The latest wave, and announced intentions of studios handling Superhero films we are certainly heading into a new era of the comic book adaptation. For a while, superheroes were a four letter word to studios, and then they took a chance and revitalized the genre on screen. Then just as people were wondering how long this can last, a new batch of big blockbusters raises the bar of Superhero films.
The question now is … What’s Next?
MTVMoviesblog quotes Hulk Director Louis Leterrier:
“I’m begging [Marvel Studios President] Kevin [Feige] to do ‘1602,’ the Neil Gaiman version, you know, the almost medieval superhero movie,” Leterrier said. “I’d love to see that. That’d be a nice switch on the superhero movie.
“Or Hulk goes global, even bigger. ‘World War Hulk!’ ” he added. “That would be my dream come true.”
I think that the very fact that he is itching to do these stories has two sides.
I think it is awesome to think outside the box. Do something different. Shake it up. Thats great. There are a LOT of great stories in comics and deserve to be told. And thats about as much as I think of that side of the coin. Sadly, this coin has one side that is heavier.
Comics to film work within finite standards. Established characters have a fanbase and a root, but they want these films to attract a broader crowd. Honestly if the studios thought they would only attract the fanboys and comic collectors, they wouldn’t greenlight ANY superhero film. And in this we find the reason a 1602, Age of Apocalypse, Legacy Virus, Heroes Reborn House of M or World War Hulk would never see approval.
These stories are great because they deal with the interaction of a WORLD of characters you already know. In World War Hulk, the big green raging gamma machine rips a new hole in every hero in the Marvel Universe. In a film, you would be completely lost every time he faced someone you didn’t know. There just isn’t anything invested in seeing the Hulk go toe to toe with Gladiator.
Who? Yeah… you see my point?
This isn’t to say that they shouldn’t do lesser known titles. I am eager to see what they do with Watchmen and most comic collectors today don’t even know what that is about. Hancock is a superhero movie, but of a different strain. The idea behing 1602 is to see the modern characters we love transplanted to a different era. Problem is that most movie goers who’s exposure to these characters is limited to what they see on screen won’t be fascinated by a transplant story or an alternative time line epic.
I would love to see a superhero movie set in 1602, but I don’t see it happening with existing Marvel characters.
The concern is that these awesome comic book adaptations are flooding the market and we might get tired of them so we should shake it up. I agree. And at the same time I don’t think Louis Leterrier’s hope to see these spanning epics coming to reality. At least not until they have a LOT of history and back story established ON SCREEN instead of just in the comics.
Aside from the rights issues keeping these cross studio characters off each other’s screens do you think it will every be possible to do a storyline that spans across the Marvel Universe?
