Year of superhero team-ups

LO, IN the Mesozoic era of The Superhero Movie in decades past, the caped crimefighter could stand alone in a film, one well-known name usually enough to stir curious filmgoers into a state of flock-and-awe.

But as the cinematic superhero evolves, it is just that sort of fading solo-hero approach that Deadpool so knowingly mocks with one deadon jab.

Yes, as Deadpool nears a half-billion dollars at the global box office – sure to soon become the biggest superhero comedy – it’s easy to recognise that the central appeal is Ryan Reynolds’s embodiment of “the merc with a mouth”, But one scene in particular indicates how Hollywood increasingly likes to maximise the firepower of its comic-book characters.

At one point, Deadpool heads to the X-Mansion seeking some climactic super-help in the forms of Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. As Deadpool breaks the verbal fourth wall, he notes that he only ever sees these two heroes living alone in the massive manse – as if 20th Century Fox “couldn’t afford another X-Man.”

In that moment, Deadpool is not only mocking the economics of these enterprises, but also spoofing the studio’s current penchant for seeking strength (and commercial appeal) in numbers.

In 2016, after all – unlike a decade ago – few major superheroes get the luxury of standing alone. As the X-Men and Avengers franchises roll along – and such recent films as Guardians of the Galaxy and Big Hero 6 introduce their heroes en masse – the studios are intent upon utilising many of their properties in each film.

Next month, of course, brings Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as DC/Warner Bros, sensing the pressure and pace of how the game is now played, now builds films toward a big Justice League team-up.

Then in May, Disney/ Marvel Studios will deliver Captain America: Civil War as a host of wellknown heroes go head to head, followed just weeks later by Fox’s X- Men: Apocalypse. And then August brings the return of Affleck’s Batman as just one piece of DC’s highly anticipated Suicide Squad, with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Will Smith’s Deadshot leading the antihero fun.

In other words: If you own so many toys in your commercial chest, its smart business sense to play with many of them each time out. This taps the mix-and-match fun of the comic books themselves.

Such plotting doesn’t inure Hollywood against such flops as last year’s Fantastic Four, of course. But generally, there is now commercial safety in numbers, too – which should prove interesting to track and compare as DC unfurls solo titles like Wonder Woman and Aquaman over the next several years, on the heels of Doctor Strange late this year.

If each of these superhero universes is its own sprawling mansion of narrative and character, after all, why leave most of the rooms bare? There are billions to be made in the art of the cinematic sublet. – Washington Post

Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. SHOWDOWN: Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman in