In terms of modern comic book royalty, there’s not many out there who can rival Mark Millar. As well as having created the likes of Kick-Ass, Wanted, The Secret Service, Chrononauts, and Superior, the hugely talented Scot also wrote major mainstream efforts such as Old Man Logan, Ultimate Fantastic Four, The Ultimates, and, of course, the iconic Civil War. Now, Millar has been giving his thoughts on this year’s Captain America: Civil War, which was loosely adapted from the writer’s own legendary 2006 comic book arc.

Taking to his own Millarworld Forums, Millar gave his thoughts on the top 10 movies of the past year. Whilst Zootropolis topped his list, one film that was left out was Anthony and Joe Russo’s Captain America: Civil War. Still, Millar did give his thoughts on the movie and why he wasn’t a particular fan of it.

The man behind the comic book arc that the film was based on said, “Civil War had a good opening twenty minutes, then I honestly can’t remember what the movie was about. It’s interesting the Russos have a background in comedy because it’s really missing in these otherwise well-made pictures and very, very missed. I really hope this bleakness doesn’t extend into their two Avengers pictures, because what made that first Avengers work was the light as well as shade and I’ll be sad if that’s all lost like it was in this picture.”

One MCU movie that Millar did have some love for, though, was Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange, which made it in at tenth place on his list. On that film, Millar said, “Just a nice, fun Marvel movie. The only comic-book flick to hit my top 10 this year, which feels weird, but the Marvel formula is a solid one and this was a nice hark back to before they went a little too dark and serious and had lots of nice jokes and asshole-learning-to-be-a-hero leads. Marvel’s genius is the casting and like Hemsworth and Downey Jr, Cumberbatch holds the movie together with his terrific presence. The American accent I think was a mistake in the same way giving Colin Firth a Kentucky accent would seem weird on film as it’s an actor we understand to be quintessentially English. But it’s a minor quibble and a nice film with a good third act (where Marvel’s origin movies in particular usually stumble a little).”

Another film that didn’t impress Millar – and most of us, for that matter – was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Giving his thoughts on that hugely disappointing entry in Warner Brothers’ DCEU, Millar bluntly explained, “I never thought a movie where Superman and Batman met Wonder Woman wouldn’t be in my top ten and was so bleak I couldn’t take my Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman obsessed children. Batman Vs Superman I think we should just leave alone. Like Suicide Squad, WB has just decided to go a certain way with these movies and their logic is that they don’t want to look like Marvel films. It’s now how I feel these characters work best and sadly my DC-obsessed kids (I’m a DC guy way more than I’m a Marvel guy) can’t see their favourite characters in the cinema. Their TV and animation departments are working beautifully. I’d love to see some of that same light applied to their theatrical division.”

Whilst that’s Mark Millar’s lookback on some of 2016’s more notable movie releases, you can find our Top 40 Films of 2016 feature in the current edition of STARBURST Magazine, on sale here.