There has recently been a lot of scuttlebutt about Russell T. Davies aiming to deliver a Marvel-style reboot of Doctor Who with his return, but if you were to ask former executive producer Steven Moffat, the British sci-fi series precedes Marvel in more ways than one.
According to the creative behind the acclaimed Sherlock series on the BBC, not only is Doctor Who substantially older than the MCU, but it’s been doing a lot of things Marvel currently aspires to from a long time ago. Here’s how he recently explained it in a chat with Inverse.
“Isn’t Marvel just like Doctor Who?” He muses. “Doctor Who’s been doing that for a very, very long time. Certainly, since Russell brought it back, but arguably a lot before that, it’s been very human-driven.”
Ever the Whovian, Moffat continued that train of thought by adding:
“I don’t know what ‘more Marvel’ means. I would hope [it] means more money. And I think that would be good, more Marvel in that sense, but I’m not sure how much more Marvel it could get, and I’m not sure they’ve got it the right way around.”
Through his work in television alone, it could be surmised that Moffat is not a critic of the superhero craze like Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, and many others. Still, the former showrunner felt the need to reiterate that point in the interview.
“I know lots of wise beard-strokers sit around saying, ‘Of course, movies are all superhero films.’ Yeah, but they’re good superhero films. They’re really good! People go and see them, not because they’re superhero films, but because they’re good!”
Doctor Who returns later this year with “Legend of the Sea Devils,” a special serving as Jodie Whittaker’s penultimate episode before regeneration.