Francis Ford Coppola calls Marvel movies 'despicable'

Francis Ford Coppola has defended Martin Scorsese's criticism of Marvel movies, saying his fellow director is "right" and calling the wildly successful film franchise "despicable."

"When Martin Scorsese says that the Marvel pictures are not cinema, he's right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain something, some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration," the 80-year-old director of the Godfather trilogy said on Friday.

"I don't know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again," Coppola added.  

Coppola's comments come a week after Scorsese, director of classics such as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, called the blockbusters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe "not cinema" and said "theaters have become amusement parks."

Coppola, who was in France to be honored with the Prix Lumiere for his contribution to cinema, added a bit of his own criticism of MCU movies in support of his fellow director. "Martin was kind when he said it's not cinema," Coppola said. "He didn't say it's despicable, which I say it is."

Coppola's comments prompted an outcry on social media from Marvel fans. James Gunn, director of MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy responded Sunday on Instagram with a video of himself petting a pomeranian with quiet intensity mocking Coppola for the Godfather scene where Marlon Brando pets a cat.