Joe Russo sparks internet backlash after making a joke about Martin Scorsese

Director Martin Scorsese he was quoted making comments on the subject of Marvel films as cinema, taking shots at the superhero genre, and on the validity of films made by directors like The Russo Brothers. But Joe Russo made a joke this week at the expense of Scorsese’s dog and the internet went crazy.

Last week, Scorsese’s daughter posted a video on TikTok featuring the iconic Killer Moon Flowers director, which showed him talking to his Schnauzer, Oscar, and jokingly talking about casting a movie. In response, Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo created a video on Instagram with his dog, also a Schnauzer, and jokingly called it “box office.”

The playful joke was nothing more than a harmless joke, but people were quick to take it to heart and posted criticisms of Russo in response. ComingSoon reported that Toonami co-founder and senior vice president of action and anime series at Warner Bros. Discovery, Jason DeMarco, approached Russo about his 2022 film The Gray Manimplying that no one would remember the film in 20 years.

“Joe Russo took hundreds of millions from Netflix to make whatever he wanted, and he invented…The Gray Man” DeMarco wrote in his since-deleted tweet. “Marty got hundreds of millions from Netflix and Apple, and made The Irish AND The assassins of the Flower Moon. I know what films we will be talking about in 20 years…”

Writer Louis Peitzman also weighed in, noting that “in 50 years no one will know who Joe Russo is,” while others in the film community chimed in.

Hell, I don’t know about you, but those responses seem really disproportionate to the size of the insult against Scorsese… since I don’t think Russo was even making fun of Marty! It seemed like a funny joke that people took too seriously. I bet Scorsese has a better sense of humor than those who will bat for him. What do you think?