“Watchmen” Creator Alan Moore Critiques Superhero Cinema

Earlier this week, Alan Moore, Watchmen and V for Vendetta‘s creator, continued to condemn modern superhero movies, claiming that they “blighted cinema and culture.”

In an interview with Deadline about his upcoming mystery-fantasy show The Show, Moore detailed his long-time disappointment with the golden age of superhero films.

Moore cited a lack of creative control as one of his biggest complaints with the medium. When asked if he watched any modern superhero films, Moore responded, “Oh christ no I don’t watch any of them. All of these characters have been stolen from their original creators, all of them.”

Expanding on the point, Moore touched on how film studios’ needs to market to a growing, varied audience further strips those creators’ control.

“Several years ago I said I thought it was a really worrying sign, that hundreds of thousands of adults were queuing up to see characters that were created 50 years ago to entertain 12-year-old boys.”

The creator’s history with comic book culture seems to play into his views on the industry today. Watchmen, a story depicting the dystopia-like setting at the peak of the Cold War, was a first for the comics industry.

Moore’s story took a hard look at the divisive politics in-lieu of a potentially disastrous nuclear war. The now-iconic story took a serious look at the real world, and was a sharp departure from the campy, colorful imaginings of his counterparts in the comic book industry of the time.

To this day, Moore has yet to see any superhero film released after Tim Burton’s Batman. His disenfranchisement with the comic book-inspired film industry has not stopped his latest project, however. Retaining complete creative control over the series, Alan Moore’s The Show reportedly takes influences from the more supernatural and mystical elements of comic book films. In the first-look trailer, Moore even makes an appearance near the end among other neo-noir-inspired characters.

Could Moore’s dive back into more imaginative, sci-fi inspired storytelling be the sign of more comic book properties from the creative, or could the passion project lead to an entirely new brand of storytelling under his complete control? Those questions remain to be seen, but Moore’s continued condemnation of the superhero film genre will surely affect how The Show progresses when it debuts later this year.

What do you think of Alan Moore’s comments? Let us know in the comments!