With the release of Captain Marvel and Shazam this year, as well as the influx of superhero movies starring characters only hardcore fans will recognize, such as Morbius, Shang-Chi, Silk, Blackhawk, and even Bloodshot, a common complaint among casual moviegoers has been superhero burnout. I don’t blame people who aren’t fans for complaining about how many superhero movies they have to endure every year- I myself am tired of seeing trailers for franchises like The Fast and the Furious and Fifty Shades of Grey– but does that mean the the under represented comic book characters don’t deserve their own feature films?
Character like Shazam and Captain Marvel who are finally getting their chance on the silver screen after years of being embedded into comic book lore. Lovable anti-heroes like Venom and the X-Force who are finally allowed to get gorey versions of themselves on screen. I think that all of these characters deserve a shot, and I would like to explain why.
Representation
A major factor in considering who will star in the next superhero movie is race and gender representation. Until this Friday, DC’s Wonder Woman will be the only female superhero to star in her own film, and that is utterly shocking to me. There are so many strong female superheroes who deserve to get their own movie, but as the Captain Marvel backlash has shown, it may be the fans who are stopping this progression.
Supposed “superhero burnout” appearing right when characters like Captain Marvel and Asian-American superhero Shang-Chi are getting their own movies seems to be more than a coincidence to me, but instead a mask for unwarranted hate. However, Black Panther winning three Oscars should be proof that representing everyone onscreen is important. Fanboys will always find something to be mad about, and people with hate in their hearts will always find new ways to publicly express it, but should that stop diverse groups of superheroes from starring in their own feature films? I think not.
Character Representation
The representation of diverse peoples in superhero movies is not the only type that is important, but the representation of characters is too. Shazam has been around as long as almost any other member of the Justice League, but he is just now getting his own movie. As a matter of fact, Black Panther never got his due diligence until after 17 other Marvel movies. Even though these characters have been around just as long and are just as popular, it takes 17 movies to get to them.
However, I don’t see why this causes superhero burnout. Black Panther is an entirely unique hero with a unique movie, as exemplified by his film winning so many awards, and the same statement is true about Shazam. It’s not as though we are watching 17 movies about characters who all act like Captain America or Superman. Some are dark, some are funny, and some aren’t even necessarily heroes. Sure, every film will contain the classic superhero movie tropes, but is everyone really so tired of them after 30 or so films? How many Westerns did it take before everyone decided that the genre had been overdone? Hundreds, and there are still people who miss the classic Fistful of Dollars days.
The point is, we are finally getting to the good stuff when it comes to DC and Marvel. Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Black Cat, Silver Sable, The Young Avengers, an X-Men and Avengers team-up, Skrulls, and hopefully a good Green Lantern movie. We’re even getting content from third-party comic books, including a Spawn remake starring Jamie Foxx and a Bloodshot film igniting an entire Valiant Comics movie franchise. Everyone can be tired of it if they want, but in my eyes, this is a wonderful time to be alive.
Ignorance
When it comes to the types of people who complain about superhero burnout, it is very rare that one of those people actually know the lore behind the characters. Chances are if you know the comic book origins behind every character that you’re a fan and naturally won’t get tired of seeing something you love, but if you have no idea where any of these movies are coming from, then naturally you will grow weary of them.
Ignorance often breeds hate. But something that people need to understand is that no one is just making these characters up for them to get their own movies. Shazam (appearing as Captain Marvel originally) was created in 1939, and he is just now getting his turn in any kind of live action media in 2019.
Never reading a comic book and talking about how tired you are of superhero movies is like never driving a car in your life and complaining about L.A. traffic. You may have dealt with it from a certain point of view, but until you are the actual person experiencing it, you have no clue what it’s truly like. If the people complaining about superhero burnout read the Civil War II storyline from the beginning, or Shazam vs. Superman, or any comic book that stars the character they are complaining about, then there is a good chance their complaints will go away.
What do YOU think? Let me know in the comments!