Do You Believe Comic Book Movie Fatigue Is Setting In?

[kingaliencracker]

No one will care about that you only won the first game of the season by a touchdown if you wind up winning your division at the end of the season.

Maybe. But Thanos had three menacing cameos more or less (although in GotG he was obviously featured more prominently) before making a splash in Infinity War.

With Kang, they killed off his variant easily in Loki, and they let Ant-Man essentially kill him in AM3. It's going to be hard for him to be taken seriously I think.

[Guy_McNichts]

I don't know if we've hit genuine fatigue yet, but I do think it's passed its peak.

Yeah, they're still making money for the most part, and for every Love & Thunder or Black Adam, there's a Wakanda Forever or No Way Home. But like a long running TV show that still gets good ratings, it's doesn't have "water-cooler" talk anymore. The novelty of expansive, interconnected universes has passed. We already got the big pay-off of having dozens or hundreds of characters crossover in a big epic movie--where do you go from there?
All we're left with now are Glub Shitto cameos and nostalgia bait, which has a shelf life. Sooner or later, audiences will catch on there's little left in the tank.

When that happens, at the very least, audiences are going to start being more selective about which movies they spend their money on. Which might mean bad news for B and C listers unless they're really offering something worth watching.

So, I don't think we've reached the dipping point just yet, but we're almost there. Proven names will still make it--provided the movies look good--but I think the perpetual "watch this to understand what happens in the next movie" train is slowing. The fact is the superhero genre relies on a lot of repeating tropes and conventions, and I think we've seen just about everything there is to see.

It'll be interesting to see how much longer things go. With a few exceptions, most of Marvel's upcoming slate is unproven characters with no guarantees unless they move forward with the X-Men.
As for DC...I do think there's an audience for new Superman and Wonder Woman. And Batman's always sure bet. But I wonder how invested the general audience is in seeing Warner try to salvage their shared universe yet again. Especially with unknowns like the Authority and Booster Gold. Honestly, I think most people would just want a good Superman or Wonder Woman movie without caring if or how they connect or lead to a future Justice League.

[numberthirty]

Maybe. But Thanos had three menacing cameos more or less (although in GotG he was obviously featured more prominently) before making a splash in Infinity War.

With Kang, they killed off his variant easily in Loki, and they let Ant-Man essentially kill him in AM3. It's going to be hard for him to be taken seriously I think.

Serious question...

Why would they attempt to run the same exact play the same exact way when it came to it's second "Big..." overarching villain?

Wouldn't that actually be a good way to set up the "Fatigue..." that folks are discussing?

[HollowSage]

I have to point out that I've been accused of skewing the facts to fit my narrative, yet I keep seeing posts where people try to factually say that there was no way Ant-Man 3 or Wakanda Forever could have been more successful than they already were by arguing "well it's Ant-Man" or "Black Panther 1 was a cultural phenomenon".

I will say Ant-Man 3 could have done better, but there is a limit to his appeal. He’s not Spider-Man. However expecting Wakanda Forever to match or exceed the previous movie without its beloved main star. Why? Why would you think that was going to happen?

[Vakanai]

Oh my god, people have been talking about superhero/comic book movie fatigue since 2003. Twenty years ago! Twenty years I've had to listen to this story. No.
People might get tired of the MCU formulae. People might get tired of the tenth Batman movie. People might get tired of the "it looks like a videogame" CGI extravaganzas - but superhero movies are more than MCU's formula or never-ending-ever cinematic universe, of BATMAN!BATMAN!BATMAN! or CGI playstation boss fights. It's just action movies with a sci-fi/fantasy setting and a vigilante slant. That's all comic book movies are. And those films have been with us forever. Sherlock Holmes has some of this, the Lone Ranger has some of this, Die Hard has some of this. Superhero films are broad, and can be much broader than whatever is "boring" you of the genre right now. The MCU stumbling a bit in it's newest phase doesn't mean much. Honestly they shouldn't still be trying to carry the same universe onwards after Endgame imo. The last Batman not breaking a billion doesn't mean anything. Sony being Sony with their villain films don't mean **** honestly. Enough with the doom and gloom, people of been calling for the end for 2 decades now! 2!!!

