It’s been a minute since we had a full-on Superman major motion picture with all the trimmings. And this new installment shows with each charming but self-conscious step. It’s like a very expensive and fragile antique has been brought down from wherever it usually hides and one hopes it survives the special occasion that summoned it from its crypt. Superman is like that. Also like the James Bond franchise. Just as you’re getting used to one Bond, they bring in a new model. What was wrong with Henry Cavill? He seems to have a lot of mileage ahead of him. Well, he’s 42. The new guy, David Corenswet, is ten years younger. But there’s no getting around the fact that the actual character goes back to 1938. And, some will argue, Christopher Reeve, in the role of Superman, along with Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, in 1978, will always be the gold standard. In fact, Corenswet seems to be channeling Reeve in a pretty big way. The same with the new Lois, played by 34-year-old Rachel Brosnahan. There’s no doubt that the producers were looking for a certain je ne sais quoi and Brosnahan has that world-weary Kidder vibe down. The script doesn’t bother with formalities with these two and has them all over each other back at Lois’s apartment within a few minutes after the first big action scene. They are so used to each other after dating a couple of months that they let loose with a mildly tense quarrel. It was something else. It made a baby cry in the movie theater I was at.
Now, some talking heads have made a big deal about Superman updating for the age of MAGA. And I think the producers tried to split things down the middle. They gave Clark Kent a new set of parents cut from a MAGA trope: more of a laid-back Southern flavor as opposed to a prim and uptight Midwestern reserve that was the original recipe. Clark was raised in Smallville, Kansas after all, not West Virginia. Anyway, that part is done with kindness. The other part could be hard for some hardcore Trump fans to swallow and that’s stuff like Superman duking it out with Lex Luthor with Superman saying things like, “Yeah, I’m an alien and I’m proud of it. I’m a real person.” and Luthor saying, “I don’t care. The government has given me permission to do whatever I want with you!” Your mileage will vary. You can’t avoid a little sprinkle of politics when you’re dealing with such a colossal cultural figure as Superman. Director James Gunn referred to Superman as an embattled immigrant and that alone has created a bit of a firestorm. Every era has its own Superman and so it goes.
But getting back to the whole idea of a major Superman movie. It does feel like the good china and silverware is being brought out. My harshest view would be that the whole thing feels as if its been embalmed in formaldehyde, lost somewhere in the mist of the 1930s up to the 1970s. Maybe that’s a good thing, the fact that this sort of thing is still being done. It’s a very expensive experiment in entertainment but I can only imagine no one is going to lose their shirt over this. It’s going to appeal to a lot of people but that just goes with the brand. It’s too tempting for too many people. And I think it’s mostly going to be older people too even though efforts are made to make these characters seem youthful. One clue to the tilt toward older viewers, I think, is how Lois and Clark are supposed to be such huge fans of punk music. The way they carry on about their devotion to the punk ethos makes them sound more like people twenty or so years older than themselves. And that makes sense given that 58-year-old James Gunn is the movie’s writer and director. But good for him! I think the love for a beloved subject carries over into one’s life in more ways than one. I’m good with that.
Superhero Movies Face No Kryptonite as They Soar into 2018
A great year ahead for superhero movies.
Author: Anna Galich
When it comes to fighting for the share of a film audience, the battleground is extremely tough. However, amidst the blockbusters, period pieces, and Oscar fodder, one genre has risen above all others and against all odds reigned supreme both in terms of commercial success and cultural reception. That’s right, superhero movies provide us with some of the most lucrative and successful films in recent years, and their star is only going to continue to rise. But what does the future hold for superhero films? And will the current trajectory ever slow down?
Super Success
2017 was a good year for superhero flicks. According to Box Office Mojo Wonder Woman grossed $412,563,408, and was the 3rd highest grossing film of the year, while Thor: Ragnarok achieved $312,641,320 and 7th place, and Justice League closed out the Top 10. The success shows that superhero movies are still drawing in the public and achieving box office targets. As long as the targets are being met, the studios will still continue to produce films about superheroes. The first female-led superhero movie bolstered the position for DC, with Gal Gadot’s performance as Wonder Woman being highly praised – and with that success comes a possible new subgenre for countless other female superheroes who may have been overlooked over the years.
Hope for the Future
2018 looks to continue the rise of the superhero movie genre, with Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp providing sequels of previously successful films. Based on the eponymous villain, Venom will offer an alternate view of the Spider-Man series – which itself received a revamp in 2017, replacing Andrew Garfield with Tom Holland for the Spider-Man Homecoming origin story. Revamps are common in the genre and actually in fitting with the comic books they are based on, which regularly kill off characters, such as when Spider-Man was killed in 2012 only to be revived again. The trick the studios have to pull is to stick to the genre’s roots while finding new and exciting ways to explore superhero backstories and mythos.
Fresh Meat
But with the regurgitation of heroes in sequel after sequel (Iron Man and Captain America both have 3 films each, with appearances in crossovers and the everyone-involved Avengers films), and the retelling of the same story (Spider-Man has had 3 different actors; Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland in only 15 fifteen years), there leaves little space for new superheroes to change the genre up. However, one hero, whose exploits were documented in the 1986 movie Highlander, is in the pipeline for a remake. The remake will introduce newer fans to the character, who already has a fan base and in niche areas even appeared as a popular game on the homepage of Betway Casino, featured as an online slot game. The game features content from the classic franchise and can give you a sense of how popular the movie (directed by Chad Stahleski of John Wick fame) will be.
Superhero movie franchises abound.
Franchise and Fans
The superhero movie continues to see a positive return at the box office due to the franchise nature of the genre. The films are based on premises, not plots, which are conducive to expanded arcs, backstories, and fleshed out worlds of characters long forgotten in comic books. As many are based on comic books, which have established audiences, and come from a genre, which also has dedicated fans, studios are more likely to produce superhero movies due to the likelihood of a higher turnout. The established fan base could explain why so many superhero films are given the green light, but easy fans wouldn’t account for the genuine financial success the films achieve.
Marvel vs DC
The Marvel vs DC battle, which dominates the comic world, and has begun to dominate the world of cinema, is another factor that keeps superhero films alive. If only one franchise existed, filmmakers could grow complacent and produce subpar stories knowing people will watch them. The healthy competition and so-called battle the companies are involved in helps keep each franchise fresh in order to stay ahead of the competition. With DC’s release of the Wonder Woman film, Marvel are already considering further exploring Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow in her own feature. The character starred in many of her own comics, which explored the backstory revealed in Age of Ultron. The opening of major action movies to female leads provides a wealth of avenues that the superhero films can go down – just don’t mention Halle Berry’s 2004 flop as Catwoman!
The Comic Book Industry
The superhero genre of films also helps keep the comic book industry alive. By introducing fans to a character, they can then delve into the entire back catalogue of that character, and everything they have done before. Given that many started in the 1950s, fans potentially have a large amount of material to sift through, helping to build the franchise effect that keeps audiences interested film after film.
The superhero genre, after years of hard work and failed attempts, has finally solidified itself as the head of the box office and a creator of sure-fire hits. The future of the genre looks bright, and filmmakers have to just decide which aspect to focus on. While flops can still occur, the unwavering success of the last spate of films shows just how successful the genre actually can be.
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Filed under Comics, Commentary, Guest Column, movies, superhero movies, Superheroes, Superman
Tagged as Batman, Entertainment, graphic novels, Media, Movies, Pop Culture, Spider-Man, superhero movies, Superman, The Avengers, Wonder Woman