Daniel Cohen – Film Edtior
1. Are superheroes facing over-saturation in today’s media?
Superhero films used to be a special event that happened once, maybe twice a year. In 2016, we’ll be getting seven superhero films. Seven. That’s outrageous. It’s easy to say superhero cinema is over saturating the market. When there were four superhero movies in 2011, that same fear was prevalent even then. “Audiences will get sick of this.” We’ve been saying this for years, but it’s not happening. They are here to stay. One of the biggest reasons this isn’t over-saturation is because superhero movies are their own genre now. Much like you will get a ton of action, drama, or comedic films every year, the superhero genre will pump them out just the same.
What will make people shun superhero movies won’t be the volume, it will be the quality. While some are better than others, superhero movies the last few years have generally been met with positive reviews and reactions despite a couple nerd debates here and there. If the quality stays at this pace, audiences will continue to buy tickets. If these films ever get consistently bad, that’s when you’ll hear the “too many superhero movies” cry. We had four superhero movies this year, and three of them were met with overwhelming positivity. But the one that wasn’t (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) may not even get a sequel. That’s proof right there that studios can’t be lax in this genre. If you don’t deliver, your franchise could evaporate in a matter of months. If we start getting more Amazing Spider-Man 2’s over Winter Soldier’s, the genre will die out. The same reasoning can be applied to television. Even if we have 25 superhero shows, if the quality is there, people will watch.
2. How can superhero content stay fresh over the next few years?
We’ll get to the movies soon enough, but television has already been a great way for these properties to stay fresh. The recent output of superhero television has been damn good. While Marvel is winning the movie game, you can’t argue with DC’s quality in television. Arrow kicks ass, everyone is drooling over The Flash, and I can’t say enough good things about Gotham. As someone who loves and knows everything about Batman, Gotham has done an incredible job of keeping one of the most popular and consistently used characters exciting. With rumors of a new Krypton show, this can be another way for Superman to stay fresh. Serialized versions of superheroes has given us the opportunity to see different takes and interpretations. I want more.
As far as the movies go, this is going to be a crucial next few years for the genre. While Marvel has done a great job of giving audiences an eclectic taste of characters, we need the DC Cinematic universe, and we need it now. This genre cannot solely rely on Marvel characters. We need both studios outputting product. I said this in my DC movie breakdown piece, but DC has to present a different tone than Marvel. If they duplicate the same fun/lighthearted atmosphere, it will fail. Choose your own path, DC. I cannot stress that enough.
One other plot device that needs to go away in superhero films are villains wanting to destroy everything with a device. Seriously, this needs to stop. I get that when superheroes and villains fight, the stakes need to be high, but come on! I want to see more personal conflicts like in The Dark Knight, which wasn’t some “end of the world” scenario like we’ve seen in so many superhero movies of late. Look at a film like Skyfall. How many Bond movies did we see of him having to save the world, which Skyfall wasn’t at all. It was a personal vendetta between Silva and MI6. Stuff like this needs to happen in superhero films. Scale back the action set pieces, and focus more on pure character.
3. What will we be saying about the superhero genre in five years?
Even though there’s potential for over saturation, I actually think even more content will be scheduled within the next few years. More movie announcements. More television shows. I don’t think too much will change. This is all dependent on whether the DC Cinematic Universe hits or misses. With the people they have involved, and the care Warner Brothers is going to put into this, I can’t imagine it’s going to fail. There’s too much money at stake.
I’m sure Marvel will continue to roll right along, with the biggest change to the landscape of superheroes being Spider-Man back at Marvel Studios. Yes, I believe this will happen. Sony has fumbled the ball. I’ll be shocked if this Sinister Six movie happens. While Spider-Man is struggling, he’s still a cash cow, but I can see Sony selling him back for a bounty.
While Spider-Man will be back at Marvel, the X-Men will still be alive and well at Fox. With all the talk about Marvel and DC, we forget Fox’s X-Men universe, and we really shouldn’t. For crying out loud, they don’t get enough damn credit. Not only did that first X-Men film in 2000 start the modern age of superhero movies we’re enjoying now, but it’s still going. With all the reboots that have gone on in the genre, give this franchise credit for battling through the bad times with their most successful movie (X-Men: Days of Future Past) to date fourteen years later.
4. Out of all the movies that have been announced, what will be the best overall film?
I’m really tempted to say Aquaman. I am so damn excited for that movie, I can’t stand it. The idea of a water based superhero is going to look so good on film. But if I had to pick one movie that will end up being the best, I got to stick to my roots and take Ben Affleck’s solo Batman film. It’s all but a certainty he’ll direct it as well, and if there was one director who could rival Christopher Nolan with a Batman movie, it’s Ben Affleck. I cannot wait to see what he brings to the table with that character.
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