Directors are the authors of films. They have a vision for their stories, actors, characters, audiences, and themselves. They take breadth and create a whirlwind of pageantry. Telling the truth or exaggerating the truth, directors know where, when, and how to show the truth in just a few hours. The process may rely on a specific camera placement to capture a needed point of view. Other times it’s what’s out of the frame that matters most. Directors have a world of imagination and reality to work with that viewers find meaning through.

The comic book world and its adaptations are filled with fantastic plots and gritty realism. Marvel relies on sensational spectacle, daring heroics, and charming yet catchy humor. Their characters are cultural icons, recognizable and relatable to all ages. The stories, retcons, reboots, and multiverses provide endless bric-à-brac for a growing number of fans, generation after generation. With a cinematic universe to cultivate and deliver phase after phase, it’s understandable why some directors would never go near the family-friendly modern myths.

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8 Christopher Nolan

     Paramount Pictures

Christopher Nolan is a highfalutin director with psychological thrillers that make you scratch your head and the head next to you. What he did for the Batman franchise with The Dark Knight trilogy was unthinkable. He made a realistic Gotham City and Bruce Wayne, characters that had enough pathos, logos, and ethos to work with. His other think pieces include Memento, Inception, Interstellar, Tenet, and The Illusionist, all deep-seated in science fiction and psychology. A Marvel movie from Nolan would be unlikely. His characters would be too busy overthinking their existential crisis to live out their adventures from the comics. Nolan would be to Marvel what Snyder was to DC.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

7 Clint Eastwood

     Warner Bros. Pictures

The stone-faced director Clint Eastwood bases his films in reality. Starring in action-packed thrillers like Dirty Harry and westerns like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly are far cries from men in spandex. The subject of superheroes is metaphorical at best and impractical at worst for him. His dramatic stubborn resolve in Gran Torino shows old habits die hard. The only habit that won’t die for Eastwood is deglamorized storytelling. No fluff or flash is necessary when it comes to the weight of situations for his characters. Besides, Eastwood is famous for keeping the first take in his films, which doesn’t bode well for heroes or villains.

6 David Lynch

     518 Media

David Lynch is a doozy of a director. He is the embodiment of a dream within a dream, having experience as a painter and musician, and his films are no different. His films Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Mullholand Drive, and The Elephant Man have metaphysical abstractions. Known for his surrealism and non-linear narratives, Lynch would make comic book continuity harder to follow then it already is. He would extract every literal, figurative, and technical meaning there is and use them all to recreate a superhero we already knew. Lynch would also induce audiences into practicing Transcendental Meditation, replacing the intermission snipe Let’s All Go to the Lobby and concessions.

5 James Cameron

     AMC Networks

James Cameron takes years to make his blockbusters. The man spent 15 years making Avatar after filming Titanic since the technology he needed for FernGully in space didn’t exist yet. A smart move, but most people don’t share that kind of patience or attention span. Cameron’s Aliens and The Terminator have dramatic, unwavering characters who butt heads when there’s conflict, a recipe for comic book story arcs. His films are some of the highest-grossing ever made too, so he can throw money at a Marvel project. As an environmentalist, he could make Swamp Thing for DC, but otherwise, he’s better off waiting over another super-computerized feat of filmmaking.

4 Martin Scorsese

     Netflix

Martin Scorsese famously denounced comic book movies, so any chance of him directing a Marvel film is close to none. When his friend and actor Robert De Niro starred in Joker, the tables turned and expectations rose for what comic book adaptations could be. He has a good handle over complex character studies like in Casino, Gangs of New York, and Taxi Driver. Superheroes and villains are riddled with problems of their own; it wouldn’t be impossible to see a Marvel film come from Scorsese. Though it would be impossible for Scorsese to make a Marvel film at this point in his career.

3 Quentin Tarantino

     Miramax Films

Quentin Tarantino is an independent, maverick movie-maker. He has the fervor of a comic book character; his films Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction are proof of that. Tarantino doesn’t follow any strict formula, however. He could pull off a graphic novel adaptation with stylized violence and profanity, but Marvel is the complete opposite vehicle. With the exceptions of antiheroes like Deadpool and the Punisher, Tarantino wouldn’t follow form so closely with any other Marvel character.

2 Ridley Scott

     Universal Pictures

Ridley Scott creates grand-sweeping epics like Gladiator or thoughtful morality plays like Blade Runner. He uses setting in his films to tell his stories and share his characters’ lives. A comic book world wouldn’t be far-fetched for Scott. While he focuses on atmospheric storytelling, the comic book characters might get lost in the stratosphere.

1 Tim Burton

     Buena Vista Pictures

Tim Burton is responsible for reviving Batman to his cultural icon status. He proved to viewers that the Dark Knight could be taken seriously again. Burton functions in the dark and works with the shadows in the light, but Marvel is colorful and loud. Burton would have to adapt Marvel’s most morose and macabre characters or direct one of the classic monsters adaptations like Werewolf By Night.