Joker Actor Marc Maron Describes Marvel Movie Fans as “Outraged Religious Fanatics Defending Their Belief System”

Actor-comedian and featured player in the upcoming DC movie Joker Marc Maron doubled down on comments he made in a recent late-night appearance on Conan.

As guest on Conan, Maron stated vehemently and possibly as part of his usual routine he has not and will not see Avengers: Endgame because he isn’t into that type of movie. He added he won’t let “grown nerd men” bully him into watching it. (Related: DC’s Joker Actor Marc Maron Says Marvel and Comic Book Movies are for ‘Male Nerd Childs’)

He received heavy backlash on social media from Marvel fans and defenders, some of it pretty passionate. On Twitter, he responded by telling “Marvel movie fans!” not to act like “religious fanatics” and “Let it go.”

Those new comments are eliciting more pushback. Some continue to call Maron hypocritical and accuse him of being mainstream too. He had the following to say:

In a twist, Joker director Todd Phillips declared war on Marvel recently, saying he and DC, through Warner Bros., will “do what they can’t.” Maron spouting off could be another front in that “war” leading into the release of their film. (Related: DC vs. Marvel War ‘Is On’ Claims Joker Director Todd Phillips)

If that’s the case though, it isn’t about the money, Maron explained in one exchange.

Ethan Anderton of Slashfilm interjected and wrote Maron is making generalizations about something people used to be bullied for when it wasn’t mainstream.

Maron replied, calling Anderton’s mindset “almost fascistic” and dismissing the charge of generalizing.

Anderton inserted politics into it and called him cynical, but Maron shot that down by saying the goings-on of politics and society are a spectrum. (Related: DC Comics Creator Sean Gordon Murphy Discusses His Approach to Politics in Comics)


Maron later quipped about his exchanges in defense of his words, describing it as a “troll dance” with “baby brains” and a waste of time.

Afterward, in reflection, Maron summed things up. His takeaway is his opinion didn’t sting so much as his word choices and suggesting the culture so preoccupied with Marvel and superhero movies is infantilized.


Maron then turned to talk about Joker, clarifying his heroes aren’t fictitious — like Iron Man or Batman — but real men, albeit ones who play pretend people, like Robert DeNiro. He added it doesn’t change the way he feels though he called working with DeNiro a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Despite the back and forth, Avengers: Endgame still became the highest-grossing movie ever and Warner Bros. remains in the process of revamping their DC film brand. Tone will depend on what character they deal with. (Related: DC Entertainment Producer Peter Safran Confirms Batman and Joker Can Have A Dark Tone)

Marc Maron stars in the new season of GLOW, the show’s third, on Netflix. Joker is in theaters this October.

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