Adam DeVine: Marvel ruined comedy

Outside of its CGI battles, stacked casts and casual disregard that not every series within the franchise needs its own franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe might be best known for its implementation of comedy. Certainly the MCU has some legitimately hilarious moments, with some movies landing the laughs better than others (Thor: Ragnarok and the Guardians movies tend to get the most praise here). But according to actor Adam DeVine, who is no stranger to the comedy game, Marvel has outright ruined the genre.

Speaking on the This Past Weekend podcast (per Variety), DeVine said, “You watch comedies nowadays and you’re like, this is not a f*cking comedy…Where are the jokes? Where are the bits? There’s still good [comedy] shows, but movie comedy…it’s hard. My theory: I think Marvel ruined it.” That feels like a bold statement, but DeVine defended it as such: “I feel like superhero movies ruined comedies because you go to the theater and you expect to watch something that cost $200 million to make, and comedy movies aren’t that. So you’re like, ‘Why would I spend the same amount of money to go watch a little comedy in the theater if I can spend that and watch something that is worth $200 million?’ And they still make those movies kind of funny, like, ‘Oh my god, is that raccoon talking? This is hilarious!’ Which it is, but it’s not a real comedy.”

You can see what DeVine is trying to say, but the actor – who currently stars in The Out-Laws (which, based on reviews, seems to be less of a comedy than intended…) – does almost seem to suggest that a movie can’t neatly fall into two separate categories: if something is made to be a comedy it can’t have a big budget; if something costs hundreds of millions of dollars to make, it can’t be labeled a comedy. As far as the “real comedy” statement, it wouldn’t be outlandish for a Marvel fan to place Ragnarok, the Guardians trilogy or Ant-Man in that realm.

Do you agree or disagree with Adam DeVine’s statement that Marvel has killed comedy? What is the funniest Marvel movie? Give us your take in the comments section below!