I moan about this, but when I was younger it was westerns [that were popular]. But I even thought within a western, there’s a formula there, but there was still more places to play, there was more humanity — real humanity — as opposed to an artificial, inflated, superhero [movie].

Although I get what Gilliam is saying, I don't think CBMs are any more predictable than many movies from other genres, such as horror and romantic-comedies, but I do love his comment about Superman having to now go make love to Batman. Do you agree with Terry Gilliam's comments on ANT-MAN and comic book movie?

ANT-MAN will debut on on Digital HD and Digital 3D on November 17th before being released on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD on December 8th, while its sequel ANT-MAN AND THE WASP has been scheduled to hit theaters on July 6, 2018.