Are There Too Many Superhero Movies for Hollywood to Handle
It’s amazing how far we’ve come since Bryan Singer’s X-Men hit theaters in 2000. Viewed by many as ground zero for the comic book movie era – though Blade might have something to say about that – its success ushered in a new wave of blockbusters that included Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series (launching in 2002) and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy (which started in 2005). There may have been some bumps along the way (Daredevil and Catwoman), but the groundwork was laid for superhero movies to become the thing in Hollywood.
Today, it seems silly that the original X-Men film wasn’t a guaranteed hit at the box office. Four of the biggest studios in the industry (Disney, Fox, Sony and Warner Bros.) have their hands in this lucrative pot of gold, and in some cases are using films to emulate the comic pages. The concept of a shared movie universe that incorporated multiple crossovers was quite ambitious when Marvel Studios released Iron Man in 2008, but like X-Men, it only set the stage for things to come.
WB’s recent announcement that there are ten DC adaptations scheduled from March 2016 (Batman v Superman) to June 2020 means that there will be over 40 films based on Marvel and DC properties over the next six years. And while Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne are responsible for a large portion of gross revenue, this development won’t stop the studios from dipping into the sci-fi, fantasy, and action genres during this time as well. With so many “event” projects vying for audiences’ attention, Hollywood could be on the cusp of collapsing under itself. But is it?