Amph Superhero Overload?

I think if it were getting tiring to most people then those threads wouldn't be on the first page of the JCC. Or we could go back to having separate forums.

I'll never give up the fight!

*ducks*

 

Thanks Watto, I've got Tina Turner singing in my head.

 

I think it's kind of funny when nerds are complaining there's too much nerd stuff to talk about on a nerd message board.

I'm happy there's a forum where I can talk about comic books, movies and tv shows based on comic books and other nerd related topics. I mean, there are sport talks shows and ESPN for sport fans, and I don't hear anyone complaining about sports overload or hearing too much about their favorite sports team.

 

Hey, I complain plenty about sports! The major sports leagues are all disgusting.

And everyone talks about superhero movies everywhere. They make billions of dollars; a lot of people see them. It's not some niche thing.

 

Are you kidding me? The MCU is the very anti-thesis of "diverse." All the films have a reliable plot structure, approach to dialogue/character, irreverent/self-aware tone, and style of antagonists. They become almost interchangeable with one another.

 

I don't agree with that assessment at all. The Avengerverse has an overall cohesive visual look yes, but its like a tapestry. With-in that framework, different characters are pulling on different threads. Thor is all about magic and monsters. Iron Man is near-term sci-fi, Guardians of the Galaxy is full blown space opera, Captain America is a mix of pulp adventure, action and conspiracy thriller, TFA and TWS in particular were very different movies. On the TV side, Agents of SHIELD is espionage with superpowers. There's a lot more variety in the Avengerverse than you think. I'd even go so far as to say that individual characters are very different from each other. Thor is all about learning humility. Bruce Banner is a walking psychodrama. Tony Stark is constantly trying to make amends for his past sins. Black Widow wants to make amends for all the people she's killed and trying to come to terms with things that have been done to her. Cap wants to belong and Hawkeye just wants a normal life. So where is the lack of diversity?

 

Those are incredibly facile divisions. For instance, none of the "espionage" shows really operate like things of that genre. It's certainly not "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" nor does it even fit comfortably into the mold of Alias. They brand themselves as spies without ever much resembling them. Likewise, Iron Man is "sci fi" only in that it involves fantastical weapons--in much the same way that Thor, Captain America, and the Avengers umbrella franchise also involve fantastical weapons. It doesn't otherwise address the issues that science fiction addresses, or take on any of that genre's sensibilities. Instead, like Bond action films, the new technology is just a plot vehicle for bigger explosions. Finally, in Thor ancient mythology is only referenced in order to stress how it's just like a high tech alien society that we might see in Guardians or Avengers. This is window dressing over the exact same product, over and over again.

 

Jabba-wocky: You're absolutely right, which may account for why I much prefer Bryan Singer's Days of Future Past to anything by Marvel. Far from perfect, but at least it actually strives to say something. There's a genuine inner life to the lead characters, and the narrative beats fairly unpredictable.

More to the point, although Marvel has produced several engaging adaptations, it's never made an honest-to-God film. That is to say, a Superman: The Movie, a Batman '89, or a Dark Knight, all of which were imbued with a distinct character and overwhelming cinematic sweep.

If this subgenre isn't entrusted to visionaries and innovators, then the bubble could burst sooner than it ought to.

 

It ought to have burst in 1945.

 

Well, there's a difference between handing your kid a nickel or two so he can dash off to the newsstand and forking 40+ dollars for a Sunday afternoon at the theater.

 

I think of all the things I am not a fan with MCU Thor, this still disappoints me the most.

Regarding overload, if you look at the movie release slate, yes there is overload. But it's like any cinematic fad. After all, the Italians made over 600 westerns in the span of 13-14 years so...

 

I think Marvel in and of itself, including the MCU, Spidey, the X-Men, etc, is an incredibly diverse comic book company with many interesting story lines, however the MCU has become, to me, a predictable and formulaic series, where much of it is indeed interchangeable.

 

"Arkham Asylum" is a trade-off that a lot of people are thankful for. Genuine games with a normal development time will go over far better than not.

To the animated series, it was. Hence using the designs and voice actors from the show.

It did. Then it made a come back because of how popular the genre is. The DC and Marvel heroes, along with the heroes of the creator owned variety are modern myths in the same vain as King Arthur, Hercules, Beowulf and Ulysses.

 

Sure. Thousands of modern myths, thousands of variations on the same narrow theme, all on par with Ulysses.

 

the one thing i could see them running into is if they phase out Thor, Iron Man and Captain America, most of these other characters they're introducing might not really have that wide appeal of those characters.

 

There are other characters that will take their place though:

Black Panther is a scientific, wealthy genius and a king to boot (so you could fit some Thor-ish ideas in there as well as Iron Man.)

And Bucky and perhaps Falcon will take up the shield so there will be another Captain America. Plus the Defender characters from Netflix will probably merge with the film characters too. The Avengers had many different teams so they could continue for some time.

All that said, I do hope they go a bit deeper into their character catalog.

 

to me the guy in the suit is who the super hero is. Steve Rogers is Captain America.

 

That's the last paragraph in my original post that started this thread, over a year ago. I just re-read that post and noted that what I had thought was beginning to happen for me then has definitely continued to go as I had thought it might, as far as burnout goes. I'm now at the point where the decision not to go see new superhero movies (at least in the theater, but often at all) is almost always a quick and pretty easy one. My son (now 8) not being into superheroes anymore has also aided in that progression; a few years ago, these movies were something we both enjoyed, but now we've both pretty much moved on.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens after Infinity War.After multiple hints across multiple films coupled with nearly a decade of build-up, its possible that Marvel will have shot its proverbial wad, as they're giving us Thanos, who is basically the end of the line as far as Marvelverse supervillainy is concerned. There's also the fact that by the time we get to Infinity War, we will have had nearly two decades of high quality cinematic superheroics. People might very well be ready for something completely different.

 

Do you post that to torture us?

 

It just seemed appropriate.

 

That cover actually reminds me of the days before the internet.