Where Next? The Superhero Genre after Endgame

Some thoughts/“response to” the article for The Film Magazine, by: Gillian MacLeod

Avengers: Endgame, Characters Photo

Written exclusively for The Film Magazine, ’Superhero Bust: The Future of the Superhero Genre’ by Gillian MacLeod, personally raised quite the number of concerns and criticisms from my standpoint and, in my humble opinion seems to far too short sighted and dismissive of the genre, but moreover, the wider aspects of cinema and the film industry in general with TV producing a number of hero based shows and the video game selling millions of copies of superhero based games per year (with a number of titles still scheduled for release in 2020), there is still life in the beast yet and I for one, am very far from writing it off anytime soon.

The first issue personally arose from the articles first outward reference to Liam Burke, specifically his book: The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre. Perhaps the thing that bugged me more was it’s use in this article, and by extension of that it’s own perspective. As I said earlier, I’m not so keen on writing off the genre as a whole yet but the article takes up the opposite view and the fact it insists on arguing such a thing strikes me as a losing battle, especially when considering how there are still an array of comic book adapted films slated for 2/3 years down the line. Now lback to Burke, his work is nothing new in any sense of the matter with French Film theorist, Christian Metz himself proposing the concept of a ‘Genre Cycle’ or lifetime, so in essence there isn’t any new innovation here, in fact there isn’t a reinvention of the wheel either it’s just got a proposed new use and purpose That being: a short life cycle. The book, published in 2015 does have its merits but I still believe that trying to apply any framework to the current state of the superhero film world is pointless as it’s still evolving with each release, the wider world of general “comic book adaptation” is a different argument in fairness. Keeping focus solely on the superhero genre like Macleod does in the original, I don’t think the films can be quantified so easily into such broad and simplistic stages. The important thing to consider here is the state of these different film franchises before you can even consider a genre classification. Marvel, the front runners and founding figurehead of superhero franchising. The Disney owned outlet are in possession of the perfect formula and it’s a secret everyone wants in on, or at least one those over at DC have lusted after for years now and the time it’s taken to build up is what’s the point here, it’s a labour of love. A series with over twenty instalments, over a decade of continuous production, Marvel has forged a massive fan base and taken their time to build these long term character arcs and detailed individuals, they’re the leading ‘brand‘ and for good reason. Competitors such as DC have completely fumbled and fell at the first hurdle, their lineup of film is beyond sub par and the mess behind the scenes hasn’t helped either (Look at the result of the Snyder Cut campaign and David Ayer’s pleas to get his Suicide Squad movie a similar treatment.). There’s the distinction between the two comics‘ leading brands on film and there should be one made between the blockbuster and smaller, for lack of a better term “indie” projects that existed long before Joker came along in 2019, something I’ll come back to later.

As MacLeod heralds The Joker for it’s ingenuity and the “Nobody Flying“ Approach, the often overlooked ‘indie’ (and I use that term loosely) comic book world has actual merit, there are fine films crafted off low budgets rather than imitations of a small scale production. People lump far too much credit on a film that was, in terms of quality, average at best and that’s without even touching on the problematic depictions or incredibly toxic fan base. As MacLeod suggests that Joker could inspire a new wave of films that will be the new norm for the superhero genre, I’d argue that there is little in the way of new content raised at all in that film, and if anything Phillips vastly overestimates his claims of the film being a character study. With its harrowing depictions of violence which I found were very close to scenes from Hong Kong protests at the time and its shallow representation of minority ethnic women, I think to an extent the controversy is responsible for a lot of the hype around the title. Essentially this ‘ground breaking’ tag that sticks to Joker is unwarranted and even though these films are typically for a younger audience, you’d struggle not to find one that isn’t a character study in some sense, even the lowers dregs of Marvel’s universe have solid grasps on the characters at the heart of the film. See Chris Hemsworth’s Thor character growth from 2011 to 2019 in both singular and team up movies.

