If you were to say 5 years ago that superhero movies would become box office poison, people would think you were crazy. Superhero movies had been doing gangbusters at the cinema for over a decade at that point. As well, with films like Avengers Endgame, Aquaman, Joker, and even Captain Marvel grossing well over 1 billion at the box office, superhero films looked like they were here to stay. Oh so has much changed since then. Now, most superhero films are barely, if ever, making back their production costs, and no studio is safe from financial ruin. While there might be the occasional success, with films like Blue Beatle, The Flash, and Madame Web flopping, it seems like superhero films have finally met their end. But is that the story completely? Is the superhero genre just dead in the water, or is there more to this story than it seems? Well, to start answering that, we’re gonna have to find out how we got so many superhero flops specifically in the first place…
Since superheroes started appearing in the 1930s, they have always been popular. They had basically dominated the comic book landscape since the 50s, and have been involved in various other media since their inception. From the Fleischer animated shorts of Superman in the 40s, to the Spiderman and Wonder Woman shows of the 70s, superheros have always found their way to other mediums. They were also popular in them too. One of those mediums was films, which superheroes infrequently featured in since the 40s. However, most superheros only appeared in serials, and once those stopped being popular, superheroes on the big screen faded until 1978. Then, Superman made it on to the big screen in a major motion picture unlike anyting the genre had scene before. While the film series that Superman created would not last all that long, it would inspire other adaptations such as Batman. However, it was not until the rise of computer generated special effects that superhero films began to really take off. These tools could allow filmmakers to better depict a superheros power without the need for extensive special effects. It also allowed them to depict the fantastical worlds these heroes entered on much cheaper budgets. These developments were not the only developments that favored superheroes however.
Through the success of films like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, Hollywood realized that films based off already existing properties could make more stable profits thanks to pre-existing interest in the property. As well, due to plummeting physical media sales and the rise of the international market, studios began to focus on more big budget fantastical films with tons of special effects to rake in as much profit as possible from other markets. This was also due to sites like Netflix occupying more profitable, smaller films that Hollywood use to make, resulting in a push of big budget spectacles as a result. All of these factors were extremely beneficial to superheroes as they were established properties featuring flashy characters in giant, fantastical battles. They are also diverse, cater to no specific demographic, and can cover a wide variety of genres. Overall, superheroes were perfect for this new age of Hollywood, and it only got better with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, forcing millions of fans to watch the next movie like a scripted TV show. At their peak, superhero films were raking in billions of dollars, and they seemed to be all over the place. They were inescapable. Then what went wrong?
Whenever anythings becomes so popular and saturated, it is bound to cause some people to get sick of it. Superheroes are no exception. Even at their peak in 2019, these superpowered films were subject to heat by many critics, with some calling them not proper films. However, things did not really go wrong for superhero films till the pandemic. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, theaters were shut down. This meant companies could not rely much on box office revenue to cover the cost of films anymore. Streaming was not helping either, with it making less money than needed to support these kinds of films. Another issue to arise was that superhero films were just not that good anymore, with a noticeable drop off in quality since 2019. It also just seems there is no direction for these films’ cinematic universes to go in, with DC attempting to destroy its universe, and marvel struggling to find direction after Endgame. Finally, despite the lack of interest and quality of these films now, there seems to be more of them than ever. Now, alongside movies, we have TV shows, video games, streaming services, and so much more. It seems that with all these factors that people are just sick of superheroes. Such shows in the box office, with failure being constant. It look like superheroes might be finally done for good..
However, there is some silver linings in this black abyss. Deadpool and wolverine has grossed over a billion, and many films still manage to be number one on their opening weekend. However, it is not enough to justify the amount of product being pushed out. Ultimately, there will come a time soon where studios will cut down the number of films they make severly. Audience interest has already moved on, with films like Barbie and Oppenheimer making billions despite not being cape related. While I don’t think superheroes will disappear completely from the screen, I do think they will retreat from the limelight for the next while. However, I do belive that they will still occasionally return, cause with interest still high, like in comics, heroes never die.
 | ReplyForwardAdd reaction |
https://fortune.com/2023/12/27/hollywood-movie-industry-barbie-marvel-dc-superheros-2023