A bulletproof genre that could be invincible
Experts say well-scripted, heroic tales resonate deeply with audiences, and adaptations will keep coming
They’re defeating death-ray-wielding super-villains, destroying alien armies bent on subjugating mankind — and dominating the screen in an unprecedented way.
Superhero films raked in more than US$2 billion globally at box offices in 2015. More than a dozen superhero films are slated for release this year and 2017.
Vancouver-shot Deadpool has already been praised by critics and is packing theatres this Valentine’s Day weekend.
But why do superhero films and TV shows remain so popular?
Can the genre keep audiences captivated as these comic-book characters’ stories are rehashed, rebooted and reinvented over and over? Experts say there’s enough good material out there that the future of the on-screen superhero is all but bulletproof.
Heroes in a time of fear
Dr. Robin S. Rosenberg, a clinical psychologist and the author of Superhero Origins: What Makes Superheroes Tick And Why We Care, believes the resurgence of the genre’s popularity is due to a confluence of events following the September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
“Within a few months of 9/11, Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire came out, the TV show 24 started and the TV show Smallville started,” Rosenberg said.
“I think, at least in America, there was this longing for someone to come and do something — and they happened to be interesting shows.”
That costumed crimefighters with (mostly) superhuman powers became popular during a time of widespread anxiety was nothing new — Superman and Captain America were created just before and during the Second World War.
But this new wave of superhero mania turned the genre from the occasional corny film into dozens of big-budget blockbuster movies and series being produced each year.
Studios were quick to invest time and cash into the superhero genre, Rosenberg said.
“I think that part of the reason why we love it is that it’s similar to why we love cowboys,” said Stanford W. Carpenter, a cultural anthropologist and chairman of the board of directors at the Institute for Comics Studies.
“It’s a very American idea but it translates really well across borders ... this idea that individuals with a strong moral compass, if given power, will use it in a way to create justice.
“That also dovetails with teenage power fantasies and with power fantasies of any person of any group. Everybody has felt like they didn’t have power, and these heroes have power ... not just to do things for themselves but to do things for others.”
Solid storytelling
Batman Begins (2008) really set the course for today’s superhero films, says E. Paul Zehr, a neuroscientist at the University of Victoria Land author of Becoming Batman and Project Superhero.
“The way it came out, the kinds of actors that were in it, the story that was told, the way things were put together, the attention to detail including an amazing soundtrack ... Christopher Nolan just hit all the tick boxes for a good experience that was also authentic to the source material,” he said.
Faithfulness to the comic book is key, Zehr said. Filmmakers needn’t nitpick every little detail but they need to understand how a character generally works.
Green Lantern (2011), with its inverted characters and twisted backstories, failed at this, Zehr said. But Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014) nailed it, he believes.
“When it’s authentic like that, people resonate with that,” he said.
Rudy Thauberger, an instructor at Vancouver Film School’s Writing for Film and Television program, said there’s been a recent trend of comic-book creators and filmmakers collaborating and crossing over, such as The Avengers director Joss Whedon, who last year announced a new comic book series, Twist.
This kind of back and forth has led to better films but has also served to strengthen the comic industry itself, Thauberger said.
“That bond is closer now than it’s ever been,” he said. Still, some adaptations fall flat. Two sins are typically made, Thauberger said: “You’re too faithful to the comic and it doesn’t feel like a movie, or you’re ashamed of the comic and you try to distance yourself from the comic, and it loses heart.”
These mistakes led to the lukewarm reception for The Incredible Hulk (2008), which stuck to the comic but didn’t translate well on screen, and the critical panning of Fantastic Four (2015), where the filmmakers were “trying to be too cool,” he said.
Production capabilities
When the original Superman film came out in 1978, it had the tag line: “You’ll believe a man can fly.”
That promise didn’t disappoint then and it certainly wouldn’t today, when visual-effects studios are worth billions of dollars and able to trick the human eye like never before.
Carpenter said a “special-effects arms race” has led to a situation where it’s easier for audiences to suspend disbelief and buy into what’s playing out on screen, compared to the often cheesy CGI of even a decade ago.
Television has also finally caught up in terms of production quality, he said.
Netflix in particular has done a great job of exploring the interesting “nooks and crannies” of the vast Marvel universe, said Thauberger.
“Comic books, in their natural forms, they’re serials,” Thauberger said. “(Series are) a really natural place to put the smaller, more interesting characters,” such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and the upcoming Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
But there can be a downside to big production budgets, where filmmakers and show runners can “do literally anything on screen,” he added. “What happens is you tend to make the ordinary dramatic choices, which is why a lot of $300-million movies seem boring and cliché,” he said. “If you’re dealing with limitations of budget, you have to be more creative.”
When directors who typically work on indie, low-budget productions are put in the chair for superhero blockbusters, magic can happen.
Such was the case with James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy and the Russo brothers’ Captain America: The Winter Soldier, two of 2014’s Top 5 grossing films, which raked in a combined US$1.49 billion internationally.
Wellspring of stories
Last fall, Steven Spielberg told The Associated Press that “there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western.”
But Carpenter doesn’t think there’s any sign of the genre slowing down, with comic book characters and stories serving as “mythology or folklore that’s ripe for commodification” — much like the Grimm’s Fairy Tales, which have given Disney plenty to work with.
“Right now, the movie industry — if you took the superhero movies out — wouldn’t be doing very well,” Carpenter said.
“As long as they continue to innovate, as long as they continue to target and reach their audience and get those numbers, it’ll be a mainstay.”
Rosenberg agrees. “They’re buying rights to new comic-book characters and stories all the time,” she said. “They’re trying to find the next thing.” Zehr said it seemed a saturation point for superhero films and series had been reached a couple years ago, but it hasn’t arrived.
And as long as the genre continues to reinvent itself, it may never happen.
“A superhero movie can be like a spy movie, a science-fiction movie, a drama, a rom-com ... and I think as a result it’s attractive to so many people,” Zehr said.
“If it keeps getting spun like that, I don’t know if it actually has to have a ceiling.”