“Workaholics” and “The Righteous Gemstones” star Adam DeVine called out Variety, saying the trade magazine misrepresented his comments about Marvel movies in a podcast interview.
While promoting his latest Netflix movie “The Out-Laws” on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, DeVine gave his theory about why there have been fewer theatrical comedies in recent years, crediting the shift to audiences expecting to see “$200 million” movies in theaters. DeVine blamed Marvel and “superhero movies” for creating that expectation.
That interview led to Variety posting an article titled “Adam Devine Says Marvel Movies ‘Ruined Comedies’: They ‘Make Those Movies Kind of Funny,’ But ‘It’s Not Real Comedy.’” A social media post promoting the article read, “Adam Devine: ‘You watch comedies nowadays and you’re like, this is not a f—ing comedy…My theory: I think Marvel ruined it.’”
“As a guy who loves movies and tv it’s cool to be in Variety but this is misleading,” DeVine posted on his X account Tuesday. “I like Marvel and think these movies are cool. I was saying that studios (in trying to compete with Marvel) have stopped making mid budget comedies [sic]. I miss seeing comedy in the theaters!”
It should be noted that the podcast episode was posted on July 5, nine days before the SAG-AFTRA strike began. Variety’s write-up of the interview published on Monday.
Though DeVine’s “This Past Weekend” interview does include the phrase “I think Marvel ruined it,” in explaining the why of his theory, the statement is far less inflammatory.
The segment begins with DeVine lamenting why so many modern comedies are actually action comedies. “It’s why I was so happy to work with [Adam] Sandler’s company. We could just go full-steam on the comedy. You know, you watch comedies nowadays and you’re like ‘This isn’t a f–king comedy. Where’s the jokes? Where’s the bits?’” DeVine said before clarifying that this is a movie-specific problem and there are “still good shows.”
“My theory is I think Marvel ruined it. I feel like superhero movies kind of ruined comedies,” DeVine continued. “You go to the theater, you expect to watch something that costs $200 million to make. And comedy movies aren’t that. So you’re like ‘Why would I spend the same amount of money to go watch a little comedy in the theater if I could spend the same amount of money and see something that’s worth $200 million?’”
DeVine also noted that the studios make superhero movies “kind of funny,” before clarifying, “They’re not comedies.”
The actor later pointed out that there used to be around 45 and 46 comedies that used to premiere theatrically. “Now, last year, there’s like six or seven,” DeVine said.
Variety has yet to respond to DeVine’s post, and did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
