Quentin Tarantino Explains Why He Won’t Join MCU, Calls Marvel Directors ‘Hired Hands’

While Quentin Tarantino has hinted at working on a major movie franchise in the past, it’s safe to say he’ll never direct a Marvel movie.

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, the director-writer was asked if he would ever get involved with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he doesn’t have much interest in working on a project that ultimately won’t be his own.

"You have to be a hired hand to do those things,” Tarantino said. “I’m not a hired hand. I’m not looking for a job.” During the same interview, he spoke about the chokehold that superhero movies have on the worldwide box office, and compared it to how auteur directors in the ‘60s were overjoyed when musicals fell out of fashion. In fact, he said he, “can’t wait for the day they can say that about superhero movies.”

He added that the “writing’s not quite on the wall yet,” for better or for worse.

In the past, Tarantino expressed interest in directing a Star Trek movie, which even entered the script stage with The Revenant screenwriter Mark L. Smith, per Variety. However, the idea fell apart by the time Paramount confirmed earlier this year that work had started on a new Trek once again starring Chris Pine. In a chat with Consequence in 2019, he also opened up about how he almost penned the screenplay for the sixth Halloween movie in the ‘90s, which eventually became the critically-panned The Curse of Michael Myers.

Funnily enough, he once thought about working on a Luke Cage film way back in the early ‘90s, shortly after the release of his debut film, Reservoir Dogs. In the late ‘90s, he was also linked to a live-action Iron Man film, and he turned down the opportunity to direct a Green Lantern adaptation.

Tarantino has yet to announce his next film, which he has suggested will be his final directorial project. His last movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, debuted in theaters back in 2019.