For Adam Devine, superhero movies aren’t necessarily something to marvel at.
The comedy star sat down with Theo Von on his This Past Weekend podcast, where he aired his grievances surrounding the larger than life impact that Marvel movies have had on comedy movies in particular. While Devine admitted that “there’s still good shows” in the comedy genre, he said when it comes to films, “it’s hard.”
“My theory is, I think Marvel ruined it,” he explained. “I feel like superhero movies kind of ruined comedies because you go to the theater and you expect to watch something that cost $200 million to make, and comedy movies aren’t that. So you’re like, ‘Why would I spend the same amount of money to go watch a little comedy in the theater if I can spend that and see something that is worth $200 million?'”
Devine noted that Marvel “still make[s] th[eir] movies kind of funny,” adding, “I mean, they’re not comedies, but they’re like, ‘Oh my god, is that raccoon talking? This is hilarious!'” referring to the Guardians of the Galaxy films. While he said such bits can be funny, he said that ultimately, “it’s not like a real comedy.”
From Devine’s perspective, even movies branded as comedies don’t hit the mark.
“You watch comedies nowadays and you’re like, this is not a fucking comedy,” he detailed. “Where’s the jokes? Where’s the bits?”
For his recent Netflix film The Out-Laws, which follows Owen (Devine) as he comes to believe his future in-laws are actually out-laws behind a series of bank robbing schemes, he felt that there needed to be the element of action in order to “mask” the comedy and attain higher viewership.
“This is why it’s a big action comedy because you really have to go action, action, and then it’s a comedy,” he told Von. “It’s why I was so happy to work with [Adam] Sandler’s company because we could just go full-steam on the comedy.”
Devine discussed how there used to be “45 or 46 comedies in the theaters every year,” and how “last year, there was like 6 or 7.” The genre has drastically changed, with many comedy movies incorporating some sort of “hidden message,” which he said The Out-Laws doesn’t have.
“I feel like nowadays, you get to the end of what you think is a comedy, and you’re like, ‘is that about global warming?'” he joked. “Is there like some deep, hidden message that I’m supposed to recycle more? Like, there has to be something else.”
The Out-Laws is available to stream on Netflix. Watch the clip of Devine’s interview above.