Over the weekend at the Venice film festival, Mel Gibson launched an attack on comic-book movies, comparing their protagonists unfavourably with the real-life hero in his new movie, Hacksaw Ridge.
The film arose in conversation when Gibson compared its budget with the more modest spend on Hacksaw Ridge.
Gibson had one particular film in his cross hairs: the critically unloved Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which he called “a piece of shit”.
“The difference between a real superhero and a comic-book superhero,” said Gibson, “is that real superheroes didn’t wear any Spandex.”