Kenneth Branagh’s Thor (2011) was hardly fantastic and in all honesty, does rank amongst the lower echelons of the MCU in my taste, but there’s some beauty in it. An arc that can be taken as an individual piece in the context of the singular film, his tale of redemption back to worthiness or the wider story of growth from Prince to King are impressive changes and are exceptionally well crafted given that the trilogy of Thor is often considered to have poor quality until Taika Waititi’s involvement. As for the debut film the dynamic between Thor and Odin has more depth than anything I can think of from Joker and there are a few visually striking moments that have great meaning, with the initial attempt of retrieving the hammer springing to mind instantly. Despite being a little difficult to watch in a more modern context with the production value being somewhat amateurish in comparison to the latest films churned out by the MCU, you get more than enough of a character study in this film alone than the Joker can produce a thousand times over. The film perfectly captures the immaturity and unworthiness of Thor, and his boyishness is exaggerated further by the setting of Earth, putting him fully out of context and out of place, to an extent creating a pretty unlikeable lead. As the finale arrives and his sacrifice is paid off by the reward of his powers, there is a clear and fine example of how you write character and an arc overall, particularly a redemption arc that is rewarding to its audience and is a key piece of the puzzle in the wider universe. The ultimate point I’m getting at here, is the fact that all superhero films should be in some sense a character study. Deadpool for as outlandish a character he is, has two films that tackle themes of family and generally depict the hero as someone who struggles with his identity/emotions. In similar fashion, Thor‘s long term arc charts his growth in power as he in time, ascends to be King/Leader of Asgard. The films mentioned throughout are all character studies of some sort and it feels like a sleight on the genre that Joker is considered superior. I wonder as well if, to some degree it has a similar cultish love to Falling Down (d. Joel Schumacher, 1993) giving this cathartic chance to live out their Uber-conservative “Fuck Everyone” story where the protagonist trampled over everyone to get their goal, be that Michael Douglas seeing his daughter on her birthday or for Arthur (Phoenix) to get his chance on TV in Joker, they don’t make for compelling viewing because their goals are shallow and often difficult to relate to, in some cases just outright morally wrong. Now there is a space for anti-heroes and they’ve become just as successful if not more so, hence this sidden flux in ’R’ rated superhero/comic book films centring on the likes of Deadpool and Harley Quinn amongst others, but even so there’s some charm to these characters. Wade Wilson is an inherently post modern character and that referenced infused humour is apt in this day and age, and when considering the Quinn character, it allowed DC to be more colourful in their approach to the film but I’d say as a trade for that, benefited massively off the star of Margot Robbie. Regardless they have built off prior understanding of the character/characters I feel these Joker-type films don’t resonate, it’s the wrong foot to get off on and frankly is even more damaging moving forth with a massive uphill battle to create anything of value which is probably why the murder of the Wayne’s was shoehorned in. If anything it’s endemic of the state of modern cinema, cash grabbing films, failing franchises etc. Just circling back to my previous point the praise of a character study is a poor claim and frankly should be the base line for all films regardless of genre.

The pinnacle of Hemsworth’s Thor as his arc reached a climax in Infinity War/Endgame

To expand on the more indie side of the comic adaptation world, in this equally rich vein of titles you'd be remiss to not mention Matthew Vaughn and his filmography. With two often overlooked franchises in the shape of Kick-Ass and Kingsman with his shot in the big time on X-Men First Class, Vaughn is, in his own right and exceptional comic book film director and in some respects, as much as I really hate this term, an “auteur” Of the genre. With the skill to really create these filmic worlds that manage to successfully emulate the pages of a comic book on camera, in a living sense. With the film rights to Kick-Ass sold before the first issue was published this synergetic approach is wildly different to whats now considered the norm and it’s fairly beneficial for doing so, it feels like (and by all accounts is) a labour of love. With its sequel also being made on a budget of under $30 million USD, this Under appreciated wave of low budget comic book filmmaking has clearly drawn off modern horror and shows if you touch on a certain element of filmmaking, you've practically hit a gold mine. In the case of Kick-Ass its a clear and strong visual style and for these often found footage horrors its that jump scare structure. Same goes for Deadpool, another criminally cheap debut film that makes the most of what it has, these movies have been rampant successes even compared to the modern day behemoths of the game and all offer character studies that are ‘deep dives’ and far more well crafted than the Joker which is reliant, heavily on plot crutches and is beyond disingenuous. (Graph below marks some budgets of Comic book films, shows that smaller productions have long existed)

Graph from The Business/Tech Insider, sourced via Box Office Mojo listing the budget of some Superhero films from 1989-2016

