In the recent Audio Edition John answered a mailbag question about the current era of Superhero Movies. When I read this article I instantly thought of the question that asked “Are Superhero Movies a phase, a spinoff of the remake fad going through Hollywood?”
Some time after Marvel Entertainment unleashes “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk” and a few other choice superheroes as stars of their own feature films, the company intends to release a live-action version of “The Avengers” — a team dubbed as “Earth’s mightiest heroes.”
News like this makes me see a new future for Comic book movies. They are not only planning on bringing out movies that feature major characters in the industry, but they are doing so with a purpose. Yeah, its to make money. But those movies we thought could never happen could actually happen.
I wanted to chime in on the Audio Edition question here in the blog to address this current mentality of Comic Book movies.
I think the comicbook movie is here to stay for quite some time, and provided Joel Schumacher doesnt get to direct one, we are only seeing the beginning of the next generation of Superhero films.
Christopher Nolan did something different with the superhero genre. He made it into a REAL movie. Not to say that Superhero movies are not “real movies” but that people often dismiss them based soley on the fact that they are based on comic book characters.
Batman Begins set the stage for serious superhero movies. Something Ang Lee’s The Hulk tried to do, and what Singer tried with Superman. Make it about story instead of explosions and fisticuffs. Its not getting through to everyone just yet, and some may never appreciate the style, but these movies are not just about the guy who can beat up your dad, but its about REAL people with real lives and real feelings. I look forward to more movies like this, but with the redux of The Hulk coming out with more mindless action, it might not happen just yet. The fans still crave the action.
So back to the original news post that inspired this mini rant. There is a future in the works for the Marvel Superhero franchise. That they are planning on doing the Avengers movie right. I talked about the news that there would BE an Avengers movie here. Now my concerns that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would actually include the mightiest might actually happen. Eventually.
We will have to see which Avengers star in it, but I predict The Hulk, Captain America,(as mentioned) and Ironman at the very least. If this model works, we might just see a Justice League movie as well. The new serious style of Batman and Superman would be cool to see as a Justice League movie. I wonder if Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman will fit too?
The Superhero Genre isnt dying. Its just growing up.
