Robert De Niro criticises Marvel, calling MCU's De-Aging as "Cartoony"

Marvel fans would be well aware by now that director Martin Scorsese isn't a fan of the MCU movies. The veteran filmmaker has clarified his stance on Marvel films twice calling them "not cinema" and comparing them to theme parks. Now, the director's frequent collaborator, Robert De Niro has also taken a jab at the comic book films, critiquing the visual effects as "cartoony."

De Niro was recently at BFI London Film Festival to help promote Scorsese's The Irishman, a Netflix film in which he stars as well. Responding to a question from the audience regarding de-Aging in the Netflix film - the actor remarked that comic book adaptation titles like Marvel as "another type of entertainment" for its extensive use of CGI.

"The technological stuff can only go so far," De Niro said (via ScreenDaily). "It's not going to change other things. If it does to such a point it becomes something that is not what a person is, what a human is. It can be another type of entertainment, like comic strip things, Marvel. The comic book character-type things, cartoony stuff."

Marvel Studios has extensively used de-aging VFX in some of its blockbuster movies like Captain Marvel (Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury), Ant-Man (Michael Douglas' Hank Pym) and Avengers: Endgame (Stan Lee's cameo).

A good chunk of The Irishman also uses de-aging VFX on Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. Though not impressive, it seems to have won over the critics. Even Scorsese described the CGI in his new film as "an evolution of make-up".

De Niro also recently starred in Todd Phillips' 'Joker', the actor's first comic book film. It must be noted that the gritty R-rated DC film does not depend on VFX and instead relies on practical effects and good storyline in its journey to give the audience a definitive character study on the supervillain.

The Irishman will release in selective theaters on November 1 and will then be available for streaming on Netflix from November 27, 2019.