Superheroes have been icons for centuries; they have been the focus of countless movies that have inspired and resonated with audiences from childhood to adulthood. These movies bring in a lot of money, with box offices often selling millions of tickets worldwide, but as of late these movies have been falling below the “super” standards they uphold.
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, superhero films were at the top of their game. Marvel had audiences at the edge of their seats with movies such as “Infinity War”, while DC was doing well with their Superman and Batman movies. However, the current movies are based around new heroes who don’t have the same emotional and heroic depth as their predecessors.
For example, “The Flash,” which came out in 2023 was a test of whether or not DC Comics could step up to Marvel’s level of success, given that Marvel had a lot of their projects turned into series; but it did not. The casting did not fit the roles at all (except for Micheal Keaton’s Batman, but he died.) Additionally, the actor playing the Flash, Ezra Miller, is a highly problematic person in real life, making this movie an overall flop.
The sequel to “Suicide Squad” was very underwhelming as well. This film had big shoes to fill due to the flood of positive responses from audiences from the first film. Let’s just say that if the original was a size 12, the second was a petite size 5.
But DC isn’t the only group struggling to match Marvel’s prominence. Marvel studios have not been doing too great either, with movies like “Madame Webb” and “The Marvels” receiving horrible reviews. “The Marvels,” for example, was a struggle to watch. The plot was boring, there was barely any character development and the most redeeming feature of the film was a cat. If I had paid to watch it in theatres, I would have felt scammed of my money and time. The movie barely had anything to do with the grand scheme of Marvel’s next phase, and there is no excuse for the baby-level storytelling being released.
DC has a lot of exciting projects coming out, including a second Joker movie and another Batman film, so there is plenty of opportunity to make up for the pitiful scraps they have been putting out – but Marvel is a different situation. I love Marvel a lot and am a huge fan, but because of their success, I hold them to a much higher standard than DC. I am very excited about the upcoming “Deadpool” movie and the “Daredevil” reboot, both of which will be a huge test to see if Marvel still has it in them to produce amazing movies despite all the changes they have been seeing.
