Original Desmond

It was looking shaky a few years ago with X3 and a couple other relative flops.

Has hit back hard this year with Ironman, Hulk, Dark Knight and Hellboy 2

How long do you think it will keep going ?

I reckon another 6 years

I am hoping before it becomes old that we see some really good crossover superhero movies

Giantrobo

Who can say.

Personally, I like to think that thanks to DC's "Batman Begins" we saw the start of a new age of more mature themed Comic Book/Hero films. I also think the general public was spoiled(in a good way) by the serious take on the superhero genre with that film. "The Dark knight" took mature Superhero films to the next level and with that the general public was further spoiled. They won't openly admit it but they'll want more comic films geared towards mature audiences.

Now, if next year's "Watchmen" keeps up the mature well made comic film theme and does reasonably well at the BO*, it may add another year or two to the Comic Film Popularity life cycle.



*I expect it to be another "Batman Begins" meaning it'll get great reviews but the BO will be small.

Supermallet

I adore both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and am eagerly awaiting Watchmen, but why does it have to be only dark themed material? I sincerely hope WB doesn't make good on their promise to make all the DC characters dark. Superman certainly shouldn't be.

As for superheroes, who knows? I didn't expect it to last this long. Eventually it will become like all the other genres, having phases where it's in style and out of style. But right now is the renaissance of the comic book movie.

toddly6666

You can say the same about mafia movies or annoying Valentine's Day romantic comedies starring Kate Hudson or Christmas movies with their DVD releases the following Christmas. It won't end! Superhero movies will not die out because they are getting respectfully directed nowadays. There is no reason for them to die out unless Hollywood decides to let the cheese factor take over those films again. But that's highly unlikely, because the time of Joel Schumacher-superhero flicks are over.

MBoyd

Don't know about superhero movies lasting forever, I hope they do! But Hollywood is mining comics like crazy now and buying up rights left and right. There is definitely a love affair going on with the comic industry. We have had non superhero comic book films like Ghost World, Road To Perdition, History of Violence, 30 Days Of Night probably more I am forgetting. I think those are only going to get more common. Some might not be any good but they have to be better than all the stupid TV show remakes IMHO.

Greg MacGuffin

I have to admit, I'm getting a little burned out on superhero movies. Even the films that I liked this summer, Iron Man, Dark Knight, I felt a sense of fatigue setting in.

Still, I'm looking forward to Watchmen.

Jericho

I'd agree. I mean even action movies of the past (Arnold, Segal, Van Damme, etc...) all generally had a pretty invincible hero. The formula hasn't changed all that much.

logangrey

I think as long as they don't go overboard. Marvel (especially) needs to be selective about what they bring to the big screen. Not every property needs to have its own movie - a glut of unknown characters will burn people out. While I think Wolverine (a very popular character) can carry a movie alone, I'm not so sure Magneto can (even if he is a major character in the Marvel Universe). DC (or actually Warner Bros) just needs to get in gear and put out more than just Batman & Superman. They've got just as wide of an array of characters as Marvel - many of them more well known- that they do absolutely nothing with.

I also think they could learn from the production of a series like Lord of the Rings. Film a story arc (2 or 3 movies at once) and release them a year a part. I think long periods between movies and you are apt to loose fans (and stars and directors). That makes for inconsistent viewing.

I do like the way Marvel intends to introduce the main players of the Avengers in individual movies prior to the team outing. I think that will make things less confusing for non comic book collectors.

Shannon Nutt

Like most movie genres, It's only a handful of box office bombs away.

fumanstan

They'll keep going for awhile, especially with the number of characters and endless stories that the universes contain. Marvel has shown that even the non-famous heroes can be a moderate to big success with guys like Blade and Iron-Man.

OldBoy

as long as there is money in consumers' pockets and studios make a profit off them.

islandclaws

^ Pretty much what he said. As long as people are driving these films to $200+m box office results, and they're getting good reviews, studios will keep pumping them out.

calhoun07

I never thought it was a good idea that suddenly it was OK to make all comic book characters dark following the publishing of the Watchmen. I know it pissed off Alan Moore, as his goal was to raise the bar on superhero comics to show that you can interject story ideas from sources outside of comic books. Yet all he managed to do was inspire other creators to mimic what he did. And it seems that's what is happening with the movies.

Like you said, there certainly are characters that shouldn't be dark. Bummer Alan Moore's ABC line of comics weren't more influential, because he showed you could have great stories without going too dark.

calhoun07

I think in the right hands the lesser known characters can make for great movies because the expectations on such a movie are lower. When you throw a character larger than life on the big screen, such as Superman or Spider-Man, one of the major players in comics, well...the fans have 40 plus years of history on each character with a TON of expectations in everybody's mind on what they want to see in the movie, and you run the risk of pissing off a good quantity of those fans.

