Marvel director mocked for ‘tone deaf’ comments that Harvey Weinstein ‘vilified mainstream movies’

Marvel director Joe Russo is being ridiculed for complaining about mainstream movies not winning at the Oscars – and blaming jailed producer Harvey Weinstein.

Joe and his brother Anthony Russo directed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, drawing billions of dollars in revenue for the cinema industry. Having just released their new project, The Electric State starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, they discussed the rarity of combining box office success and industry accolades like Academy Awards.

Joe said that the “trend” separating mainstream and art films had been started by convicted rapist Weinstein, who is currently awaiting a retrial for sexual assault charges.

“This trend was started by Harvey Weinstein,” Joe told The Times . “He vilified mainstream movies to champion the art films he pushed for Oscar campaigns. Popular films were winning Oscars before the mid-Nineties, then Weinstein started mudslinging campaigns.

“It affected how audiences view the Oscars, because they’ve not seen most of the movies. We’re in a complicated place. Things we should all enjoying collectively we instead punch each other in the face over.”

He added: “Like this argument that Marvel movies were killing cinema. Well, Marvel movies seemed to be keeping cinemas open for quite a long time.”

But although the comments were seemingly well-intentioned, they drew backlash on social media.

“That Russo brother being mad at Weinstein for ‘not letting blockbusters win awards’ is crazy because there are plenty of popular movies in the 1990s and 2000s that also won awards,” wrote one person.

Another added: “Joe Russo has always been annoying but it takes something truly special within someone to find the one net good Harvey Weinstein brought to the world and call him out on it.”

Some suggested that the brothers were resentful as one person commented: “Not to defend Weinstein here, but maybe Joe Russo needs to make a good movie before complaining that his blockbusters don't win Oscars.”

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The Russos have directed the latest instalment of the Marvel franchise, Avengers: Doomsday, which is set to be released in 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars, to be released in 2027, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The two movies are meant to conclude the Multiverse Saga and are assumed by fans to be connected, the way Infinity War and Endgame were.

The first Avengers film released in 2012 and was followed by Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015.