Ridley Scott Takes Aim at Hollywood’s Obsession With Superheroes and FBI Agents

Ridley Scott’s new film, The Dog Stars, is set for its theatrical release this week, and its director still seems to be as fired up about the state of storytelling as he was when he claimed that most of the filmmaking world’s output these days is “shit,” suggesting that Hollywood seems fixated on telling the same three stories these days.

“Look, everything now is about a murdered girl in the woods, or an FBI agent who is better than anyone else – or a superhero,” he told The Times. “Fuck me! There have to be other stories to tell.”

Though it’s easy to see why Scott might be preoccupied with some of Hollywood’s most visible commercial movies, and mainstream entertainment is certainly packed with serial-killer and murdered-woman thrillers, procedurals about unusually capable FBI agents, and superhero flicks, there are also plenty of stories being told that avoid those labels. Audiences still gravitate to original stories, as proved by the recent success of films like Backrooms and One Battle After Another, and acclaimed shows such as Hacks, The Bear, and Severance. Maybe we can sit him down to watch Silo or Widow’s Bay on Apple TV?

This year’s biggest films have admittedly been dominated by superheroes, sequels and well-worn IP, but 2026 has also produced a pretty clear counterexample to Scott’s argument in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary, a new adaptation that raked in almost $700 million globally.

Regardless, Scott says he’s keen to keep making original stories himself, claiming he’s “vulnerable” every time he does, but that he now sees himself as an influencer rather than a filmmaker. “I never want to repeat myself and all my films have been on the money. I’ve been ahead of the game frequently and, if you’re ahead of the game, you’re an influencer. So I’m not a filmmaker, I’m an influencer.”

Planning ahead, Scott also notes that he’s still yet to direct a Western, and has cast Hugh Jackman in a forthcoming adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, adding, “I want to do a musical and, also, have a marvelous film about the African elephant.”

While we await Scott’s film on the African elephant, there will be plenty more superhero movies and shows about savvy FBI agents. But there will be other things, too. Whether any of them will change the 88-year-old director’s mind on the state of Hollywood remains to be seen.