Stephen King had one condition for the film adaptation of his book, The Long Walk: he wanted a lot of brutal violence.
During a recent interview with The Times U.K., the prolific author criticized the way violence is depicted in superhero movies, such as some in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Studios. Oftentimes, those films don’t show the realistic, gory consequences of violence, despite there being a lot of destruction.
“If you look at these superhero movies, you’ll see … some supervillain who’s destroying whole city blocks but you never see any blood,” King said. “And man, that’s wrong. It’s almost, like, pornographic.”
He added of the way violence is presented in The Long Walk, “I said, if you’re not going to show it, don’t bother. And so they made a pretty brutal movie.”
The Long Walk, based on King’s 1979 dystopian horror novel, follows a group of teenage boys who compete in an annual contest known as “The Long Walk,” where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get killed. The last remaining walker wins the contest. The movie was directed by Francis Lawrence, with a script penned by JT Mollner.
Superhero movies will typically avoid graphic violence to appeal to a broader audience, including families and younger viewers. However, there have also been plenty of R-rated superhero pics released that don’t hold back on bloody violence, such as 2024’s Kraven the Hunter, the Deadpool films, 1998’s Blade, 2021’s The Suicide Squad and 2019’s Hellboy, among others.
The Long Walk arrives in theaters on Sept. 12