Every Superhero Film Ever

[Howe_zat]

I was sat in the cinema watching 'Spiderman: Homecoming' and I remember thinking to myself - "I'm enjoying this because it's a little bit different. It's not just your typical superhero flick."

This is a regular piece of complete nonsense I like to feed myself, as evidenced by the fact that Marvel could at this point put out 90 minutes of gargle noises and I'd still part with eight quid to go and see it. I'm reasonably sure of there being little artistic merit left in this story which we've all seen a bunch of times, and yet, it has me hook line and sinker. And I don't even read comic books any more.

So the questions to answer are - why has this genre taken over the box office, why am I surprisingly okay with this given its general lack of creativity, and what exactly are the standard hallmarks of the genre in the first place?

So as somebody who knows very little about 'Film' I can at least know a bit about films, by watching a boatload of them. I'm aiming for one a week (roughly) which even at my slightly-pared down list makes this around a two year project. For the record the rules are

1. Must be a superhero film (duh)
2. Must be based on comics, i.e. not a pastiche/parody
3. Must have had a box office release

Which includes everything I've liked, everything I've avoided, everything I probably should have seen by now and the stuff that probably shouldn't have existed. And we'll have a look in this thread.

 

[Howe_zat]

This weekend I'm watching this.

Full disclosure: this trailer features the word 'bataclysmic'.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

2. Must be based on comics, i.e. not a pastiche/parody

there's an argument that all superhero films are parodies of the Savior myth.

Anyway, good luck. At least your watching of cheap fun will now have some kind of Purpose

 

[Shri]

Why has this genre taken over the box office?

They are good movies that happen to have superheroes in them mostly. And also because there are no ugly people in any shot in an MCU movie.

 

[Athlai]

The Superhero film isnt really something that should be considered a genre when really examining this. It gets to cheat a little because it can take an established character we think of as a superhero and then give us a genre film with it starring them.

While most are action films with a redemptive arc, not all of them are. Some of the writing I've seen has put down their popularity as a side effect of a post 9-11 world. Spider-Man (Raimi) did kind of restart the whole thing in earnest. I'm not so sure on that front and think a genuine filmmaker like Nolan bringing in a billion dollars really opened it up for the Favreaus who smashed the whole thing open.

There's staying power here because they can keep this core idea of a superhero that we know (however vaguely) and give us new faces and new settings and new threats and new ways to overcome them everytime. Gods, aliens, mad scientists, wizards, nazis, spies and everything in between, it's basically an open field for something genre typically only allows a relatively narrow field of.

 

[Howe_zat]

When I was making my list it seemed to me the real watershed was 1989 Batman. Before that you had more years than films, after you didn't.

 

[Athlai]

I don't think Batman had a huge impact, the superhero films began to gradually take less and less at the box office and while movies like Blade were pretty good, were they really appealing to a "I know the comic" crowd?

 

[Athlai]

Significant Superhero films

Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
Superman III (1983)
Superman IV (1987)

^ the golden age style hero phase

Batman (1989)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* (1990)
Batman Returns (1992)
Judge Dredd (1995)
Batman Forever (1995)
Batman & Robin (1997)
Spawn (1997)
Blade (1998)
Mystery Men (1999)
X-Men (2000)
Unbreakable (2000)
Blade II (2002)

^ the darker but still very cartoony phase which sort of turns to parody both intentionally and unintentionally

Spider-Man (2002)

^ the flood gates open and the first wave of the modern era

2003
Daredevil, X2, Hulk

2004
Hellboy, The Punisher, Spider-Man 2, Catwoman, Blade: Trinity, The Incredibles

2005
Elektra, Constantine, Fantastic Four, Batman Begins

2006
V for Vendetta, Xmen 3, Superman Returns,

2007
Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Spider-Man 3, Underdog

2008
Jumper, Superhero Movie

(an interesting turning point between the films becoming a parody of themselves and films taking themselves infinitely more seriously, also when you start getting fairly major parodies of the genre My Super Ex-Gilfriend, the genre probably would have died here if not for...)

also 2008

The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hancock, Hellboy II

^ second wave of the modern era begins with the birth of the MCU

The rest is pretty straightforward from there


*don't really count imo, I see it as more of a "comic book" film than "super hero", but worth at least looking at one to see a sort of sub genre, I'd say things like Darkman, Power Rangers, The Crow, The Phantom, Zorro, Time Cop and The Mask also fit into a sort of pseudo category as well, mildly associated with superhero films but sort of unique pieces unto themselves.

 

[honestbharani]

As long as the super heroes are good and interesting characters, and the movie does not **** with the basic plot line itself, they are always enjoyable to watch. I find that almost all MCU movies have good re-watch value, the TDK trilogy as well, and Wonder Woman for DC. And I usually fast forward the action set pieces in most movies that I re-watch. So that probably tells you that unlike the "intelligent" movie-lovers who will tell you superhero movies are cheap action thrills, they are just so so much more than that and a better watch than most of the "realistic" movies. I have not seen ALL superhero movies, but I might watch the ones I have missed so far thanks to Athlai.

