So, I hated every singular ounce of Man of Steel. But many of you didn’t…and, as a result, there will be many, many more. Warner Bros — the studio behind this century’s most lucrative franchises like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hangover, The Dark Knight Trilogy — has been banking on Superman’s return, not only in the hopes of restarting a fresh franchise, but a plethora of them. WB’s DC comic book lineup, which includes Supes, Bats, as well as many other characters who have either failed cinematically (Green Lantern) or remain untested (Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman). When Marvel’s Avengers became the third highest grossing film last year (only behind James Cameron’s Titanic and Avatar), WB started pushing even harder to accrue the same success with its own stable. I suspect they’re too late.
Now that franchises have become the Holy Grail of movie studios, Warner is more desperate than ever for its comic book properties to save face. Its non-comic properties have either run dry (Potter, Hangover), remained dormant (Lethal Weapon, Dirty Harry, Gremlins), or approach their final curtain call (Lord of the Rings), Warner Bros is hedging its bets the comic book movies will remain the prominent genre in movies.
The comic book craze may seem invulnerable; its risen to new heights thanks to The Avengers and its immediate sequel Iron Man 3, which propelled past the coveted billion dollar mark faster than you can yell “Excelsior” (you comic fans get it, right?). Seeing infinite shades of green, studios like Sony, Fox, and Disney are prepping new installments of Thor, Captain America, X-Men, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four, just to name a few. WB has already greenlit Superman’s sequel for a 2014 release.
Despite Hollywood optimism in all thing geek, I fear the craze has reached a peak and is dangerously close to over-saturation. The sheer number of releases continues to increase. This year will mark at least four major releases connected to a DC/Marvel brand. Marvel’s stable alone has become so dense that its placing releases in Winter (Thor 2) and Spring (Captain America 2) just to keep from competing with themselves.
Warner Bros hopes that a Justice League feature will springboard its own share of solo efforts. If they succeed, we could see as many 10-12 comic book titles hit our multiplexes in a singular year; a far cry from a decade ago when Marvel began its dominance in yearly increments (Spider-Man in 2002, Hulk in 2003, Fantastic Four in 2005). We had time to relish each new fore into our nerdiest of fantasies. Now we’re being bombarded with them.
In just ten years, we’ve seen Batman, Spider-Man, Superman get face lifts and murmurs that X-Men, Fantastic Four, and even Daredevil will have soon have fresh, younger (and cheaper) casts and stories. I suspect Disney will buy Robert Downey Jr. a small country just to retain his services for future Avenger films. But if RDJ doesn’t bite, Disney will likely reboot their Iron Man series too.
At some point, we will grow tired of it all. I believe the comic book film was already nearing a fragile turn with Superman Returns and Spider-Man 3 left films geeks in dismay. But then 2008 came. Christopher Nolan splashed a fresh coat of face paint on his diabolical Joker in The Dark Knight and Downey made Iron Man more pleasurable outside of the metal plating than within it. The Avengers carried the franchises to new level of crowd-pleasing epic swag. But after both Avengers and Superman destroy an entire city — whether it’s call New York or Metropolis — where do you go from here?
Superman and Batman may seem infallible presently, but each have had their share of disasters and mishaps. For example Batman Begins accrued a modest $50 million opening weekend, which looks downright feeble next to Dark Knight or Man of Steel. But Begins was coming off the disastrous Batman and Robin — which, along with Spawn marked the end of one comic book era. It wasn’t until 2000 that X-Men renewed audience interest (and studio faith) in the genre. Despite Batman’s longevity, he had to “re-earn” his respect in the cinematic spectrum.
Warner’s strategy remains safeguarded. Despite Man of Steel’s little Easter Eggs — its references to Wayne Enterprises — the studio is playing close to the chest. Unlike Marvel, which pushed full-speed ahead with an expanded universe and early promises for an Avengers movie, DC is hedging its bets. Instead of using singular features to cross-promote a giant team-up film, WB is using a reverse philosophy, which, nevertheless, is aimed to reach the same quantity of releases per year. This means that any hopes of a slew of DC features won’t occur until 2016/2017 at the latest. Will audiences be there to greet them?
Despite DC’s own bevy of unique characters (and who wouldn’t want to see WB try it’s hand at an Aquaman feature?), I cannot envision anything other than a direct copy of Marvel. And despite your preference, there will be a large polarized audience. Some will crave more from Marvel, whereas others will push for DC. Comparisons will remain up to the point where we have two films which bills a half-dozen cats wearing spandex and masks. It’s feasible that DC will take a page from Marvel and inject a unique spell over it’s individual comic properties — whatever they decide those will be.
But over saturation will become the genre’s Kryptonite. Already, I’m seeing ads for Thor and not feeling the excitement, just a sense of deja vu. “It’s Loki taunting Thor from a jail cell!” “Wait, wasn’t this in ‘Avengers’?” “No, that was in ‘Dark Knight’!” “Nope, it was in ‘Silence of the Lambs!!'” But Marvel as a whole has retained my interest. Their films always entertain — some more than others. DC, besides it Dark Knight trilogy, has unraveled as a series of films built upon focus group research and a lack of imagination. So far, I’ve seen no signs that they won’t attempt to replicate the Marvel Methodology.
The universe is becoming far too crowded with tight-wearing demigods and not enough rationale for them all to co-exist. I get the sense that I’m not alone as the tepid response to Wolverine’s trailers suggest. If Marvel remained the only dog in this race, the genre would have better chances to keep movie-lovers engaged — and not bored. The comic book resurgence was built on audience desires to finally see the X-Men and Spiderman on screen and for Superman and Batman to return after a long-winded absence. Now, I get a sense that we’re getting everything from Santa and some of the presents will remain unopened or untouched. There’s bound to be a time when audiences will be in need of rescuing — from the superhero.
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