If you enjoy comic books and superheroes (and even if you don't) it would be impossible not to notice the large amounts of comic related entertainment these days, specifically in the area of television and movies. It seems that every comicbook from well know ones like Thor and Green Lantern, to lesser known ones like The Losers and Human Target, is being developed into either a movie or a television show. And if it's not a movie or show about characters that already exist, then hollywood is simply making up new ones like Hancock, The Cape and No Ordinary Family.
With all of this out there one cant help but wonder is this too much? Do we run the risk of flooding the marketplace with too many of these at once, therefore drowning most of them out and diluting the quality and freshness? Now as fanboys the answer will most likely be no, since this is the stuff we love. Most of us will see the movies no matter what the critics or the rest of the public think. (yes I actually sat through Jonah Hex at the theatre). However what about the general public? The People who either know nothing about these characters or only know "about" them through pop culture or a fanboy friend? Will they get burnt out on comicbook movies like they did reality game shows, or alien invasion flicks?
Lets face it, we fanboys don't have the numbers or the bank accounts to make most of these ventures profitable. The studios need the general public. What happens so often with these bandwagon trends is the studios go for quantity over quality. We've seen it time and time again where something is successful, other studios or channels attempt to jump on the trend in the hopes of making a quick buck. Sure occasionally something still shines through, but most of it is junk and ends of ruining the genre.
I remember when Unforgiven came out and all of a sudden everyone wanted to make a western, and we ended up getting an endless string of crap movies (The Quick and the Dead anyone?). Given the fact that The Cape and No Ordinary Family didn't do so well with critics or audiences, (The former actually being cancelled before all the shows had even run) and the poor performance of alot of comic book movies like The Losers, Jonah Hex, and yes even Kick-Ass, it appears that the downslide may already have started.
Although many comics are still being greenlit to be turned into movies or shows, one cant help but wonder if they continue to underperform, how much longer will Hollywood continue making them? Eventually they always realize they are losing money and are all to ready to move on to the next popular successful trend. Sure they'll still make the big boys like Bats and Iron Man, but the rest will be left in the comic store.
All that being said, my hope is that given how good all the summer comic book movies seem to be shaping up, hopefully they can reverse this trend. If not, I fear that the comic book entertainment industry may go the way of Deal or No Deal.
What do you think? Are there too many comic book movies and T.V. shows these days?
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