 

[Daemon]

No need to analyse this so much, it's pretty much thanks to China.

Probably a small fraction of those who watch these movies even read the comics or care about the stories. Those who do then tend to think everyone else watched them because of that and not because its cool to see superheroes, villains, aliens, gods doing badass things.

 

[Athlai]

No need to analyse this so much, it's pretty much thanks to China.

Probably a small fraction of those who watch these movies even read the comics or care about the stories. Those who do then tend to think everyone else watched them because of that and not because its cool to see superheroes, villains, aliens, gods doing badass things.

This isn't true. China is fairly lukewarm to superhero films compared to other Hollywood blockbuster action films.

For example this year, 3 fairly revered movies in the West Logan, Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy 2, all made far less than such stellar action romps as Resident Evil 46, xXx: the return of the sequel and Transformers The Quest for More Money

 

[OverratedSanity]

China loves Transformers, not the superhero stuff

 

[Daemon]

Shut up and let me hate on superheroes

 

[Athlai]

China loves Transformers, not the superhero stuff

It's not just Transformers, it's most big budget Hollywood films. Superhero movies don't necessarily die there, but they don't do well.

2017 top 10 Hollywood
The Fate of the Furious $392 million
Transformers The Last Knight $219 million
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales $172 million
Kong Skull Island $168 million
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage $164 million
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter $159 million
Logan $105 million
GOTG 2 $100 million
The Mummy $91 million
Wonder Woman $89 million

(domestically in the US those 3 superhero movies were 2,3,4)

2016 top 10 Hollywood
Zootopia $235 million
Warcraft $213 million
Captain America: Civil War $180 million
The Great Wall $170 million
Kung Fu Panda 3 $154 million
The Jungle Book $150 million
Star Wars: The Force Awakens $124 million
X-Men Apocalypse $120 million
Doctor Strange $109 million
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice $95 million

 

[zorax]

Hong Kong banks have been offering superhero-themed credit cards for a while now


If you still like superheroes, you're not ready for a credit card. Grow the **** up.

 

[honestbharani]

I am not sure which is more lame: people thinking those who like super hero movies like them only for the super heroes or those who think super heroes are not, for the most part, really well fleshed characters, as in much better than your average movie.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I guess I can understand part of the hate, since they can all feel a little same-y, but compared to all the other trash in the 'big budget blockbuster action' space, they're generally far better made and nowhere near as offensively bad.

 

[zorax]

I am not sure which is more lame: people thinking those who like super hero movies like them only for the super heroes or those who think super heroes are not, for the most part, really well fleshed characters, as in much better than your average movie.

Superheroes are for kids

The fact that a bunch of adults decided to not grow up past it, and instead decided to flesh it out and add depth and nuance, doesn't change the fact that they're still messing with a genre invited for pre-teens.

They're ****ing superheroes. Men and women in funny costumes with inhuman powers fighting far-fetched villains with inexpiable technology and alien civilizations and time travelling and all sort of ****.

You can have nuance and depth and fleshed out storylines and still be based in reality. You don't need to obsess yourself with fake universes and imaginary characters

The greatest hypocrisy to me is a fan of superheroes who is also an atheist. Like seriously man? You don't see what you're doing there?

 

[Howe_zat]

Superheroes are for kids

The fact that a bunch of adults decided to not grow up past it, and instead decided to flesh it out and add depth and nuance, doesn't change the fact that they're still messing with a genre invited for pre-teens.

They're ****ing superheroes. Men and women in funny costumes with inhuman powers fighting far-fetched villains with inexpiable technology and alien civilizations and time travelling and all sort of ****.

You can have nuance and depth and fleshed out storylines and still be based in reality. You don't need to obsess yourself with fake universes and imaginary characters

The greatest hypocrisy to me is a fan of superheroes who is also an atheist. Like seriously man? You don't see what you're doing there?

You were doing ok until the last line. Weak. Include more trolling about the weather next time

 

[Shri]

Superheroes are for kids

The fact that a bunch of adults decided to not grow up past it, and instead decided to flesh it out and add depth and nuance, doesn't change the fact that they're still messing with a genre invited for pre-teens.

They're ****ing superheroes. Men and women in funny costumes with inhuman powers fighting far-fetched villains with inexpiable technology and alien civilizations and time travelling and all sort of ****.

You can have nuance and depth and fleshed out storylines and still be based in reality. You don't need to obsess yourself with fake universes and imaginary characters

The greatest hypocrisy to me is a fan of superheroes who is also an atheist. Like seriously man? You don't see what you're doing there?

Don't cut yourself on that edge.