Superhero Movies

[Azure Trance]

I'm just curious ... why are superhero movies so popular? Back in the day there was Superman in the 70s, Batman in the 80s, and a gap of almost a decade (not counting the later Batman movies) until XMen came out in 2000. Then we are treated to a deluge of Marvel characters - Spiderman in 2002, Daredevil and Hulk in 2003, with series to follow. I personally can't wait, but wonder why we as an audience love to eat it all up on the big screen.

I mean, technically, they are from comic books. Things stereotyped as a male, mostly teenage hobby. Some are American icons, like Supes and Bats but that their 'vintage' I'm sure helped a lot. Aside from the movie, do many people know who Daredevil would be, for example?

 

[Ashtal]

Personally, I think it's a demographic shift.

During the 70s and 80s, you had an entire youth culture saturated in comic books. And now they have money, and families that are being indoctrinated (in the good way!) with the late 20th Century mythology. In the 70s and 80s, when those movies came out, Superman and Batman had been around for about 40 years. Now, the X-men & Spidey and equivalents have been around that long and lived through some of the heaviest periods of superhero publication.

So, IMO, it's just 'time' for this stuff to make it big.

 

[Crothian]

Adults living out their childhood fantasies by seeing them on the big screen.

 

[Umbran]

There's another issue involved, I think: business. I'm told there was a gap of many years where Marvel couldn't get it's licensing arranged properly, resulting in movies gettign optioned, but never completed. Eventually, Marvel got it's collective head screwed on straight, and movies actually started rolling...

 

[Ashtal]

I think the delays may have been a blessing in disguise - with FX technology what it is today, they are in a much better position to pull of the superhero genre then they ever could in the past.

 

[Crothian]

There is also Hollywood trends. X-Men did well, so now everyone wants to make a Suoer Hero movie.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Comic book super-heroes were MADE for Hollywood.

Hollywood loves heroes, and in super-hero comics, good vs. evil is more black and white than any cop or gangster movie. Super-Heroes are also "larger than life," with flashy outfits, moves, and super-powers, and Hollywood eats that up, too. The genre lends itself to big stars, special effects, and high octane action scenes, and properties that can be licensed into all kinds of merchandise.

And it has really worked much better in movies than it has on TV, so far. I'm not 100% sure why that is yet, aside from budget constraints.

 

[Ranger REG]

I'd like to think it has to do with the current attitude of the mainstream, especially in the US. We need some form of escapism especially what happened to us last year. We also look for things to aspire us or simply cheer us up.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I mean, technically, they are from comic books. Things stereotyped as a male, mostly teenage hobby. Some are American icons, like Supes and Bats but that their 'vintage' I'm sure helped a lot. Aside from the movie, do many people know who Daredevil would be, for example?

I think a lot of people have moved pasted that stereo type, the comic book industry sort of grew up with it's audiance. After the big boom in the comics industry in the early 90's and now with the influx of hollywood folks like Kevin Smith, and JMS Spider-man and daredevil are just as well known as Superman and bat-man.

There have also been adaptations that i think most people didn't even realise were from comics. Like Blade, From hell, and Ghost world. You also can't forget Spawn and the origanal Swamp thing from way back when.

These days comics aren't just for little kids and geeks, just pick up something by Frank Millar, or some of the cool Sci-fi/ fanatasy stuff Crossgen puts out and you'll see what i mean.

Whoops, rambled a little there.

 

[Azure Trance]

Should we hope that our favorite comics will go onto the big screen then? Hellblazer was optioned I think, but to clear confusion with Hellraiser they would change the title to John Constatine.

Lots of Vertigo stuff for me for the indepth story, but 3rd Party actionoriented would be fine as well Radix, frex.

And Sir Osis, one more to mention was Road To Perdition, which was based on a Jap comic Lone Wolf (I think).