Do Movies now have far too much influence over what people think of superheroes?

[Mark Thrust]

all it takes is one bad movie and suddenly the character is a joke in the eyes of the public no matter if everything else about them has been great

Batman and Robin didn't hurt Batman. Superman IV didn't hurt Superman. Catwoman didn't hurt Catwoman, she was one of the parts of Dark Knight Rises.
Green Lantern...ehh, most people didn't know who he was, anyway. Same for Steel.
I really am not seeing it.

[Mark Thrust]

Which one?

But, I kid. I like all four FF movies well enough, and tbh, the last one was actually as close to your average FF comic as any of them have come. It's not that the movies didn't get FF, it's that most people don't want what Fantastic Four usually is. They want The Incredibles or Lost in Space. Which, we actually already have, so FF doesn't need to be that.

They're never going to get a huge successful flick out of the Fantastic Four without drastic alterations. It's glory period has passed. It's a niche among niches.

The two Tim Story FF films are as close as you can get to the core of the concept. They are fun, they have the family dynamic, and doesn't take themselves too seriously.
The low budget Corman feature is unwatchable, and the one from last year is just boring.

[t hedge coke]

The two Tim Story FF films are as close as you can get to the core of the concept. They are fun, they have the family dynamic, and doesn't take themselves too seriously.
The low budget Corman feature is unwatchable, and the one from last year is just boring.

The Story ones were about as general-audience pleasing as possible, but they don't feel like any good run anyone's ever had on FF. Like it or not, those earliest Kirby/Lee stories were full of angst and fear and characters bullying each other or bullying each other into action. They're fun comics, but they had a chip on their shoulder and the kind of face people on the street don't want to look at directly.

The Corman-produced flick has massive heart, and the best-cast Reed and Doom we're ever likely to get. Those guys bled their characters.

[KCJ506]

If a lesser known comic character gets a movie and the movie sucks, people will judge the character simply based on that. Movies like Dredd suffered from it. There are people who refused to see it because of their views on the Stallone version. Even after you explain that one has nothing to do with the 1995 film, they'd still shrug it off.

[DDD]

I don't care about the movies and tv series at all. I would like some animation if it could look like the comics.

[Starter Set]

Meh, without the movies who have been made during the last two decades (give or takes) lot of those characters would be either unknown by most people or just a vague name from childhood.

Of course yes, a bad rep can take a long while to shake off, don't you worry Aquaman things will get better, but all in all it's a good deal.

[t hedge coke]

If a lesser known comic character gets a movie and the movie sucks, people will judge the character simply based on that. Movies like Dredd suffered from it. There are people who refused to see it because of their views on the Stallone version. Even after you explain that one has nothing to do with the 1995 film, they'd still shrug it off.

And, if a lesser known character gets no appearance in a movie, those people don't know them at all.

Comics can give a character a bad reputation as well, and do.

[ouroboros]

For as long as they last perhaps. But just like westerns when they are out of the limelight people's impressions of them will fade like the movies themselves. Some genres will never be "mainstream".

I think genres fade only when they absolutely stop making money. Disaster films spiraled out of theater-existence in the 80s, but came back in the 90s. I could see superhero films having a downturn for a while-- maybe Marvel Studios will get too set in its formula and get out of touch with the audience. But that wouldn't preclude a later renascence.

[ouroboros]

The Story ones were about as general-audience pleasing as possible, but they don't feel like any good run anyone's ever had on FF. Like it or not, those earliest Kirby/Lee stories were full of angst and fear and characters bullying each other or bullying each other into action. They're fun comics, but they had a chip on their shoulder and the kind of face people on the street don't want to look at directly.

The Corman-produced flick has massive heart, and the best-cast Reed and Doom we're ever likely to get. Those guys bled their characters.

Damn it! I hate agreeing with you, T. Hedge!