On top of my prior point and as evidenced in the chart, this ‘new wave’ of low budget superhero/comic book films has existed and always will. Marvel had the odds stacked massively in their favour with the Disney owned studio having the ideal properties to start something stable whilst competing studios rushed into spitting out poor quality products to prevent a loss of rights. It’s a bit of a petty industry but in fairness every genre of film, be it a more classical one or one that’s witnessed a supernova there are always going to be the front running blockbusters that overshadow the indie side that produces some equally classic titles, a point I think the original article overlooks. In this undercurrent of film you’ve got some true stars like Jason Trost who’s superhero films were a pleasant watch which I’d really recommend. Ultimately I think my main reaction to this piece of work is the fact there’s a paradox of choice, a term which applies to pretty much everything in the modern age. In a sense it is showing a slight bit of ignorance, or perhaps more so laziness, it just feels like the article never puts in the legwork to give a wholly rounded argument or standpoint, only designed to get across the narrow perspective of the writer. Now to hopefully produce something of substance I’ll acknowledge some of the good parts raised by MacLeod. Though in the context of the article it’s a little dismissive, the year of 2019 was indeed a shattering year for the world of comic book film, Phoenix’s Oscar win is perhaps a sign for the future, possibly suggesting that the academy/award boards in general are relenting and softening to the idea of these films having merit, but I think perhaps more so, 2019 will be a landmark year in this genre because of the release of Avengers: Endgame (d. Joe and Anthony Russo, 2019) the culmination of a decade of varying films, a multitude of stories and moments and the farewell tour for some of Marvel’s biggest stars, this was a truly biblical 12 month period and until we’re in a post pandemic world we won’t be sure whether the industry can replicate such heights till it corrects itself. Though I doubt you’ll be holding your breath for too long with the Black Widow (d. Cate Shortland, 2020) solo film providing another adventure with a key player from the infinity saga but more larger films await on the horizon Black Panther II (d. Ryan Coogler, 2022) and the recently announced Mahershala Ali fronted, canonised reimagining of Blade, titles that’ll be culturally massive and are a safe bet of being the new vehicles to drive the franchise forward, not to forget The Eternals in that equation too.

Above: Cast of The Eternals at SDCC ‘19, Below: Mahershala Ali on stage at SDCC ’19

One helpful thing to remember after reading either of these articles (mine or the original) is the fact that there are other parameters to success. Though the financial bracket is the typical manner of success, things such as critical reception, cult appreciation etc. Are also fine ways to measure a films quality. In a sense the reviewing world is almost entirely arbitrary given the fact that films and quality are all subjective, which leads to what I think of MacLeod’s work. The article glosses over the audience of these films and I see it as a misstep, the genre is a whole entity of its own and deserves to be looked at as such. In fairness MacLeod is one of the more innocent parties in this case as widely, academia needs to adapt and relax a little, there’s merit to the world of superhero films as art, entertainment and in a business sense with this channel of film massively changing the face of the industry, driving it toward a level it might’ve not reached without it. There’s still new precedent being set in 2020 after more than a decade of dominance and rule of the zeitgeist with HBO MAX granting the release of the fabled “Snyder Cut” of the Justice League (d. Zack Snyder, 2017) and a potential, similar campaign on the horizon for Suicide Squad (d. David Ayer, 2016) we could see the next step in terms of ‘fan power’ and their role in the industry. Some day there’ll be a full scale analysis of the bubble that is the comic book/superhero adaptation genre and its many faces/variations, but to both think that it‘ll be soon or to even dismiss the genre in its current state is extremely short sighted.

If anything, the year of 2020 has all but proved there is an extremely strong fan base and audience for the superhero genre. With Birds of Prey (d. Cathy Yan, 2020) being another messy DC backed film, it still remained popular amongst fans and was something of a ‘sleeper hit’, perhaps being the one off example where a maiden team up film actually works. Plus the film was culturally quite significant, the first all-female lead superhero team blockbuster and so far the only major superhero release of this year, it’ll be a landmark when looking back in the future. Vin Diesel’s return to the genre in between his Fast and Furious instalments was with Bloodshot (d. David S.F. Wilson, 2020). In pretty much every aspect the film was a failure, amassing under $30 million USD worldwide from ticket sales and currently under $10 million USD in home media sales it’s not even a touch on the Margot Robbie produced Harley Quinn caper and it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to see how the industry as a whole has been impacted by the current global pandemic. A year that regardless

