Amph Superhero Overload?

There are a few threads here now pertaining to comics superhero movies, including the main DC and Marvel universe threads, but this question kind of bridges across them I think.

We've had quite a few superhero movies over the past few years, and many of them have obviously done very well at the box office. Now the near future through the next few years is poised to bring us a bunch more, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (as well as AS3 and possibly other related movies, based on Sony's stated desire to create a Spider-Man universe), X-Men: Days of Future Past (as well as X-Men: Apocalypse), Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Age of Ultron (as well as A3 at some point), Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, MOS2/Batman vs. Superman, Justice League, and a few currently untitled projects with placeholders.

Do you think this will create a feeling among the general moviegoing public that they are burned out on superhero movies, or will most be happy to just pick and choose what interests them? Do you think the studios are concerned that they could cause such sentiment, or are they confident that there is a segment of the population that will always embrace these movies regardless? And if the number of movies causes those feelings amongst the larger moviegoing public, do you think the studios may ironically recognize that long-term trend possibility and are trying to make as much money on these movies as soon as possible before that happens?

Just curious what people think about this, both for themselves and for what they see going on on a larger scale in the future. I personally have enjoyed watching many of these movies, even though I've never read any of the comics... but I honestly can already feel myself getting kind of burned out on the concept when I think about it long term (I've actually skipped some of the most recently released examples, too... maybe due to "picking and choosing", but I think burnout has been a factor too).

 

As with all movies, so long as the quality is overall good then they will go see them.

 

i'm definitely burned out. i didn't watch any of the superhero movies that came out last year and days of future past is the only one coming out this year that i really want to see.

 

And why? Because First Class was awesome.(I assume among other reasons)

 

I think it will depend on the over all appeal factor to the individual and or how they read the quality/content. Of those you listed I am only even considering two. I'm not big on superheroes or rehashes/reimages. It seems too many projects are simply revisiting formulas that work. It will very likely soon drive a good portion of the fanbases away but I doubt they'll care if it makes money.

 

yeah, the first two x-men films and first class are some of my favorite comic book movies. i like the idea of merging the two things and that singer is back.

 

I don't like crossovers but I have to say if it's true Jeremy Irons is gonna be Alfred I want to see that. Yet I won't be surprised if the story is poor. The other I want to see is Days of Future Past.

 

As simply as I can put it, the genre (if we're going to call it that) will slow down, but I think it's here to say.

I'm burnt out on the X-Men movies, but everything else is fine by me, so long as the quality is strong. I can definitely understand where people are coming from when they say they're burnt out. For me, it's just exciting to see these comics I loved being made into genuinely good movies. There was definitely a weird early-2000s feel to a lot of stuff, but then Iron Man and The Dark Knight came along and showed everyone how successful things can be, and we're seeing the peak of that trend now. It'll certainly struggle a bit in years to come, and I doubt it'll remain the dominant movie "genre," but I don't think there's going to be a crash of any kind.

If we get a Cutthroat Island of superhero movies, that'll kill them for a bit, but then someone will bring them back.

 

I suppose there's a risk of burnout and fatigue, just like with any trend, but I think Marvel is aware of this, so they're making their films different enough from each other as possible, i.e. the first Captain America film being a WWII action film, and the second a political thriller.

 

we've already had plenty of movies that could qualify. ghost rider: spirit of vengeance?

 

Just remember this:

In 1987, we got Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. Then in 1989, we got Tim Burton's Batman.

In 1997, we got Batman and Robin, then in 2000 we got the first X-Men movie.

 

Those movies are off in Nic Cage land. They do not play by conventional rules.

 

Besides, the second Ghost Rider movie was made so the studio could keep the rights away from Marvel. Then when the film bombed, they gave them back, like a child with a broken toy.

 

I doubt I'll personally ever burn out on the genre, I watch too many movies in general to really get sick of any one genre period. But I suspect the general audience is eventually going to balk and then they'll go back to being in a lull.

 

i'm with tom. or at least i think so. i don't know anymore since i can't really keep up.

 

I've always thought that the MCU movies were assembly-lined celebrations of "fun" ('splosions and one-liners) mediocrity that never try for anything better than the minimum required for middling reviews that result in a "fresh" RT score. Even the styles of big-name directors are mostly lost in the "originality is for people without nine-figure budgets" philosophy. The only film from that studio I liked is Iron Man, and I'm afraid of revisiting it because now I might see it as just another indistinguishable turd. So yeah, I've been baffled for years that audiences continue to eat it up. A crash is coming. Maybe the Disney-Marvel factory pretends they don't know that, but they do. It always happens, especially with this unprecedented level of saturation as far as big-budget superhero movies go. If it doesn't happen with the we're-just-seeing-what-sticks-to-the-wall-at-this-point Guardians of the Galaxy, I don't know when it will happen. Like tom, the only superhero thing I want to see is DoFP.

Oh, on another note, I am not looking forward to the Marvel philosophy being applied to Star Wars, its now-fellow Disney property. Yes, the Prequels sucked, but at least they don't blend together with a billion other films in my mind and weren't released with a Max Rebo spinoff.

 

Yeah, there will be fatigue with the genre if the genre continues with its saturation. But, the thing is, these heroes resonate with people for a reason and seeing a childhood icon done well on the big screen is a great nostalgia trip for a lot of adults.

 

I think most people will only get burned out if or when a consecutive string of poor-quality movies hits theaters. The last 20 years has seen a lot of superheros placed on film, but only a select few haven't done too well. Even perceived failures like "Spider-Man 3" and "X-Men: The Last Stand" made well over their budgets in profit.

 

So long as the quality is good it'll be a very very slow burnout. But even then we'd be getting at least one new one a year. Unless there is a Batman and Robin type failure it should stick to that pattern. It'll slow down.... then once most people have had a rest they'll want more and we'll go back to the level we are at now.

But we've been having superhero movies since the 70s, the genre isn't dying.

 

What is amazing and terrible to me is the number of people responding to this thread by noting that it will be alright "as long as the quality is good." The quality is terrible. It has been terrible for several years now. These things are basically unwatchable. They are entirely interchangeable, mindless, and unrelentingly stupid. The plots are increasingly meandering, there are exactly zero well-rounded characters, and the writing is crammed with more awful jokes and fourth wall winks than a modern sitcom. The coming crash is admittedly long overdue. I'm not quite sure what the hold up is. But I promise you it is not the "quality" of these productions. Ye gods.

 

I'm so glad your opinion does not dominate the world.

 

You think Spiderman 2 is the best superhero film of the last 20 years, and the Dark Knight is too flawed, so the "you people" comment is misplaced here.

 

Speaking of Spider Man, I can't believe Sony rebooted the franchise (for some dumb contractual obligation) and didn't bother to make it any better.

 

Spiderman has emotions now. That's better.