Frank Miller Actually Enjoys The Marvel Movies, Says He Got Death Threats For Killing Elektra

The part of Frank Miller’s recent interview with Playboy (link is semi-NSFW, for obvious reasons) that received the most attention was his unwillingness to sit through any Batman movies, including the most recent trilogy by Christopher Nolan. That makes sense given that Miller was responsible for two of the most seminal Batman tales of all time: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, stories that clearly influenced Nolan’s films.

But I thought it was even more interesting that Miller said he enjoys what Marvel is doing with its movies, especially since he rarely comes right out and say he enjoys anything:

"One reason I enjoy the Marvel Comics movies is that they’re fun. A lot of superhero movies are pompous. At one point I was watching Superman, and all I could do was an impersonation of him saying, “Hi, I can fly and you can’t.” Whereas Captain America, the Hulk and Iron Man are a bunch of mixed-up crazy kids, just like the readers."

It’s implied that he didn’t care so much for the Fox Daredevil and Elektra movies done during the dark time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Miller did, however, admit to being nervous when he first killed off Elektra in the comics, offering some proof of how deeply comics fans sometimes get attached to characters they love:

"There were death threats: “You killed the woman I love. I’m coming after you,” that sort of thing. I was worried for my girlfriend, so I went to the FBI, which explained that because the letters had been opened and had no postmarks or proofs of postage, they couldn’t be considered mail, so I was to take the threats and like it. But killing her was true to the character and true to the story. That’s all that matters."

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to read the entire Miller interview, as he talks much more about Batman, 300, how Robert Rodriguez convinced him to help do the Sin City movies, and more.