Is anybody else getting tired of Marvel/superhero movies?

**Knoxville** · 04-11-2015, 04:38 PM

I know I'm getting there.... I'm aware that they're massively popular and make more money than Disney can count but I feel like they're starting to over saturate movies and T.V to an extent where even I, as a fan of lots of the source material, am getting really bored with them.

First of all, there's no stakes to most of these movies now. Marvel and DC have shown us the movies they both have slated so many years ahead of where they are and made such a big deal out of how many movies the lead actors are contracted to that very rarely am I able to suspend the disbelief that the main characters are in any kind of peril or danger. For instance, because there's another Thor, Captain America and Iron Man movie in the works I knew that while I was watching Avengers 2 that pretty much everyones going to be walking out unscathed. Don't get me wrong, Avengers 2 had bigger problems than that but it's starting to make these films seem like filler...

Secondly, it's contributing to the downfall of the summer blockbuster almost as much as Michael Bay has. Almost every big movie this year has been either a remake or reboot of an old franchise like Terminator or Jurrasic Park, a sequel to an existing franchise or a superhero movie.

I can't even watch some good T.V and ignore the issue because now there's Daredevil, Gotham, Flash, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, Powers, Heroes Reborn... The list goes on and on.

I loved comics when I was younger, the animated versions of Batman, Spiderman and the X-Men in the mid to late nineties were a massive thing for me too as a kid and I know this might be a pretty outspoken opinion but I really feel like we're getting too much of a good thing and that it's not even that good a thing anymore. Iron Man was great, making Thor work in a cinematic universe was an impressive feat and there've been some great movies like the first Avengers and Guardians of The Galaxy that have followed on from those successes but recently we've had a mediocre Avengers sequel, Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Ant Man... With each one being seemingly more middle of the road than the last and I can't help but think Marvel in particular are shooting themselves in the foot.

**abaxas** · 04-11-2015, 04:39 PM

The yanks are used to marketing on a level us in the UK wouldn't allow.

Hence, they lap it up.

**Ttaskmaster** · 04-11-2015, 05:01 PM

I used to enjoy the occasional comic-thing, mainly as I lived directly above and one to the right of the local comic store.

Punisher and Preacher were more my kinds of things - Dark, seedy and very NSFW!!!
Just seen they're doing a Preacher series, now... Trailer looks like another crappy Spartacus-content BS adaptation, so big whoop on that, now...

So yeah, I'm just as bored by all the Avengers go Camping, Avengers go Smuggling, Avengers go Avenging... Avengers go AWAY!!!

**Saracen** · 04-11-2015, 05:18 PM

I'm not really tired of them, mainly because I don't bother with most of them.

Of the list Knox made, I think I watched Iron Man (okay, but not great), and Gotham/Arrow TV series (again, okay but not great). I watched Supergirl E1 and .... well, okay, but not great.

One movie of that genre (though I don't remember if it's Marvel) I did enjoy was Hellboy (1 and 2). It's not so much the storyline, which was (you've guessed it, "okay, but not great"), but the script. Red's dialog and his attitude .... hilarious. Some of the one-liners were world class. He's a superb character.

EDIT - Oh, and as Ttaskmaster said, I thought the Punisher was well above average. I couldn't take too many of that kind of thing, though. Haven't seen Preacher. Is it worth it, TT?

**Ttaskmaster** · 04-11-2015, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by Saracen

EDIT - Oh, and as Ttaskmaster said, I thought the Punisher was well above average. I couldn't take too many of that kind of thing, though. Haven't seen Preacher. Is it worth it, TT?

TT?
I am The Taskmaster, or Tasky if you prefer... but I am neither an Audi, nor any other kind of hairdresser's car!

The Punisher as a concept and often as a comic was pretty cool.
Dolph Lundgren did well in the role, but suffered from an awful script.
Tom Jane is a great actor and great choice, but this time the script was worse.
Ray Stevenson is unbelievably awesome and OWNED Rome, alongside Kevin McKidd. He is definitely THE Punisher... shame the film wasn't!
Starting to see a theme with Punisher movies...

Preacher as a comic is very much for the sort of people who adore Bill Hicks but aren't so keen on Denis Leary's own routine, especially those peeps who can immediately tell which parts Denis plagiarized from which parts he outright stole.
It's gritty, it's insane, it's got more than the average profanity, sex and gore while also playing around with religious 'what-if' themes. I found it quite funny and surprisingly engaging. I would recommend it, certainly - Get the nine-book paperback edition.

The series has a LOT to live up to, but from the sounds of it this will be just an 'adaptation'... ie bearing very little resemblance to the source. Already people have pointed out how several character-defining trademarks are absent, and that from just a ninety-second trailer...!

We shall see...

**big_hairy_rob** · 05-11-2015, 03:08 PM

I would tend to agree that I am a bit fed up, however I have to question whether this is of the genre, or just the frequency. The majority the films have been enjoyable balancing the tricky line between humour & nostalgia that Michael Bay frequently get's wrong.

You see if there was one Marvel film each year, I'd probably not have a problem, but this isn't the case. There are LOTS and they all cross over, which means you cannot really watch one without first watching the others as well as the TV spin offs otherwise you miss half the plot. It's the sheer volume of this money making scheme that is causing it's downfall. Show after show after show and frequent films mean that there is just far too much of it. Marvel (or more likely the film studio who owns the rights to the shows) are milking it for all it's worth and this is really impacting on it's appeal.

It's also impacting on the quality of the films being made due to being spread too thinly across too much. The majority of the sequels have been little better than average and I really don't see any evidence of things improving.

Are there too many? Yes. If they reduced the amount would it help? Yes, but in an industry more intent in milking one successful genre for all it's worth, it's going to end up affecting the market as a whole to the point where I can't remember the last time a film drew me into going back to the cinema...

**shaithis** · 05-11-2015, 05:12 PM

The last avengers movie was a step too far for me......from the opening sequence I was "on the turn". It seems like they have made so much money that they can't be bothered trying very hard now (the avengers all talking to each other over huge distances without any comms equipment was what put me immediately on the wrong foot!)

The recent DC TV series have been a mixed bag, although DC (bar Batman) have always had the weakest IP IMO....but that supergirl show.....damn, it almost seems like they intentionally are trying to make it look terrible :S Arrow and Flash have a bit too much campness about them......and Gotham is about nothing in particular (or lets just call it "Gordon")

Marvels TV series haven't faired too well either IMO. AoS seemed to lose its way a few times already, Agent Carter I can't remember too much about, other than her impressive attributes and oddly, the netflix-produced Daredevil (whose superpower is great hearing...) has been the stand-out show of the lot for me.

I think the last one I enjoyed was GotG....and I think that may have had something to do with Ratchet and Clank!