[inisideguy]

Oh my god, people have been talking about superhero/comic book movie fatigue since 2003. Twenty years ago! Twenty years I've had to listen to this story. No.
People might get tired of the MCU formulae. People might get tired of the tenth Batman movie. People might get tired of the "it looks like a videogame" CGI extravaganzas - but superhero movies are more than MCU's formula or never-ending-ever cinematic universe, of BATMAN!BATMAN!BATMAN! or CGI playstation boss fights. It's just action movies with a sci-fi/fantasy setting and a vigilante slant. That's all comic book movies are. And those films have been with us forever. Sherlock Holmes has some of this, the Lone Ranger has some of this, Die Hard has some of this. Superhero films are broad, and can be much broader than whatever is "boring" you of the genre right now. The MCU stumbling a bit in it's newest phase doesn't mean much. Honestly they shouldn't still be trying to carry the same universe onwards after Endgame imo. The last Batman not breaking a billion doesn't mean anything. Sony being Sony with their villain films don't mean **** honestly. Enough with the doom and gloom, people of been calling for the end for 2 decades now! 2!!!

Its honestly crazy. People's brains are warped.

[inisideguy]

A comic book movie can still do well, just like someone in a recession can make a lot of money despite the general trend. Aquaman and The Marvels are seem guaranteed to make less money than their earlier entries for instance

First off DC is an utter mess. No one has argued that. 2nd both these movies made over a billion at the box office. If they did that again in this environment everyone would be surprised. Captain marvel was literally the movie between Infinity war and Endgame. Come on man.

[Zauriel]

The Flash movie is coming to CinemaCon next month and to theaters in June. I can't wait to see the box office results when it will come out in theaters. .


Well, not that I am going to the movies anymore. I don't go to theaters anymore for a long time because I am rather averse to crowds, a long time before the COVID pasndemic .

[mace11]

The fact is Marvel has had three badly reviewed films released within the last year and change in Eternals, Thor 4, and Ant-Man 3, all of which had disappointing box office results, earned less than its predecessor, or both.

Thor 4 RT scores are close to hulk mcu film from phase 1 and thor 2 in phase 2 but all three have postive rt scores on rt from critics but in 60's so they are not badly reviewed.
While most critics did not like ant-man 3 and eternals looking at the RT scores,the average rating(the real score)is still good.

[kingaliencracker]

I will say Ant-Man 3 could have done better, but there is a limit to his appeal. He’s not Spider-Man. However expecting Wakanda Forever to match or exceed the previous movie without its beloved main star. Why? Why would you think that was going to happen?

Look, I'm not going to disparage Chadwick Boseman. He was amazing in the role. But the reality is everything Marvel was doing during those few years was destroying the box office. Captain Marvel made a billion for crying out loud and that was one of the more middling MCU films.

The bottom line is Wakanda Forever did less at the box office because less people were interested in seeing it.

[Wildling]

I loved the Flash trailer before Shazam 2 and Demon Slayer, I'm not worried too much about this yet but audiences and critics certainly show signs of becoming pickier, especially because sequels like Creed, Scream and John Wick are actually punching up their previous installments, and the horror genre is impregnable in general. Assuming Joker 2 has a budget similar to Cruella ($100 million) and is successful despite whatever drama DC movies have at the time, the answer will be there. You can't sell every comic book character with an expensive budget anymore, or at least at the moment.

[HollowSage]

Look, I'm not going to disparage Chadwick Boseman. He was amazing in the role. But the reality is everything Marvel was doing during those few years was destroying the box office. Captain Marvel made a billion for crying out loud and that was one of the more middling MCU films.

The bottom line is Wakanda Forever did less at the box office because less people were interested in seeing it.

No one is disputing the fact that fewer people went out to see WF than BP. The question is why. You say it’s superhero fatigue but I think there are several real world factors that had a bigger impact.

