Deadline New York: Superhero film genre dying

[Harvey]

That superhero films cross over into other genres isn't really that unusual, is it? When was the last time anyone here saw a Hollywood film that could be distinctly referred to in the terms of a single genre?

It seems pretty clear to me that the superhero film has its own iconography and narrative conventions, and has lasted long enough in Hollywood, that it should be considered its own genre. Certainly we're witnessing a current cycle of this type of film now, but it would not at all be unreasonable to compare Green Lantern (2011) with, say, Superman (1978) or Batman (1966).

 

[Gaith]

That superhero films cross over into other genres isn't really that unusual, is it? When was the last time anyone here saw a Hollywood film that could be distinctly referred to in the terms of a single genre?

You're kidding, right?

Green Lantern - straight superhero

Mr. Popper's Penguins - straight family comedy

The Undefeated - straight acid trip / Glenn Beck wet dream


They pop up every week.

 

[Harvey]

You're kidding, right? I assume so, based on the wink, but it's hard to tell online at times. I only ask because the version of Green Lantern I suffered through was clearly a hybrid with science fiction, specifically space opera. I haven't seen the other two and, really, the less said about that Sarah Palin "movie" the better.

 

[Goliath]

You'll see Ant-Man and Plastic Man long before I see Mountains of Madness.

 

[Broccoli]

First time around you generally have to do an origin story. To introduce the characters to a wider audiance.

Sure, you include the origin story in the first movie, but that doesn't have to be the entire movie, as The Incredible Hulk and Daredevil showed. You can get it out of the way in a flashback or an opening montage and then get on with the actual story.

That's somewhat how Batman (1989) did it too. Bats was already a few weeks into his nightly crusade, and we had a flashback late in the movie centering around his parents' death.

 

[Agenda]

If it's dying, it's been a slow death. X-Men was in 2000 and already it's 2011. That's over a decade of superheroes. There have been some successes and some failures. Green Lantern bombed, but Captain America beat juggernaut Harry Potter when many said it wouldn't. Thor also did well and X-Men: First Class wasn't a failure.

 

[Captaindemotion]

[
The Undefeated - straight acid trip / Glenn Beck wet dream

 

[Thomas.B]

I think it might be nice if a few superhero flops at least slowed down production on every superhero comic in existence. (And I think I'm getting my wish this year.)
These movies are bogged down in so much CGI. And a lot of these characters have similar origins. I'm not that interested in seeing a guy get muscles overnight and then learning that great power also brings great responsibility over and over again.
The Dark Knight Rises is kind of a sure thing. The reboots for Superman and Spider-man may do okay. But I've been kind of weary of Marvel doing all these superhero movies to build up to The Avengers. I'm kind of wanting to stay away from that train-wreck.

 

[Skywalker]

Don't worry, it will be anything but a trainwreck.

I think superhero movies have through the rest of this decade, or so, before they start fading. Eventually the studios are going to overextend themselves (Kevin Feige has talked about wanting to reach a point where Marvel's releasing four movies per year, in addition to any movies by DC/WB or whoever else! ) and people will start to get weary of them.

 

[Yminale]

I never understood this obsession with trend spotting. Just enjoy the ride. I have absolute confidence that Avengers and the Dark Knight Rising will be awesome. Hopefully Favreau will change his mind and do Iron Man 3 and they keep Johnson for Cap 2 and either Singer or Vaughn does X-men.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Shane Black is already signed for IM3.

 

[Yminale]

^ Shane Black is already signed for IM3.

Yeah I know but I'm still hoping Farveau will do it.

 

[Captaindemotion]

It's Favreau. And it doesn't work that way. Contracts. Business arrangements. Legal shit.

 

[Yminale]

It's Favreau. And it doesn't work that way. Contracts. Business arrangements. Legal shit.

First Oops

Second, directors can be dropped especially ones who don't have a proven track record.

Third it's pretty unlikely Favreau will come back but I'm still hoping.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ With Kiss Kiss Bang Bang under his belt, not to mention screenwriting duties on Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Boy Scout etc, Black has a pretty good track record, certainly comparable to Favreau's circa IM1.

And thrifty Marvel like directors who come cheap, thank you very much! That's why we got Branagh for Thor rather than Peter Jackson or Chris Columbus rather than Spielberg for Captain America. Not to mention the apparent behind-the-scenes fallout between Jon and Marvel.

 

[davejames]

I think it might be nice if a few superhero flops at least slowed down production on every superhero comic in existence. (And I think I'm getting my wish this year.)
These movies are bogged down in so much CGI. And a lot of these characters have similar origins. I'm not that interested in seeing a guy get muscles overnight and then learning that great power also brings great responsibility over and over again.
The Dark Knight Rises is kind of a sure thing. The reboots for Superman and Spider-man may do okay. But I've been kind of weary of Marvel doing all these superhero movies to build up to The Avengers. I'm kind of wanting to stay away from that train-wreck.

Yeah I have to admit, by this point even the good superhero movies are starting to feel a bit less special. There's just so freakin many of them now that the novelty has completely worn off.

"Oh yay, another guy who can fly or teleport or walk through walls." It's all just another CGI effect.

Perhaps the reason Captain America felt somewhat fresher was because it was kinda forced to rely more on the old school thing of a good story and likeable characters.

 

[Skywalker]

I'm actually really looking forward to seeing what Shane Black does with IM3. He's already worked well with Downey once in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. I hope he writes the script, too.

 

[Yminale]

^ With Kiss Kiss Bang Bang under his belt, not to mention screenwriting duties on Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Boy Scout etc, Black has a pretty good track record, certainly comparable to Favreau's circa IM1..

I don't know if you could call that proven and if he was he wouldn't necessarily be cheap.

Fortunately Marvel has been really lucky lately with their directors unlike DC. Don't get me wrong i'm still hopeful IM3 will be great and with Black maybe they are going to explore Tony's alcoholism in the next movie. Still, I really wanted to see where Favreau was going to take the character especially Tony's new long term relationship with Pepper.

 

[Skywalker]

Marvel hasn't been luckier than DC, they've been more competent. DC's still trying to get its act together, and right now their basic strategy is "Let Chris Nolan do whatever he wants!" Which, granted, ain't a bad strategy, but I doubt Nolan will want to spend the rest of his career producing DC movies.

 

[Yminale]

Marvel hasn't been luckier than DC, they've been more competent.

Luck, competency it's just semantics. All I'm saying is that Marvel has been able to successfully translate more of their IP than DC has. DC needs to step up their game or they'll just be known for Batman, Superman and others.