Superhero films have been round for a very long time, however the Modern Era of Superhero Supremacy actually started with Iron Man in 2008, the film that birthed the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, there have been hits earlier than that, like 2000’s X-Men. But there have been additionally flops like 2003’s Daredevil, and normally, there have been far fewer superhero films popping out yearly.
Could we ever return to that period, or will this bumper crop of superhero movies proceed to feed us without end? Speaking on The Movie Business Podcast, Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige sounded optimistic.
“I’ve been at Marvel Studios for over 22 years, and most of us here at Marvel Studios have been around a decade or longer together,” he stated. “From probably my second year at Marvel, people were asking, ‘Well, how long is this going to last? Is this fad of comic book movies going to end?’ I didn’t really understand the question. Because to me, it was akin to saying after Gone With the Wind, ‘Well, how many more movies can be made off of novels? Do you think the audience will sour on movies being adapted from books?’ You would never ask that because there’s an inherent understanding among most people that a book can be anything. A novel can have any type of story whatsoever. So it all depends on what story you’re translating. Non-comic readers don’t understand that it’s the same thing in comics.”
There’s 80 years of probably the most fascinating, emotional, groundbreaking tales which have been advised within the Marvel comics, and it’s our nice privilege to have the ability to take what we now have and adapt them. Another method to do this is adapting them into completely different genres, and what kinds of films we wish to make.
Will the superhero film increase final without end?
More than another one individual, Kevin Feige is the man most credited with bringing about our present superhero increase. Making Marvel films is his job, so I’m not shocked he’s optimistic about their future.
At the identical time, I see some chinks within the armor. For one, the latest crop of Marvel films — e.g. Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, and so forth — haven’t been as universally profitable as a number of the earlier films, each critically and financially. There are a number of causes for that — this newest crop wasn’t launched in China, for instance, whereas older films had been — however it could possibly be sufficient to offer an government like Feige pause.
Also, I don’t know if I purchase his comparability of films based mostly on Marvel comics to films based mostly on novels normally. Even if there’s loads of selection throughout the Marvel universe, it nonetheless often comes right down to good guys in costumes combating unhealthy guys in costumes. There isn’t as a lot selection there as there may be inside, say, the entire of literature, and I can see curiosity waning over time. There was a interval when westerns dominated Hollywood. Then it was musicals. Both of these booms are lengthy gone, even when we nonetheless get movies in these genres once in a while. The identical may occur to superheroes.
But in all probability not for some time. There’s a lot of gasoline left within the tank, however audiences will transfer on to one thing new finally.
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