Marvel has released 31 movies to date. 10 of those made over a billion worldwide. 1 was Spider-Man NWH but that was part of phase 4 so it doesn’t fit the fatigue narrative and Sony is involved so we will leave it out but then we also should leave out Spider-Man FFH. So if you exclude the 2 Spider-Man movies that’s 8 MCU movies that made over a billion.

4 of those are Avengers movies. 1 is CA: Civil War which may as well be an Avengers movie since they are in it. That leaves only 3 MCU movies that are not Avengers team ups. Iron-Man 3, Black Panther and Captain Marvel.

3 movies out of 31. I would say that makes them outliers rather than the trend. Iron-Man 3 was a bit controversial with fans because of fake Mandarin but it enjoyed that post Avengers bump. Captain Marvel fell in between Infinity War and Endgame which many have claimed gave it a major boost and as we all know by now Black Panther was a cultural phenomenon.

Now if the next Avengers movie does Ant-Man or Eternals numbers. Then the superhero fatigue argument will be almost impossible to deny. Until then I think we just have to except that not every MCU movie is going to over perform like the 3 listed.

[krazijoe]

The Flash movie is coming to CinemaCon next month and to theaters in June. I can't wait to see the box office results when it will come out in theaters. .


Well, not that I am going to the movies anymore. I don't go to theaters anymore for a long time because I am rather averse to crowds, a long time before the COVID pasndemic .

Well, looking at WB/DC box office lately, there won't be crowds, so you will be good.

[Scott Taylor]

Oh my god, people have been talking about superhero/comic book movie fatigue since 2003. Twenty years ago! Twenty years I've had to listen to this story. No.
People might get tired of the MCU formulae. People might get tired of the tenth Batman movie. People might get tired of the "it looks like a videogame" CGI extravaganzas - but superhero movies are more than MCU's formula or never-ending-ever cinematic universe, of BATMAN!BATMAN!BATMAN! or CGI playstation boss fights. It's just action movies with a sci-fi/fantasy setting and a vigilante slant. That's all comic book movies are. And those films have been with us forever. Sherlock Holmes has some of this, the Lone Ranger has some of this, Die Hard has some of this. Superhero films are broad, and can be much broader than whatever is "boring" you of the genre right now. The MCU stumbling a bit in it's newest phase doesn't mean much. Honestly they shouldn't still be trying to carry the same universe onwards after Endgame imo. The last Batman not breaking a billion doesn't mean anything. Sony being Sony with their villain films don't mean **** honestly. Enough with the doom and gloom, people of been calling for the end for 2 decades now! 2!!!

I know, right? If anything people are just taking it for granted.

[Username taken]

Oh my god, people have been talking about superhero/comic book movie fatigue since 2003. Twenty years ago! Twenty years I've had to listen to this story. No.
People might get tired of the MCU formulae. People might get tired of the tenth Batman movie. People might get tired of the "it looks like a videogame" CGI extravaganzas - but superhero movies are more than MCU's formula or never-ending-ever cinematic universe, of BATMAN!BATMAN!BATMAN! or CGI playstation boss fights. It's just action movies with a sci-fi/fantasy setting and a vigilante slant. That's all comic book movies are. And those films have been with us forever. Sherlock Holmes has some of this, the Lone Ranger has some of this, Die Hard has some of this. Superhero films are broad, and can be much broader than whatever is "boring" you of the genre right now. The MCU stumbling a bit in it's newest phase doesn't mean much. Honestly they shouldn't still be trying to carry the same universe onwards after Endgame imo. The last Batman not breaking a billion doesn't mean anything. Sony being Sony with their villain films don't mean **** honestly. Enough with the doom and gloom, people of been calling for the end for 2 decades now! 2!!!

Exactly this.

Despite what we see today, I still remember how “hostile” a lot of mainstream outlets and publications were towards superhero films. It wasn’t just superhero movies but there was a general hostility towards blockbuster films (I still remember how Time magazine eviscerated Titanic upon release primarily because of its large budget).

A lot of talk about superhero movie fatigue arose from said hostility and has been there for a good long while now. The difference now is that some people seem to want to “pre-empt” the comic book fatigue this time.

Movies adapt and change and superhero movies have always been there in one form or the other and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.