of this major set back promised more female fronted films with Black Widow and Wonder Woman 1984 (d. Patty Jenkins) promising to still make release this year. The movies also offer a different perspective, retrospectively filling in gaps and offering an avenue for future directors to imitate. A year that’ll no doubt be looked back on in an odd manner, perhaps one that’s effectively crossed off the history books as it can’t be taken into account in any sense, a sentiment that goes for all conventional types of film save from those that were aired on streaming. When considering this fact there isn’t much that can be added to the point. MacLeod doesn’t have much content in her essay on how to progress with the pandemic still looming largely over the world, and personally I’m still of the belief its a suicidal idea to restart production anytime soon though Michael Bay and some other studios clearly disagree. Now with a recession likely to be looming but with some of these products ‘ready made’ in some sense the conveyor belt hasn’t stopped and with the sheer size of the corporations that produce them I seriously doubt this’ll be much of a dent unless of course the economic downfall is of depression like status.

Poster for The Boys (2019-Present), TV’s hit superhero series

Now with that in mind though, Id just like to shift the focus from the big screen for my final point. The world of superhero/comic book adaptations aren’t just limited to the cinema, and if anything some of the more recent silver screen outings have been more informed by something that can’t be seen on that environment or it’s relatives of VOD, DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming etc. Look at Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (d. B Persichetti, P. Ramsey & R. Rothman, 2018) for the best example of what I just outlined. Much like Kick-Ass only this time in an animated format, Spider Verse is a literal, living comic, channelling those on page elements such as: dividing panels, varying art styles and a more general use of vivid colours that pop off the page (as seen below)

Comic Book elements seen in Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse (Panels, colouring, art styles, references etc.)

With the influence of the page becoming more present (especially now Spider Verse has a confirmed sequel) on the big screen heavy inspiration from comics have been evident in more formats for quite some time. With TV series aimed towards a younger audience and this constant production of animated superhero films the genre exists in more than one format. Throwing film aside for the time being, TV’s superhero world has blown up, particularly in the last two years or so. After numerous seasons of middling TV with the likes of: Arrow, The Flash and basically everything else put out by the CW, the format was revolutionised in 2019. Doom Patrol was a sleeper hit, Watchmen was an immediate success and The Boys was a runaway smash with its satirical take on the world of superheroes. The latter of the three, executively produced by Seth Rogen offers a mature take on the world which is often marketed towards a younger demographic. Both Watchmen & The Boys offer something so ’no holds barred’, a tone that hasn't really been seen since the Wesley Snipes fronted Blade Trilogy (1998-2004) though in all honesty even that franchise is tame when you look back at it. Why these shows took off is a phenomenon worthy of its own works but the key point here is that there is still life to the genre and material irrespective of whether its a reimagining of a title or something not yet put to film/screen. The genre is also popular in more primary forms of media, ones that pre date any successful TV/Film outing with superhero video games launching with consoles around the start of the 21st century and recent successes such as Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018) or the Batman: Arkham Series (2009-2016) and with new video game instalments slated for 2020‘s later stages in the form of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Marvel’s Avengers, these hero simulators have forged tremendous success for developers. These games much likes the films have their own merits and offer their own unique experience of consumption in a hands on fashion.

Photos (Top to bottom) from: Marvel’s Avengers (2020), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020), Batman: Arkham Knight ‘Red Hood Story Pack DLC’ and Arkham Knight GCPD Lockdown (2015) & Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018)

MacLeod’s article in fairness does highlight some of the overlooked elements of the world of comic book adaptations but felt a little unbalanced and under researched. Hopefully I’ve contributed something of worth in some capacity to a discussion that‘ll be ongoing for some time.

