Stephen King Criticizes Depiction of Violence in Superhero Films: “It’s Almost Pornographic”

The Hollywood Reporter ^ | September 3, 2025 | Carly Thomas

[Terry L Smith]

There is too much violence on film and the old boob tube!

There was, on the 60’s, I think of executions by garotte, from first rope knot, to the crank/crack in the face of the prisoner..

I’ve seen public square executions in Asia.Yied to a post, red rings target sheet placed in front, and 6 m16.a1’s discharged at once.

[rottndog]

Remember Creepshow? That wolf monster thing that graphically bit off half a man’s head? I was probably too young to see that...gave me nightmares.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

REDRUM

[larrytown]

Seems like this guy’s had his fifteen minutes.

Take a hint, Stevie.

[mass55th]

"I can’t read Stephen King or watch the movies. Not even short stories. Graphic detail on the destruction of the human body. Varied and imaginative. I quit him more than 40 years ago."

I stopped reading him around about Doris Claiborne. I have watched series made from his novels or stories. The Institute in currently airing on MGM+, and it's full of violence. About a secret institute that kidnap kids with telepathy or telekinetic abilities (also kill their parents). They tag the kids ears with a chip, inject them with chemicals to enhance their abilities, and demand they push themselves to increase their abilities. It's sick.

[rlmorel]

Hey, but dumping a bucket of blood onto the head of fair skinned blonde woman isn’t violent at all, right?

[mass55th]

"Remember Creepshow?"

I saw the movies when they came out. My youngest son was 11 at the time of the first one. Shudder later created an anthology series but King had nothing to do with the writing. It was just cancelled after four seasons.

[Dr. Sivana]

He does in an odd way make a point they blow up an entire city in a movie never see a single drop of blood.

Did he not read comic books as a kid?

This one made such an impression on me, I remembered the issue number:



Lots of wreckage, no bodies.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

People who inhabit crystalline abodes should refrain from the hurtling of mineral aggregates.

At least superhero movies do not have nasty ending.

[rlmorel]

Hahahaha..."Creepshow"! I don't recall how good the movie was overall, but I will never forget the scene with Ted Danson and Leslie Nielsen, where Nielsen buries Dansen and his wife (with whom Danson is having an affair) up to their necks in the sand with the incoming tide, but the tables are turned, and Nielsen's character, as he is buried up to his neck is screaming hysterically:

LINK: "I CAN HOLD MY BREATH FOR A LOOONG, LOOONG TIME!"

[HighSierra5]

King is a P.O.S.

[nickcarraway]

I disagree. He’s worse than that.

[Zathras]

But burning people at the stake in “The Stand” is just fine.
He is nuts!

[KarlInOhio]

And that’s on top of Randall Flagg getting rid of cheap buffets and instituting triple zero roulette.

[calljack]

Yes — in Stephen King’s novel It (1986), there is an infamous and controversial scene near the end of the section where the children defeat Pennywise in 1958.

After the battle in the sewers, the Losers’ Club (all around age 11–12) become disoriented and begin to feel themselves drifting apart. To restore their unity and find their way back, Beverly suggests (and participates in) a sexual encounter with each boy in the group, one by one.

This is our moral compass for anything?

[citizen]

Most modern superhero films aren’t worth squat, especially sequels. Example: 2017 Wonder Woman where WW tosses around a car like she was Superman.

While the first move can be decent, after that they must be wilder than each previous one, to the point of utter absurdity.

Somewhat of an exception: the original three Spiderman movies with Toby McGuire, where they followed the comic plots rather faithfully.

[x]

Doesn’t he get it backwards. Thanos snaps his fingers and millions die. A couple gets married and then they have a lot of kids. The porn is in the details in between, not in the exclusion of the details.

I suppose what he’s getting at is that watching whole cities be destroyed automatically with out seeing the blood and suffering will desensitize us to violence. But the person who really loves seeing the bloody details might be dangerously aroused by them. The normies go home and forget about the movie. The weirdos may be tempted to act out what they see on the screen.

[gundog]

Cartoonish violence in comic books? Say it ain’t so. Tarantino did it to good effect in “Kill Bill.”

[AndyTheBear]

Indeed, read “The Stand” and it had some very graphic nasty stuff that still makes me cringe to recall it. Not just pornograpic but sick pornograpic. Was a real page turner though, hard to stop reading because story strings you along with unresolved issues. When done, was relieved issues were resolved but overall was not worth reading. Nothing I could take away from story except curiosity to see how it resolved and various depravity along the way. Not gonna read anymore of his stuff.

[Repeat Offender]

Let’s not forget she comes up with the idea after her father tries to molest her……or that Gage (the four yr old ran over by a truck) was molested by the old man in Pet Cemetery.