Are Superhero films dying?

[Mercurius]

So I hear The Flash bombed hard. And I've heard superhero films in generally have been on decline, probably since the MCU Thanos arc wrapped up in 2019 and it lost the most popular actors (including Boseman), oh and plus Covid. Plus, the general aimlessness and over-saturation of MCU and the continued unevenness of DCEU, and the weird splintering of alternate versions (Joker, the Batman movie with the Twilight guy, etc).

I personally ran out of MCU steam a few years ago. I really enjoyed most of the arc leading up to Avengers: Endgame, but even by then I was sort of running on fumes; there are only so many CGI-spectastulistic scenes and quippy jokes a man can take. And then it seemed like they shotgunned all the secondary characters into starring roles and made all kinds of shows and I thought, "OK, I'm out." So I don't want to conflate my at-best tepid interest (or really, curiosity) with overall popularity, but the numbers don't lie.

I must say I'm curious about Secret Wars, the Fantastic Four, and how they'll do the new X-Men. But that's all still 2-3 years away, and that will be more than half a decade since I regularly watched MCU films. Or to put it another way, through Phase 3 (2008-09) I watched 21 of 23 films (91%) and only 2 of 9 (22%) since--nor any of the Phase 4 shows, except for the disappointing Moon Knight--and I don't plan on watching any of the next four or five films until the Fantastic Four comes out in 2025. A finger to the nerd-dom wind paints a clear picture: while my loss of interest may be on the extreme end, it isn't entirely divorced from what a lot of folks feel.

Anyhow, what say you all? Poll included.

 

[Blue Orange]

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all--Ecclesiastes 9.11

Nobody ever goes there anymore. It's too crowded. --Yogi Berra

It's the same story the crow told me/It's the only one he knows/Like the morning sun you come/And like the wind you go --Grateful Dead

Times change. After summer comes winter, and after winter, summer. Everything rises and falls, from hemlines to the stock market. People get sick of whatever the new new thing is and move on to something else.

 

[Clint_L]

It's a lull. Happens in every genre. And, frankly, it's necessary. The current offerings are mostly creatively bankrupt, so hopefully the genre goes on the back burner for awhile, and then ten years or so down the road the young creators who have it in their cultural DNA will revive superhero films with fresh ideas.

With regards to Marvel, specifically, I wish they would take a break for 5-10 years and then come back with a fresh slate led by the Fantastic Four and X-Men. I know they won't because $$$, but I think they'd be much better for it. How can we miss them if they never go away?

 

[CleverNickName]

I wish I could click "Yes," but the answer is probably "Sorta."

 

[Ryujin]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I've watched almost everything that has come out, if not actually everything. I do, however, think that there's a bit much being released all at the same time. Scale it back and I think there will be a resurgence.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

My normie friends who were going to most of the big Marvel movies five years ago seem to find no joy in the current crop of superhero movies or even the concept. Most of them who liked Guardians of the Galaxy seemed to be OK with that, but nothing on the horizon seems to excite them except for whenever that has Batman as a lead and isn't bogged down in the rest of the DC-verse. Batman seems to process as something almost different than a superhero to a lot of general audiences for some reason.

 

[Older Beholder]

I can see Deadpool 3 doing well when it comes out early next year.
Into the Spiderverse is doing great things, can't wait for the third film.

Also, it will be interesting to see what James Gunn does with DC, but that's still over a year away.

 

[trappedslider]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I've watched almost everything that has come out, if not actually everything. I do, however, think that there's a bit much being released all at the same time. Scale it back and I think there will be a resurgence.

I think due to my current issues that The Marvels will be the only other MCU movie I have missed in the theater, the last one before that was Thor: The Dark world and I was in the hospital.

 

[Scribe]

I clicked yes, but only because I found the idea that he has occult powers funny.

 

[Clint_L]

I want The Marvels to be huge just to show up the trolls, but I have to confess that I'm not excited for it or any other Marvel project right now.