Superhero Elegy

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Superhero Elegy

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By Ben Elliott

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Superheroes are dying — and not because of kryptonite or Thanos. It’s something much more earthbound and human: overexposure.

Since 2000, there has been one fewer Peter Parkers than presidents. We’ve had four different Batmen. From Avengers to X-Men, the adaptation of comic book heroes has made billions of dollars in box office receipts and completely changed the movie landscape in the process.

So it makes sense that when the studios rushed toward streaming, they looked to superheroes to bring in subscribers. Shows were tied into movies, that were tied into shows, and on and on. There was so much content to keep up with that audiences felt exhausted — “superhero fatigue” set in, and movies like The Marvels, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania subsequently failed to meet expectations.

X-Men, 2000

Deadpool & Wolverine, 2024

The fix? Studios have pulled back, trying to make superhero movies feel like events again. Marvel has reduced their usual output of three or four movies per year to one in 2024: Deadpool & Wolverine, which opens at The Triplex this week. It’s as profane and violent as its predecessors and serves as a celebration and farewell to Fox’s X-Men franchise. It’s fun and funny, and reminds you of why these movies became a phenomenon in the first place.

But if the genre that’s powered the box office for the last two decades is running out of steam, what will the box office of the future look like?

The excitement around Deadpool is a reminder that enthusiasm needs a space to breathe. If you constantly consume the same product, you never have time to look forward to the next installment. Add in the rolling effects of last year’s industry strikes and the diminishing returns from streaming, and maybe it's enough for studios to start diversifying their programming and bring mid-size, adult-oriented movies back to the big screen.

At the very least, let’s hope, they allow comic book movies to feel super again.

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