'Lost' creator Damon Lindelof asks how many Marvel movies Scorsese has actually seen

Damon Lindelof, the creator of Lost and writer of Prometheus, has jumped on board the Martin Scorsese Marvel row, reckoning that the Goodfellas director might not be quite up to speed.

Scorsese told Empire in a recent interview that the Marvel movies were 'not cinema', to howls of complaint from many of those involved.

He then doubled down on the remarks while in the UK promoting his new movie The Irishman, warning that cinemas have to 'step up', lest they be swamped by these 'theme park' movies over films with what he considers proper narrative.

Read more: Scorsese doubles down on Marvel comments

When asked what he thought of the furore, Lindelof, who is behind the new Watchmen series on HBO, told Variety: “There’s a space in Marvel movies that they are beginning to explore and are beginning to be provocative and interesting.

“Logan or Black Panther are very close in my opinion to cinema and to put all Marvel movies in the same box doesn’t seem fair.

“I’m just curious as to how many Marvel movies he has seen.

“I don’t view it as a put down. I think there has to be space for popular entertainment and indie fare and cinema.”

Scorsese brought the subject up while delivering the annual David Lean lecture for BAFTA last weekend.

“Theatres have become amusement parks. That is all fine and good but don’t invade everything else in that sense,” he said.

“That is fine and good for those who enjoy that type of film and, by the way, knowing what goes into them now, I admire what they do. It’s not my kind of thing, it simply is not.

“It’s creating another kind of audience that thinks cinema is that.”

Prior to that, he told Empire: “I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema.

Read more: Samuel L Jackson on Scorsese’s Marvel comments

“Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Nick Fury in the Marvel movies, was among those to disagree with Scorsese.

“Films are films. You know, everybody doesn’t like his stuff either. I mean, we happen to, but everybody doesn’t,” he told Variety.

“There are a lot of Italian-Americans that don’t think he should be making films about them like that. Everybody’s got an opinion, so it’s okay. It’s not going to stop anyone from making movies.”

Lindelof's Watchmen, based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' hallowed comic series, is receiving serious praise, and airs in the UK next week.