Tristan Hughes ’19, Business/Ad Manager
Since 2008, 177 superhero movies have been released from Tinsel Town and even more are in production. Of these movies, 46 were Marvel, 46 DC, and 13 were independent film groups like Standard Comics. When too many movies in the same genre are released at the same time, it can cause multiple problems for the industry such as making its own competition harder. Worse than the increase in competition for the industry is the extremely mundane scheme of newer movies. With the continuous release of superhero movies, the industry allows itself to get as dull as dishwater. This high output of superhero movies definitely has negative consequences on Hollywood’s image.
This high influx of superhero movies is causing a lack of creativity and self expression in superhero film making. Every superhero movies follows the same story line with very few to no exceptions. Ultimately, the formula goes: the hero is faced with a great challenge that threatens society and overcomes it for the greater good. While this is what we have come to expect from a superhero movie, it would be interesting to see a change in perspective, potentially from the villain’s point of view.
Senior Matthew Blackwell said that constant superhero movies “stimulate a normal formula that oversaturate the market”.
in other words, every new movie in the market follows the same basic plot line and with too many movies like this, the market will be flooded with mediocrity.
Plot creativity is not the only big imaginative let down from the film industry. Along with the same story, new movies have the same characters. Every superhero movie from Marvel seems to have the same heroes: Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. Although the movies are trying to stay true to the classic comic book, it would be more exciting if we had new ideas and new heros to explore in the newer movies.
On the flipside, senior Sean Bone thinks that the high release rates of superhero movies is a positive trend. Bone said, “[Superhero movies] are very diverse, showing progressivism.” He said this in reference to the different backstories of heros. He cites that newer movies have African American actors and women in lead roles.
While this is a step in the right direction, directors and writers could do so much more with this idea. They could add more diversity to the scene if they created new hero identities in upcoming movies because, in reality, there are only three African American main roles in Marvel movies and one female standalone movie. When there are only four characters in the genre that aren’t white males, you cannot cite progressivism as a positive part of superhero movies.
Despite efforts to keep the movies diverse, the inundation of superhero movies over the past 10 years and into the future will continue to paint Hollywood in a lazy and uncreative light. In order to fix the crippling creativity hole in today’s Hollywood, writers need to add new heroes, to add more diversity to the scene, and a more interesting plot line, potentially from a different perspective, to liven up each movie.
Photo courtesy of wegotthiscovered.com
Lyon Life 