References

Burdett, Johnathan, (2020), Avengers Endgame: The Art of the Finale, [Video Essay], Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Film&Stuff, retrieved from: https://youtub.be/P-6UwZShQVY Macleod, Gillian https://www.thefilmagazine.com/superhero-bust-the-future-of-the-superhero-genre/

Millar, Mark, (2008-2014), Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years, [Comic Series], Icon Comics and Image Comics, United Stares of America, New York City, NY & Portland, OR

Millar, Mark, (2012-Present), Kingsman, [Comic Series], Icon Comics, United States of America, New York City, NY

Filmography

Amir, Gideon (Producer), (2019-Present), Doom Patrol, [TV Series], DC Entertainment, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Diesel, V. (Producer), Jaffe, T. (Producer), Moritz, N.H. (Producer), Wilson, D.S.F. (Director), (2020), Bloodshot, [Motion Picture], Columbia Pictures, United States of America, Los Angeles, CA

Donner, L. (Producer), Singer, B. (Producer), Kinberg, S. (Producer), Goodman, G. (Producer), Vaughn, Matthew (Director), (2011), X-Men First Class, [Motion Picture], Marvel Entertainment, United States of America, New York City, NY

Feige, Kevin (Producer), Russo, Joe & Anthony (Directors), (2019), Avengers: Endgame, [Motion Picture], Marvel Entertainment, United States of America, New York City, NY

Feige, Kevin (Producer), Shortland, Cate (Director), (2020), Black Widow, [Motion Picture], Marvel Entertainment, United States of America, New York City, NY

Feige, Kevin (Producer), Coogler, Ryan (Director), (2022), Black Panther II, [Motion Picture], Marvel Entertainment, United States of America, New York City, NY

Finn, J.P. (Producer), (2012-2020), Arrow, [TV Series], DC Entertainment, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Frankfurt, P. (Producer), Snipes, W. (Producer), Norrington S., Del Toro, G. Goyer, D.S. (Directors), (1998-2004), The Blade Trilogy, [Motion Picture Trilogy], Marvel Enterprises, United States of America, New York City, NY

Gadot, G., Jenkins, P. , Jones, S., Snyder, D., Snyder, Z. (Producers), Jenkins, Patty (Director), (2020) Wonder Woman 1984, [Motion Picture], DC Films, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Gorenstein, Hartley (Producer), (2019-Present), The Boys, [TV Series], Amazon Studios, United States of America, Culver City, LA

Harris, T., Kopelson, A., Weingrod, H. (Producers), Schumacher, Joel (Director), (1993), Falling Down, [Motion Picture], Le Studio Canal+, Paris, France

Kinberg, S. Reynolds, R., Donner, L. (Producers), Miller, Tim (Director), (2016), Deadpool, [Motion Picture], 20th Century Studios, Inc., United States of America, Los Angeles, CA

Kroll, S., Robbie, M., Unkeless, B. (Producers), Yan, Cathy (Director), (2020), Birds of Prey, [Motion Picture], DC Films, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Lord, P., Miller, C., Pascal, A. (Producers) Persichetti, B., Ramsey, P., Rothman, R. (Directors), (2018), Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse, [Motion Picture], Marvel Entertainment, New York City, NY

Phillips, T., Cooper, B., Koskof, E.T. (Producers), Phillips, Todd (Director), (2019), Joker, [Motion Picture], Warner Bros. Pictures, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Roven, C., Snyder, D., Snyder, Z., (Producers), Jenkins, Patty (Director), (2017), Wonder Woman, [Motion Picture], DC Films, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Roven, C., Snyder, D., Snyder, Z. Suckle, R. (Producers), Ayer, David (Director), (2016), Suicide Squad, [Motion Picture], DC Films, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Roven, C., Snyder, D., Berg, J., Johns, G. (Producer), Snyder, Zack (Director), (2027), Justice League, [Motion Picture], DC Films, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Silver, Emily (Producer), (2014-Present), The Flash, [TV Series], DC Entertainment, United States of America, Burbank, CA

Vaughn, M., Pitt,B., Thykier, K., Pack, T., Bohling, A., Reid, D. (Producers), Vaughn, Matthew (Director), (2010), Kick-Ass, [Motion Picture], Marv Films, London, United Kingdom

Vaughn, M., Bohling, A., Reid, D. (Producers), Vaughn, Matthew (Director), (2014), Kingsman: The Secret Service, [Motion Picture], Marv Films, London, United Kingdom

Gameography

Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montréal, Marvel’s Avengers, 2020, Square Enix, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5

Insomniac Games, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2018, PlayStation 4

Insomniac Games, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2020, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5

Rocksteady Studios & WB Montreal, Batman: Arkham, Eidos Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, 2009-2016, Android, iOS, Windows, Nintendo 3DS, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, WiiU, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham Knight, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, 2015, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One