Superheroes everywhere

And so it has begun. In the months of May, June, July and August, a glut of superhero movies rewards the public with the opportunity to immerse in worlds different from theirs. While comparisons with junk food are easy, films based on Comic-Con-friendly material allow audience members a fun-filled escape, providing the much-needed yang to the yin of serious awards season fare.

I grew up on comic books, but it was in 2000 that I first saw these mighty forces on screen. Bryan Singer’s X-Men drew from the source without turning fan service into a suicide pact. It took the director three years to release a sequel, X2: X-Men United, and another three for 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, the ultimate in the series. The lag left me wanting more.

Given the numbing frequency of sequels, prequels, and reboots today, however, that thought seems awfully quaint. A wait of one to two years between films is fairly standard now and admittedly, there is a creeping sense of “Be careful what you wish for” with each passing summer.

REBOOTS AND SPINOFFS

The rate at which reboots, spinoffs, team-ups and possible crossovers are flying off the assembly line has created an atmosphere that implies a production company is nothing if it doesn’t have a beloved franchise running ad infinitum.

Shortly after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swung into theaters early this month, Sony unveiled plans to release a Spidey film every year as it expands its universe with projects about its iconic bad guys. First on the list is a feature on Venom, leading into a Sinister Six movie, named after the group of villains who teamed up to take down the webslinger. That The Avengers made Marvel Studios $1.5 billion richer was, most likely, Sony’s inspiration.

It has barely been a month since Captain America: The Winter Soldier ruled the box office and already Marvel has announced a date for the third Captain America movie — May 6, 2016, the same day Warner Bros. plans to unleash its Superman Vs. Batman caper. The studios’ Avengers: Age of Ultron is set for May 2015, while a third Thor installment is said to be in the works.

Twentieth Century Fox also has a full dance card. On the horizon is X-Men: Days of Future Past, a sequel that relies on a time-travel plot to employ not just all the characters from the original franchise but most of their younger counterparts from the 2011 prequel X-Men: First Class. X-Men: Apocalypse, meanwhile, is slated for May 2016, almost a year before the release of the Fantastic Four reboot, which already has a sequel scheduled for 2017 along with a third solo film starring Wolverine.

THE SAME MOVIE

Aside from dulling the thrill of almost anything, repetition can test even the most ardent superhero movie enthusiast.

Fans are so accustomed to their favorite crime-fighters flying, lifting, smashing and morphing, of them fighting evil while struggling with their own demons, that on some level, these blockbusters are all just the same movie done with different faces. Whether it’s Iron-Man plummeting from the sky or Spider-Man diving into the Manhattan grid, the bloated sequences of massive destruction and computer-generated effects have somehow become rote.

‘TRICKLE PUBLICITY’

Since it takes tens of millions of dollars to get the general public off the couch and into the theater, film outfits squeeze every drop out of their investments.
It’s not just the CGI that has become templated; the marketing has as well. “Every comic-book movie becomes part of the endless cycle of long-lead trickle publicity,” notes Indiewire.

First comes the announcement of the filmmaker, followed by casting rumors and, inevitably, casting confirmations. Next is a sneak peek at the set and costume designs, presented as slick featurettes. Then there are rumors — and confirmations, of course — of plot elements running up to the debut of the teaser trailer. Every shred of non-news seems to spawn 10,000 blog posts that by the time the film actually comes out, it feels old and free of any visual surprises. 

In 2012 IFC.com, owned and operated by AMC Networks, observed that the “chorus of superhero naysayers appears to be growing rather than receding, becoming emboldened despite the genre’s solid numbers.” It’s tempting to join the fray and declare my weariness of costumed heroes on the big screen, but that wouldn’t be entirely fair.

FOCUS ON THE HUMANITY

Even if one rails about the ubiquity of Marvel- and DC Comics-derived franchises, the truth is that these films will continue to dominate the global box office indefinitely. Since studios now have the action cinematography — the “super” part — down to a science, writers, directors and producers should focus on the non-super elements if they want to differentiate their juggernauts from the pack.

Owen Gleiberman, in a 2011 Entertainment Weekly article about superheroes, said: “When comic-book movies really work, it’s because our connection to those heroes is intensely personal. They’re the rebels/mutants/geeks who transform themselves and triumph.” Perhaps the creative people behind these tentpoles should consider spending less time on destroying New York City yet again and instead devote a few more minutes to clever or insightful dialogue.

Though trite, memorable lines can turn a movie from mere summer entertainment to a bona fide pop culture moment. “With great power comes great responsibility,” for example, has become inextricably linked to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and not, alas, to Voltaire. Andrew Garfield, as Peter Parker telling his Aunt May “I’m your boy… And you’re my everything and I love you,” was one of the scenes I remember best from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. More than a lead character’s speed or strength, ultimately it’s a superhero’s humanity that forges the deepest connections. 

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