Ridley Scott on why he'd never direct a superhero movie: 'I want to keep making smart films'

After directing high concept fantasy thriller Blade Runner and horror sci-fi movies such as Prometheus and Alien, filmmaker Ridley Scott could be seen as a master in the suspension of disbelief. However, he's not too keen on film characters steeped in 'non-reality', which is why he has yet to direct a superhero movie. A fact which doesn't look likely to change either, if his latest comments are anything to go by...

"Superhero movies are not my kind of thing – that's why I've never really done one," the 79-year-old told Digital Spy. "[I've been asked] several times, but I can't believe in the thin, gossamer tight-rope of the non-reality of the situation of the superhero."

He was quick to add an acknowledgement of themes explored in his past titles and the similarities they share to superhero films – in particular Blade Runner, which starred Harrison Ford and was released in 1982. Based on the 1968 science-fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick, the film centred on ex-police officer Rick Deckard, who is tasked with tracking down escaped genetically engineered 'replicants' who have returned to Earth in order to find their creator.

"I've done that kind of movie – Blade Runner really is a comic strip when you think about it, it's a dark story told in an unreal world," Scott explained to the same publication. "You could almost put Batman or Superman in that world, that atmosphere, except I'd have a f**king good story, as opposed to no story!"

But don't worry DC Entertainment or Marvel Studios, it isn't just you – speaking on the current movie industry, Scott isn't too keen. The Oscar-nominated director candidly admitted he thinks cinema as a whole "is pretty bad" at the moment and hopes he himself is not affected by the way it's shaping up. "I want to keep doing cinema and I hope it doesn't affect those of us who still keep making smart films," he said.

Scott's next big-screen project is Alien: Covenant, the sixth film in the franchise overall and a sequel to 2012 outing Prometheus. It will be released in both the UK and the US on 19 May 2017.

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