But Blade? Did he even have his own comic book before the movie? There wasn't this vast amount of history for the fans to compare, and nobody really cared it wasn't exactly like the established stories we did have in comics. And Iron Man has the long history, but he is not a major player in the Marvel Universe and was new to a lot of movie going audiences, so you were starting fresh in a lot of ways with that character.

So I think if they do some more lesser known characters (such as Ant-Man) they run a chance to have a decent movie, if it's handled right. I am just not sure what angle they could take with a movie like Ant-Man to make it work for a mass audience.

darkhawk

Blade did have is own short-lived series. His biggest story was Blade vs. Dracula.

As for Iron-Man, His stories started before Spider-Man in Tales of Suspense. A couple of small stories and IM. After 28 books, Captain America was found and Tales of Suspense became theirs alone. TOS lasted to issue 99. IM then got his own book starting at number 1. Captain America also got his own book that started at 100 following TOS.

Troy Stiffler

People will love superhero movies until they start sucking.

I think X-Men really kick-started the 'serious, well crafted' superhero movies (not Batman Begins). Before then, comic-adaptations were campy and goofy and stuff. Superman took itself relatively seriously - but is a bit dated and goofy after twenty-some years.

Is Iron Man 'unknown'? I never had ANY interest in comics and knew the name since I was a kid. I don't know where I originally heard about it. But I just knew the name and basic info.

Ya' know - what it really comes down to has VERY LITTLE to do with the original comic. These movies are big because they're really fuckin' good. Of course there's a fanbase and hibitual movie-watchers that would have brought Spiderman 50-80mil if the movie really sucked. But the movie didn't suck and brought in tons of regular folks who don't care about the comic. And then a lot of people saw it two and three times. You don't have to be a fan to enjoy Batman, Blade (well, maybe Blade 3), Iron Man, Spiderman or X-Men.

Superboy

It really depends. Adapting works? that'll probably go on forever. Keeping a character franchise alive is very difficult though. Look at all the turbulent years the 007 series went through.

PopcornTreeCt

Until they run out of superheroes. I'm only interested in seeing Captain America and Wonder Woman.

NoirFan

As long as there are teenage boys and overgrown teenage boys.

The Cow

Movies and TV shows even more these days seem to be copycats as far as genre.

The current wave change as soon as something fresh comes along that is a bit hit.

Supermallet

I think what Alan Moore and Frank Miller did for comics was invaluable. They both showed that comics could be articulate, intelligent, and complex in theme and execution. Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns are justifiably called the greatest comics ever written, I would never argue that. It's just that men like Moore and Miller are rare, especially in a field that gets very little literary respect. Only a few men have been able to follow in their footsteps without endlessly mimicking what they did (Neil Gaiman and Brian K. Vaughn spring most immediately to mind), because those guys were smart enough to know that the dark nature of Moore and Miller's material wasn't the point: It was about telling stories that could stand up against great literature.

That's why it makes me sad to see WB say "Wow, Dark Knight made a ton of money, must have been because it's dark!" It couldn't be because of the impeccably crafted story or poignant themes.

Then again, this would be the perfect time for an enterprising writer and director to get dark material on the screen with WB's full support.

fumanstan

I don't think those are enough to carry the genre.

Cellar Door

Personally, I think crossovers will be the death knell of superhero movies. The best superhero movies are the ones that develop the characters and humanize the heroes. That's why the first two Spiderman and recent Batman movies have been so good.

Despite fanboys salivating over the prospects of a Justice League or Avengers movie, I think movies like that will be too crowded. The X-men movies dealt with this by emphasizing some characters (Wolverine, Magneto) and trivializing others (Cyclops and too many others). The results were uneven.

I'd actually love to see a faithful "The Dark Knight Returns" adaptation someday, but I just can't see Superman fitting into the world of Nolan's current Batman films in any way.

PopcornTreeCt

I think we had 2 of the best comic book movies this year with Iron Man and The Dark Knight. I think Iron Man was the lightest, funniest and happiest comic book movie in tone while The Dark Knight was the most grim, dark and sombering superhero movie we've seen.

In short, it works both ways.

lukewarmwater

I would have thought after spiderman 3, x3, and superman returns all critically bombing and marvel whoring out their B heroes to shit directors ( daredevil, ghost rider, etc ) the superhero flicks would be done, but now with Iron Man and Dark Knight I think we have a lot longer, for good or bad.

And since studios can hit the reset button anytime they want ( HULK ) and audiences still seeing them, then we'll probably be getting a lot of reboots too. Daredevil, ghost rider, league of extraordinary gentlmen, probably even xmen.

Although I really think with Transfomers doing well and GIjoe coming out that a lot of focus is going on 80's properties too. We'll probably be seeing some thundercats, silverhawks, m.a.s.k., or heman movies announced.

and then eventually anime / manga based movies and finally video game based movies. Then the geek circle will be complete.