Superheroes have increasingly taken over the box office. Although superhero movies certainly existed prior to the year 2000, their presence in the movie theaters wasn’t nearly as prominent as it is today. Why? Only a few major studios like 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal had the budget to make these big production films. Though Marvel Studios had a good thing going for a few years, it was quickly absorbed into the House of Mouse in 2009.
Since then, superhero movies have become ubiquitous. As of November 2014, there have been about six superhero movies based on comics and, there is no sign of a slowdown. Just recently, Marvel announced upcoming superhero movies through the year 2019, so evidently they expect the genre to attract an audience for at least five more years; but what if it doesn’t? What if we get sick of superhero movies between now and then? Is that even possible?
Maybe, but in all likelihood the prospects of that happening are very slim. Here’s why.
Saving Never Gets Old
For starters, right around the time Marvel Studios released the first Iron Man movie in 2008, the U.S. economy had entered into what is being referred to as The Great Recession. Now you may be wondering what the economy has to do with superhero movies, but actually there may be a link.
Dating back to the Great Depression, (when the first superheroes debuted in comic books) Americans gravitated towards comics featuring superheroes saving the day. They wanted something positive to cling to. Superheroes provided a needed distraction then and it still may be true today, as we saw with the Great Recession when superhero movies make a remarkable comeback in 2008 with nearly ten movies released that year. People want to hold onto the ideal that someone would swoop in and save the day; even if that means believing in a fantasy.
Fun for the Whole Family
Gen Xers and Millennials who grew up reading about superheroes in comic books now have the opportunity to see some of their favorite characters on the big screen. Not only are they showing up to see superhero movies, but they are taking their children too; resulting in the indoctrination of a whole new wave of fanboys and girls.
Gen Xers and Millennials are also taking their parents (who perhaps bought them their first comic books or took them away out of punishment) to see these superhero movies; because for the most part they are fun for the whole family. I agree. I can’t recall a time in the last ten years in which I went to the movies to see a non superhero movie with my entire family and everyone had an enjoyable experience. That’s because they’re so non offensive. They generally have minimal sexual content and the level of violence, well, they’re no more violent than a typical television show or non superhero movie playing in theaters these days.
Unlike the movie trends of Hollywood in the past, superhero movies genuinely have more staying power due to their ability to restore hope and entertain the entire family. However, even with said qualities built for success, this does not eliminate the possibility of oversaturation should movie studios continue to release too many superhero movies too soon. If that were to happen, it is likely the audience will dictate a slowdown in the production of these films as opposed to signaling to the movie studios to stop making these films altogether. So, there really isn’t a scenario in which superhero movies will completely disappear.
At the end of the day, regardless of what is going on with the economy, superhero movies will probably never go away because somebody somewhere is always looking for a bit of hope (and maybe some g-rated family fun too).