Do You Believe Comic Book Movie Fatigue Is Setting In?

[Frobisher]

What did superhero movies replace?

Good question! Looking at the years pre-Iron Man (which is obviously not precisely where really superheroes took over) on Box Office Mojo, the big films were Pirates Of The Caribbean, Harry Potter, Transformers, Mission Impossible etc, so there isn't a strong theme apart from a bit of "me-too" post-Lord-Of-The-Rings fantasy. However, looking at the last few years, there's only like four superhero movies in the Top 10 maximum*, so their dominance seems pretty overstated.

(*2018 looks to be the high watermark of superhero box office dominance, with Infinity War, Black Panther, Incredibles 2, Aquaman, Venom and Deadpool 2 all in the top 10.)

[Aahz]

One thing that one should keep in mind is that outside of the MCU Superhero movies were allways pretty hit and miss even before the Pandemic (just look at the DCEU movies).

So we are probably talking more about a MCU fatigue than a comic book movie fatigue.

And I think it is quite possible that people just lost interest in the MCU after a lot of it's stars and the main characters have gone.

[Grunty]

We'll know when this actually happens because there'll be a thread called "Is Steampunk-Western Movie Fatigue Happening?" instead.

Indeed. There always seems to be a particular genre or more specifically incarnation of a genre which at some point will experience a "boom" period, dominating the box offices and pop culture focus, until it declines again, maybe because of fatigue, oversaturation or just plain another genre becoming the new "it".

Western, drama, romantic drama, historical epics, historical fantasy, fantasy, historical wars, martial arts (including with weapons), film noir, thriller, crime, etc.
Not only did all of these genres experience boom periods, but they often did so repeatadly because of new interpretations or revival trends.

The western genre for example is perhaps one of the oldest genres of cinema and it allready went through at least 3 boom periods (1930's -> 1950/60's -> Spagetti Western).

However the remarkable trend with these boom and bust periods is that these genres or it's new variations never truely die out either. Their boom stops and then there are fewer examples again, but it seldomly if ever truely "dies out".

Considering that the super hero genre has clearly left it's mark on pop culture as a valid big budget and mass appeal style of movie, it seems unlikely it will now entirely decline back to a niche genre.

But at some point in the comming years, they will likely require a different quality and build up to have similar success compared to their heyday again.

[kcekada]

I think audiences will go see a super hero movie when it looks worth going to see. DC has been a mess for quite some time -- and I question the way they've treated Captain Marvel/Shazam in the books as well as the screen. Marvel's had a lot of missteps as well. No one ever cared about the Eternals -- yet they get a film. They had two nice Ant-Man films -- and then had him go up against Kang?! WTF?! Making Scarlet Witch a villain again was also a crappy move.

I don't think it's fatigue with super heroes as much as it's fatigue with how they are being handled by Marvel and DC.

[Kirby101]

I have fatigue reading about comic book movie fatigue.

But seriously, it's a genre that will ebb and flow. I think they will continue to make them, but they will, at some point, not dominate as they do now.
Think Westerns or Spy movies or Monster movies or Slasher films...SciFi was big in the 50s, but fell to few and far between before Star Wars revived the interest. Now some genres fade to almost nil, like sand and sandal epics, but I feel they will continue to make them as long as they make money. Too many failures would make studios shy away. So The Gunn DCverse and next phase Marvel will be big factors.

[Captain Craig]

Was Ant-Man 3 released in China? I seem to recall they have not allowed all or as many US distributed films back into their market as they did pre-Covid.
That would easily account for a large difference in its International numbers.

[inisideguy]

The premise is sort of interesting in an of itself. Because if there is CBM fatigue which I dont agree with then what is replacing it? I dont see anything. Here is what I see coming up. John Wick 4. Its a comic book movie without having a comic book. D&D movie. Basic Fantasy movie lots of monsters and fighting supernatural things, kind of a comic book movie. Super Mario bros a cartoon based off a video game. Then the next big movie is Guardians. A comic book movie.

[inisideguy]

Was Ant-Man 3 released in China? I seem to recall they have not allowed all or as many US distributed films back into their market as they did pre-Covid.
That would easily account for a large difference in its International numbers.

Yes it was released in China but only did 40 million. What really hurt the movie was its performance in China which basically just got marvel movies again, Korea, and Russia where it was barely released.

[Frobisher]

The premise is sort of interesting in an of itself. Because if there is CBM fatigue which I dont agree with then what is replacing it? I dont see anything. Here is what I see coming up. John Wick 4. Its a comic book movie without having a comic book. D&D movie. Basic Fantasy movie lots of monsters and fighting supernatural things, kind of a comic book movie. Super Mario bros a cartoon based off a video game. Then the next big movie is Guardians. A comic book movie.

"Comic book movie" is a pretty meaningless distinction really, as it's a medium. It's like calling Fifty Shades, Harry Potter and Schindler's List "book movies", even though they have very little in common aside from being adaptations. I think that's most are focusing on the superhero genre here instead.

[Kirby101]

Aren't we really talking about superhero movies based on comic book. I mean, I don't think A History of Violence or Road to Perdition is part of this discussion.

[80sbaby]

When people say "comic book movies," yes they mean superheroes. It's not meaningless because everyone knows the context.

[Scott Taylor]

I don't think Loki really came into his own until the first Avengers movie. And he pretty much instantly became a favorite after that. Thanos didn't really get anyone's attention until Infinity War, same kind of thing.

So there is definitely precedence for a major villain not making a big splash in their first movie. Marvel has no reason to be concerned about the Ant-Man movie flop, with respect to their future plans. Kang was incredible in his debut, way more of an impact player than either Loki or Thanos were in their first appearances on film.

[Factor]

I think people are just tired of mediocre comic book movies. I've yet to see a truly good movie get a lukewarm response.

[Jokerz79]

When people say "comic book movies," yes they mean superheroes. It's not meaningless because everyone knows the context.

Forget things like Road to Perdition, History of Violence, Losers, Red/Red 2, V for Vendetta, Snow Piercer, Human Target (TV), even Blade when films series and tv show were out I can guarantee you 90% of the audience had no clue he was a comic book character. You say comic book people assume superheroes and the terms are interchangeable to most.

[krazijoe]

Fatigue from action movies? It's just people trying to make excuses for underperforming movies.
Horror Fatigue? Comedy fatigue? Or Bad Movie Fatigue...