The Upcoming Death of the Superhero
03:39
Before seeing Logan this month, the last
superhero film I saw was Doctor Strange, one which I was fairly excited
for. I saw it back in October 2016, and I’ll admit, I wasn’t massively hyped
when it came to the day of seeing it. So, I went in with low expectations. It
was an off day for me, I’m normally so excited to see a comic book flick.
Needless to say, I came out feeling happy with these expectations I had,
because, contrary to popular opinion, I wasn’t a big fan of Doctor Strange.
It was the same old Marvel/DC origin story and was so close to the first Iron
Man it was insane. It was like Marvel copy and pasted everything. It wasn’t
a bad movie by any means, I just was bored with it. And with absolute
travesties such as Suicide Squad and X-Men: Apocalypse earlier on
in the year being terrible experiences for me I have to ask myself: is the
superhero genre dying?
No, not yet anyway. For many, it’s still well
and truly alive. For me however, being that the genre has been my favorite for
many years, 2017 hasn't exactly got me excited for this year’s line-up of
Marvel and DC films. Granted, Logan was brilliant, check out my review
to see my full opinion on it, but I will say that it didn't feel like a
superhero movie, perhaps that’s why I enjoyed it so much. Now, Guardians of
the Galaxy Vol 2 is the sequel to my favorite Marvel film, but I worry it
won’t meet the standards of the first. With the track record of DC’s awful
films (although I didn’t mind Batman vs Superman) Wonder Woman and
Justice League don’t have me excited for them at all. Spider-Man:
Homecoming looks ok, but just looks like a generic Spider-Man movie which
we’ve seen at least five times. Although, Thor: Ragnarok does have me
quite excited. It has an amazing director working on it, and an all-star cast
including newcomers Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum (what a guy)
as villains alongside Tom Hiddleston’s returning Loki. I’m a big Thor fan too,
and his teaming up with Hulk in this should be awesome, but then I hear that
Doctor Strange will play a big part in this too… and that turns me off it.
‘Shoehorning’ is a phrase I use a lot with these
movies. Chucking in characters and storylines into films that are about, in
this case, Thor, just so audiences will go see it because it has other
characters in it annoys me. I came to see a Thor movie, sure Hulk is in this
but I can take Hulk and Thor teaming up no problem, but throwing in Strange
aswell? I know we haven’t seen this yet, and who knows, it could work - but for
now thats the only thing that niggles me about this film. Edgar Wright left his
passion project Ant-Man due to creative differences with Marvel,
apparently due to Marvel’s shoehorning of Avengers references and the inclusion
of Falcon in Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man. Wright allegedly wanted to make it
stand on its own, but didn’t get it his way. I liked Reed’s film, but an Edgar
Wright version I know for a fact would have been phenomenally better. That
brings me to studio interference with superhero films, Warner Bros. in
particular who walked all over director David Ayer with Suicide Squad
and turned it into an absolute mess. With Ben Affleck leaving the directional
job of the Batman solo film due to the studio (apparently) this gave Matt Reeves
the chance to step in as director, which he has done, but was very hesitant at
first, and talks between the studio and Reeves were cold. Did I also mention
that The Flash is doomed since it has now lost three directors, two to
creative differences. It’s getting an un-needed script rewrite from Phil Lord
and Chris Miller’s original script, which would have been exceptional… but it
seems that the studio want it their way, and maybe that’s why DC isn't doing
too well. These directors must be getting offered a huge paycheck, yet leaving
this paycheck for their own artistic integrity is very noble and inspiring.
Another thing that annoys me about the genre is
Marvel and DC’s ever changing slate of films. I get that they announce them to
create excitement, but it’s pointless when a few months down the line they
cancel these ideas (such as Marvel with Inhumans, which is being made
into a TV show now) and DC splitting Shazam up into a Black Adam movie as
well, and of course announcing so many more films on top of their line-up. How
are they going to fit them in? What if Wonder Woman does well, will they
announce a sequel and push other films back or cancel them? My point is, they
shouldn't make promises that they can’t keep. DC seem as though they are
throwing shit at the wall and are seeing what sticks, in this case Harley
Quinn, so of course we’re getting a Gotham City Sirens movie with the
doormat David Ayer directing and the atrocious Megan Fox apparently going to be
cast as Poison Ivy… if that happens DC, the whole world will see your
incompetence. Your casting has been good this far at least, don’t screw it up.
And then with so many actors having contracts
extended and this being brought into public domain, we know that certain
characters won’t die in a certain film. Sebastian Stan has so many more films
contracted for the Winter Solider, so we know he won’t die anytime soon. I want
to go into these movies and expect something shocking, even if it is a death.
Like, what was the point in killing Superman off in BvS if we know he’s
getting another film and going to be in the Justice League? So he’s
obviously coming back right? It just doesn’t work.
I’ve ended up ranting it seems. It’s a shame,
because I really enjoy these movies, but I’m worried they’re turning into
trash. Logan was a good start for the year and I’m hoping that this
continues, but I won’t hold my expectations high at all. As Steven Spielberg
says, ‘the superhero movie will go the way of the Western,’ and I’m starting to
see that more and more. Give it until Marvel’s third phase ends, and I’m sure
that’ll be it. Marvel better get casting their next Tony Stark for the revival
of the genre in thirty years or so.
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