Dipping his toes into a blockbuster movie franchise was never outside the realm of possibility for famed director Quentin Tarantino. At one point, he was working on an R-rated Star Trek movie, though those plans never wound up coming to fruition. But when it comes to superhero movies, specifically those set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Universe, the Pulp Fiction helmer does not have any interest, given that his creative freedom would be severely impacted as a "hired hand" of the studio.
“You have to be a hired hand to do those things,” Tarantino says in a new interview with the L.A. Times. "I’m not a hired hand. I’m not looking for a job.”
Tarantino has previously made comments that suggest he's not a big fan of the current boom of superhero movies dominating the box office on a regular basis. Following remarks made by Martin Scorsese that Marvel movies aren't "cinema," Tarantino shared his thoughts on the situation in a 2020 interview with Deadline. He said that even though superhero movies and similar popular franchises had a great year in 2019, it was also just as well for original movies, such as his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
"I actually think a war for movies got played out," Tarantino said. "As far as I can see, the commercial product that is owned by the conglomerates, the projects everybody knows about and has in their DNA, whether it be the Marvel Comics, the Star Wars, Godzilla and James Bond, those films never had a better year than (2019). It would have been the year that their world domination would have been complete. But it kind of wasn’t. Because of what you said, a lot of original movie content came out and demanded to be seen, and demanded to be seen at the theaters. That ended up becoming a really, really strong year."
He added, "If it hadn’t done it this year, it might have been the last stand for movies like that. This is a really groovy year. To combat something like Avengers: Endgame, which for the month before it came out and the month after, you couldn’t talk about anything else."
So What Will Quentin Tarantino Direct?
Quentin Tarantino has been consistently stating that his next movie will be his final feature film. That's causing him to take his time to make sure that he chooses the perfect project to close out his career as a director. He has considered different ideas, such as a third Kill Bill movie that would put Uma Thurman's Bride into the role of the antagonist.
Wrapping up his run directing movies also does not necessarily mean Tarantino won't be back behind the camera. He might do some TV work as there have been reports of him directing episodes of the upcoming Justified sequel series Justified: City Primeval. In any case, we have not seen the last of Tarantino just yet.