Viola Davis defends Marvel, DC storytelling at Rome Film Festival

Viola Davis sides with the Marvel Universe. Earlier this month, Martin Scorsese infamously compared superhero movies to theme parks saying “I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese said.

“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.”

Jennifer Aniston also took the same stance as Martin Scorsese. In an interview with Variety, the former “Friends” star discussed life in the movie industry before the rise of Marvel films — and she expressed her disdain for it.

“You’re seeing what’s available out there and it’s just diminishing and diminishing in terms of: it’s big Marvel movies, or things that I’m not just asked to do, or really that interested in living in a green screen,” said the Emmy Award-winning actress.

Viola Davis has now put her foot in the ring. According to The Hollywood Reporter, during the Rome Film Festival, Davis was asked about the situation, to which, she responded, “I do like a good Marvel movie. I do like a good DC Comics movie.”

“Albert Einstein said that imagination is more valuable than knowledge. If I did not have my imagination, I would still be poor Viola living in Central Falls, Rhode Island, who is not considered attractive or whatever,” she expanded. “My imagination defined me. I could escape into a world that’s infinite, a world that I could create on my own, a world where I could redefine myself. That’s where art lives.”

She continued, “Art lives in that world of imagination. It’s a playground there. It’s God’s playground. It’s not up to anyone to say what deserves to be there and what doesn’t deserve to be there. It’s anything that you want to be in that place can live there. And that is why we have some of the greatest painters, some of the greatest actors, some of the greatest writers, and that’s why we live. So I do believe that there’s a place for all of it.”

She also defended Scorsese’s freedom of speech. “I think he was voicing his opinion. I think it’s valid,” she said. “Everyone had a place, an opinion. But I like a good Marvel movie,” she added.

Davis is set to reprise her role in the upcoming Suicide Squad sequel.