Are Superhero films dying?

[Paul Farquhar]

Most action movies and many detective stories are very formulaic, too. That never stopped them from making money.

It would have stopped them making money if we had had 32 high profile ones dominating cinema for the last 15 years. We actually have had about 5, if you count the made-for-streaming Benoît Blanc movies.

Of course, they tend to be much cheaper to make than superhero moves, so they don't have to rule the multiplexes to make a profit.

That's detective stories of course. Action movies are harder to count, since most superhero movies are also action movies. But if you count the FF franchise, failed attempts like Uncharted, and direct-to-streaming like Red Notice, they also seem to be struggling somewhat.

Basically, I don't think your statement here changes mine appreciably.

No, that was not my intent.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

But isn't it all just basically "the hero's journey"? The formula has been around since prehistoric times.

Marvel movies are all hero's Journey stories, but not all hero's journey stories are as formulaic as Marvel movies.

 

[Zardnaar]

My late mother loved violent action movies, and was bored by romance.

Sexism is assuming all people in a category are the same.

She is the exception I don't think anyone is claiming absolutes.

But movies are often targeted at specific demographics. Eh Barbie 2/3rds of its demographics were women. Kinda obvious why.

Marvels that demographic was reversed. Apparently super hero films are mostly males in 20-35 age range.

Superhero movies don't really appeal to me. I linked a handful of the MCU ones and things like Blade and some Batmans. The more grounded ones basically.

 

[Zardnaar]

MCU movies are very formulaic - how many do not end with a prolonged superpowered battle? How many don't have antagonists with powersets and origins connected to the protagonist? How many don't require the protagonist to resolve a personal issue before they are ready to face the antagonist? How many don't have an antagonist devoid of personality?

But the main thing is we have had a heck of a lot of that particular formula in a very short space space of time. Westerns are formulaic, but we don't see that formula very often any more so people are not bored with it. They sure were in the 1970s though!

Post endgame apparently they've done twice the content (in viewing hours) as phases 1-3. In around 1/3rd the time.

 

[Zardnaar]

As previously mentioned Aquaman 2 early projections weren't looking good. Even worse now.


Somewhere between Blue Beetle and Flash.

First one was 1.1 billion. Kinda liked first one.

 

[Clint_L]

Aquaman 2 May Be Heading Toward A Worse Box Office Crash Than The Marvels

Aquaman 2 box office prediction suggests The Lost Kingdom is heading for a worse fate than The Marvels when it premieres in December.

gamerant.com

TLDR: Aquaman is tracking even worse than the Marvels. It too had an initial film that grossed over a billion. I think we can safely say that the superhero movie bubble has burst.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

I don't really know if anyone saw how the Disney/Marvel movies were doing, and honestly expected Aquaman to be the exception.

Speaking of, "Iger says creators at Disney have lost sight of what their jobs should be - entertain first. It's not about messages." So how I take that, is that while we barely got any supers movies/shows with female leads, they're what clearly was the problem.

 

[Cadence]

Is it getting bad enough we should ask if Warner is actually going to let Gunn make the movies or if they'll pull the plug pre-emptively? Or is he coasting on GGIII vibes?

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Is it getting bad enough we should ask if Warner is actually going to let Gunn make the movies or if they'll pull the plug pre-emptively? Or is he coasting on GGIII vibes?

Well, the earliest Gunn DC movie is 2 years away. Hard to predict how things will develop.

It would certainly help if they stopped releasing bad movies for a while between now and then.

 

[Zardnaar]

Is it getting bad enough we should ask if Warner is actually going to let Gunn make the movies or if they'll pull the plug pre-emptively? Or is he coasting on GGIII vibes?

I think he's been cruising on GotG vibes for a while.