Film snobs take every opportunity that comes their way to predict the death of comic book movies, which is stupid; comic book movies are a genre, and a genre can’t die.
Does anyone expect the science fiction genre to end because 65 fell flat at the box office? They acknowledged that 65 was mediocre and then moved on, but they don’t apply the same standard to comic book films.
They keep acting like one bad comic book film will bring the genre to its knees. In fact, they act like it is a good thing. You can tell that it makes them happy, which is odd because comic book films are good for the industry.
Hollywood can afford to make your favourite low-budget indie projects because they make hundreds of millions of dollars each year on comic book films and other major blockbusters. So, we should drop all this nonsensical talk of doom and gloom.
The comic book genre is not going anywhere. That said, I understand why some people are nervous. You have heard the saying, a rising tide lifts all ships. A successful comic book film paves the way for even more successful comic book films down the line.
If you had a blast watching a comic book film at the cinema last week, you are more likely to watch the next movie the genre spits out because you associate comic book films with a positive experience.
But what happens if you hate every comic book film you watch? At some point, you will write the whole genre off. DC is in a similar boat.
The brand is basically tainted because they have released too many mediocre projects. As such, no one trusts them; they don’t see the point of giving the studio their hard-earned money.
Film snobs will tell you that comic book fatigue is finally starting to set in. But that is false. People are not tired of comic book films. They are tired of mediocre movies, which is what we keep getting.
Shazam 2 has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 51 per cent. I have not seen it, but I watched and hated the first one. I doubt the sequel is better. Quantamania was a waste of money (if you watched it on the big screen). It also lost money.
I loved Black Adam, but many people hated it. Morbius was a critical and financial disaster. Thor: Love and Thunder made money, but a lot of people despise it.
If you think about it, the last truly great comic book film we got was The Batman, and that was over a year ago. I have some faith in Guardians 3 (May 2023) because James Gunn won back my trust with Peacemaker.
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse was a massive success, so one assumes its sequel (coming June 2023) will hit it out of the park. Most of us are enthusiastic about The Flash (June 2023) because of the stellar trailers DC has shown us thus far.
But who expects good things from Blue Beetle (August 2023), Kraven the Hunter (October 2023), The Marvels (November 2023), or Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom (December 2023)?
mbjjnr8@gmail.com
Source: The Observer
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