I love Marvel. So much actually that it's a little worrisome at times. My friends know me as the comic and Marvel nerd/enthusiast/connoisseur/cognoscenti (the last of which I have obviously never been called in real life but could not be more spot on if you'll allow me to toot my own horn). So, I should be nothing but excited for every single Marvel comics based film that is coming out in the next seven or so years, seeing as they supposedly have films planned through 2021. And yet, I am beginning to notice new emotions permeating the excitement that floods my brain every time a new movie is announced, namely wariness in the form of an unsettling pit in my stomach.
To be blunt, I think Marvel is getting too big for their britches. They have seen such unprecedented success with blockbusters like The Avengers and Iron Man; they are feeling invincible and believe their success is indefinitely guaranteed.
It all started with the announcement of Ant-Man. So many people are absolutely stoked to see this film, especially with the news that Paul Rudd is playing the lead, so what exactly is the problem? The problem is that nobody outside of the comics community even knows that this movie is happening. Sure, maybe this movie will finally bring the character the attention and glory he deserves as a founding Avenger in the original comics, though I know the film focuses on the second incarnation of Ant-man. This would be nothing but good, and yet the fact that Marvel is willing to make a live-action, full-length, fat-budgeted movie about a guy who can shrink, grow, and talk to ants (um, the coolest power ever...?) shows a lot about just how confident the chaps over at Marvel are feeling about their inability to produce flops and their plans to plow forward with more and more movies.
The biggest problem that Marvel is going to have to face, however, is the continued saturation of the "people with superpowers" market, with much of the contributions being by Marvel themselves. It would have been unheard of 20 years ago for so many superhero movies and TV shows to not only be produced, but to become successful. Now that we have the technology to show Superman's incredible powers in a television show on the CW and give a beautifully computer-animated character awe-inspiring ice powers, it is being done so much that the idea of people with special powers or abilities cannot resonate with general audiences for that much longer. Just in the last few years, we have seen Alphas, Push, Kick-Ass (not super-powered, but the same concept applies here), My Super-Ex Girlfriend, Chronicle, Hancock, and many many more.
Just...no. This had no redeeming qualities
There have always been experimental movie directors looking to explore the idea of super powers, but they were usually campy or poorly made. Then along came Bryan Singer and Sam Raimi who completely changed the game. But now, fourteen years later, how many more times can we expect general audiences to be interested in Joe Schmoe finding out/receiving/revealing that he has superpowers, being hated/feared/loved by those without powers, then saving the day and proving something to himself/his family/others.
With all the superhero movies in the works currently, Marvel has no plans to take a hiatus any time soon, yet I think that people are going to start getting sick of the idea as more and more blockbuster movies start to hop on the "people with superpowers" bandwagon, trying to make a guaranteed buck from the current craze.
Think of it like a bell curve, which has many applications to many naturally occurring scientific, psychological, and economic events.
Just your run-of-the-mill bell curve.
The y-axis is the number of "people with superpowers" movies and TV shows. The x-axis is the level of interest in said movies and TV shows. The quality of special effects and a few other factors have increased the number of these being produced and interest is ever-increasing in these entertaining and often thought-provoking films and shows, though I believe that this interest is going to hit its maximum in the next few years when people suddenly realize how sick they are of costumes, code names, and superpowers. Interest will then start to dip and continue to fall until superhero movies are a thing of the past...if studios continue to saturate the market as much as they are now.
The Amazing Spider-Man was a good movie. It was nothing groundbreaking or incredible, but it was enjoyable in my opinion, and much much much better than Spider-Man 3. But this time around Marvel's flagship character made less than he ever has before. General audiences just couldn't quite wrap their heads around a comic book-style reboot, nor were they as interested in seeing the web-slinger as they were the first time. It had already been done. The same thing happened with X-men: First Class. Arguably the best, but certainly no less than the second best, X-men movie to date made less money than the first movie did.
If Marvel continues to turn out films at their current rate, people will get bored; I can say that with a fair amount of certainty. If they let movie-goers breathe a little bit between their movies, especially their phases of movies, I think this disinterest could be postponed, or even avoided all together, but I highly doubt Marvel will realize this in time. They are much to focused on turning out as many movies as they can, plucking more and more obscure characters from the comics to put on screen. Well, I can't say you will hear any complaints from me while it lasts. Though Thor and Captain America have fallen short of my expectations, I will still be at every movie premiere with anticipation years in the making.
Do you agree with me that Marvel is going to run into some trouble in the next few years as people grow weary of superhero movies? Or will they be popular for years and years to come? Sound off in the comments below.