Val Kilmer slammed by Conspiracy director Adam Marcus more than a year after actor’s death

Over one year since his demise, Val Kilmer has come up again in conversation as a result of comments made by director Adam Marcus. In an interview conducted on May 31, Marcus recalled his working relationship with Kilmer while filming the thriller movie Conspiracy, released in 2008, and he made very critical statements regarding it.

Director’s criticism on Val Kilmer reignites debate about his reputation on set

Adam Marcus uploaded an image of him and Van Kilmer at the set of Conspiracy. When referring to the actor, he commented: “#MicroIntellectMonday to that time when I directed that guy. The guy who played Iceman and Doc Holiday. You know the one. Here’s me and the Putz working it out on the set of Conspiracy. So yeah, that happened.”

In the movie Conspiracy, Val Kilmer acts as William ‘Spooky’ MacPherson, who is an Iraq War veteran suffering from some disability. Spooky visits his friend in Arizona when he realizes that his friend, along with his whole family, has disappeared, leaving only the denial from the locals. He finds out that there is a conspiracy against the illegal immigrants of this area.

Knowing that people could potentially be upset about criticizing the deceased performer, Adam reiterated his points. He said, “And to any of you rolling your eyes because of the whole ‘don’t speak ill of the dead bulls---,’ f--- that,” he wrote. “[If] this guy did one-tenth of what he did on my set today, he would have been cancelled in a blink. Worst human being I’ve ever known… and that is really saying something.”

Following his direction of Val in 1995’s Batman Forever, Joel Schumacher, in an interview in 1996, referred to the actor as ‘childish and impossible’ and even a ‘psychologically disturbed human being.’ Another director who would refuse to ever work with Kilmer again is John Frankenheimer, after The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Val Kilmer dealt with such accusations in a 2003 interview saying, “I’ve been careless about how I viewed my business. But I trust that the truth is the truth and a lie is a lie,” he said. He also defended himself against Frankenheimer’s remarks, saying, “Frankenheimer, bless him, he passed on, but he had a history of being mean about people.”

Val Kilmer passed away due to pneumonia on April 1, 2025. In a 2021 documentary he said, “I have behaved poorly. I have behaved bravely. I have behaved bizarrely to some. I deny none of this and have no regrets because I have lost and found parts of myself that I never knew existed. And I am blessed.”

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