'Joker' star Marc Maron further slams comic book fans who he called 'grown male nerdchilds'

Actor, comedian and podcast don Marc Maron has doubled down on his assessment of the more militant end of comic book movie fandom.

Maron, who is starring in DC’s new Joker movie, didn't hold back during an interview with Conan O'Brien, who asked his opinion on the world of comic book movies.

“I have some issues with them, and no, I generally don’t like them, because, you know, I don’t want to be bullied into seeing those — look, Conan, I’m a grown–up! I’m not 7,” he said.

“And I think those movies are for, for, you know, grown male nerdchilds.”

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At that point, he got a few boos from the audience, to which he hit back: “Oh, really? Take the hit! You guys are in charge of culture! Now I gotta go travel 15, 20 minutes to a smaller movie theatre to see a grown-up movie with other grown-ups where we can all sit together and not understand the ending? You know?

“That’s part of the experience. Where you walk out, you’re like, ‘I don’t know, did the guy die? It’s not clear. It’s not clear.’ That’s the kind of movie I enjoy. I’m not gonna be bullied by grown nerd-men. So, no. I just don't go see 'em. I'm not interested.”

The remarks, predictably, did not go down all that well, and he's now taken to Twitter to tell everyone to calm down a bit.

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“Hey, Marvel movie fans! Stop acting like outraged religious fanatics defending their belief system,” he said.

“It’s okay if I don’t believe. Let it go. Also, I’m actually big fan of a lot of comic art. Try to relax your mainstream asses.”

Maron then continued the tussle with folks online who noted his criticism of comic book movies didn’t extend to DC.

It's overwhelmingly likely these remarks will haunt him for some time yet, in the run up to the release of director Todd Phillips' origin movie Joker, in which Joaquin Phoenix plays Gotham City's Clown Prince of Crime.

In it, Maron, also star of Netflix series GLOW, plays the role of Ted Marco, the agent to Phoenix's Arthur Fleck, a failed comic who begins to unravel.

The movie premieres at the Venice Film Festival at the end of the month, and will be released in the UK on 4 October.