Flickgrrl

Is this the twilight of the superhero movie?

Roll over, Captain America and tell Spider-Man the news: According to a financial analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group (hat tip, Deadline Hollywood), the days of movie superheroes are numbered.

7 comments

Is this the twilight of the superhero movie?

POSTED: Thursday, July 21, 2011, 1:47 PM

Carrie Rickey, Film Critic

Roll over, Captain America, and tell Spider-Man the news: According to a financial analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group (hat tip, Deadline Hollywood), the days of movie superheroes are numbered.

This is an intriguing projection, apparently timed to rain on the parade of fanboys and fangirls descending upon San Diego for Comic-Con. I've left a message for its author, Vasily Karasyov, to get my mitts on the full report.

According to Deadline's expurgated version of his findings: All the top-tier supers -- Batman, Spider-man, Superman, Iron Man, X-Men -- have been taken. And "As film studios dig deeper into catalogues for characters for new films, we think the chances of finding a breakout property are diminishing fast." This is a more supportable claim, although Captain America, opening tomorrow, could disprove his hypothesis.

Presumably there's a lot more milk in those cash cows, Batman and and Spider-Man, so don't go writing the obit for superheros yet.

Your thoughts? Alternatively, your favorite movie superhero? Mine is Scott Pilgrim.

7 comments

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Comments (7)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:02 PM, 07/21/2011

I'd like to see a superhero flick that features a female superhero. Any chance of that?

— socialgrace

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:06 PM, 07/21/2011

Love SCOTT PILGRAM, which also featured Chris Evans aka CAPTAIN AMERICA. I was surprised to read Evans singed a 6-film deal for playing CA....not just because it might curb him from taking flinty roles like the one he has in the upcoming PUNCTURE, where he plays a drug fueled lawyer taking on a greedy corporation. That's the kind of superhero role I prefer to watch.

— garymk

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:14 PM, 07/21/2011

Loved Evans as the snarky actor in Scott Pilgrim and thought he was the only thing worth watching in Fantastic Four.
@Socialgrace: Sigourney Weaver in the Aliens movies, Mrs. Incredible in The Incredibles, Jennifer Garner as Elektra and Halle Berry as Catwoman are what we gals have to work with. Any others in the wings?

— carrierickey

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:54 PM, 07/21/2011

Dahling,

We simply MUST have Wonder Woman! It would be nice to see her in some of her darker stories from the WWII era. Any suggestions to play WW? It would be hard to beat Linda Carter on TV. I vote for Helen Mirren as the Amazon Queen. She would be a mother who could really inspire a daughter.

— greenbox91

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:11 PM, 07/21/2011

let see female heroines? Electra? supergirl? horrible movie.
the problem with super hero movies is that your trying to translate one visual medium that has YEARS of baggage, into another visual medium.

— bingo

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:25 PM, 07/22/2011

I find that I enjoy the superhero movies set in the past - The Phantom, The Shadow, even a super-gadget movie like The Rocketeer - more than those set in the present day. The throwbacks seem to have a sense of fun and adventure, while those set in the present day are overwrought with post-9/11 angst. With the latter, it seems inevitable that the hero will be portrayed as a Messiah figure who suffers some kind of quasi-Crucifixion, followed by rage and revenge, rather than resurrection and transfiguration. Clearly, this appeals to a large portion of the public, but I don't find it appealing. (Based on Kenneth Turan's review in this morning's LA Tines, it sounds like at least the first half of Captain America might be more my speed.)

— wwolfe

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:04 PM, 07/23/2011

I wouldn't say it is the end of superhero movies. The comics rewrite the stories for superheros all the time... and it has resulted in different storylines for superhero movies. A new superman movie and spiderman and batman has been redone several times. So i do not think it is done. @socialgrace.. there was talk of a wonderwoman movie or tv series but it feel through

— streetjustice