Ever since Martin Scorsese stated his opinion that Marvel movies were "not cinema, " people like James Gunn Samuel L. Jackson , and Disney CEO Bob Iger have leapt to the films' defense (while Francis Ford Coppola doubled down and called them "despicable" ).

Are MCU Superhero Movies 'Cinema' or Not? Every Hollywood Star Who's Weighed in on the Debate 27 IMAGES

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While promoting The Irishmen, Scorsese shifted his emphasis, proposing that "cinemas need to step up. Talking to ET this week , Scorsese still likened Marvel movies to "theme parks," not walking back his original claim, but added:"Let's say a family wants to go to an amusement park. That's a good thing, you know. And at theme parks there's these cinematic expressions. They're a new art form. It's something different from films that are shown normally in theaters, that's all.""My concern is losing the screens to massive theme park films," Scorsese continued, "which I say again, they're their own new art form. Cinema now is changing. We have so many venues, there are so many ways to make films. So enjoyable.""Fine, go and it's an event and it's great to go to an event like an amusement park," he added, "but don't crowd out Greta Gerwig and don't crowd out Paul Thomas Anderson and Noah Baumbach and those people, in terms of theaters."Watch our review of Martin Scorsese's latest film, The Irishman:

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler