Its official, superheroes are HUGE
right now, cinema’s cash cows. After the phenomenal success of last years’
collaboration Avengers Assemble it’s
onwards and upwards as they’re here to stay: stronger, faster, equipped with 3D
cameras, big budget studios and the occasional long-legged American darling on
their arm
This week sees the release of Iron Man 3. Already penned as the best
of the trilogy, it seems writers are paying more attention when it comes to the
finer character and story details, because superhero films have never been so
good.
It’s been a steady few years of
action heroes bubbling under the radar. Although one of the biggest superheroes
of all time recently hung up his cape, back in 2008 Batman’s The Dark Knight smashed records. Cinema
goers flocked to see Christian Bale return once again as our caped crusader,
and to date the film has made over a billion dollars world wide. It was the
longest playing release at the cinema that summer, and has achieved even more
success in the DVD/Blu-ray sales since. It also won a posthumous Academy Award
for the late actor Heath Ledger for his portrayal as the twisted Joker.
Naturally the news surrounding his death made the film even more infamous, and
increased interest amongst the press and public. Ledger’s death, although
tragic as it was, was just the beginning of a number of catalysts that would
have boosted the hype surrounding the film, making it more successful at the
box office. The studio also spent a huge amount on advertising, producing press
shots, trailers and posters before its official release of 16th
July, and it made no changes returning for Dark
Knight Rises last year.
Domestically The Dark Knight was the second most successful film ever at the
time, only bested by the Box office titan, Titanic.
Avatar amongst others has since
pushed it off its top spot. Last summer Dark
Knight Rises took even more money – and what’s more – IT WASN’T IN 3D!
So what is it about superheroes
that we love so much? Why has the superhero fan base increased in numbers over
the last decade, and how is it that the big studios can justify spending £200
Million dollars on one film, especially during the global financial crisis? Big
budget and special effects never guarantees success. John Carter anyone? There used to be a time when comic books were
regarded as nerd-only territory, but now it would appear everyone knows a
little about superheroes, and are more than happy to admit liking them.
It’s not just the studios that
enjoy basking in superhero glory, but leading Hollywood actors are also lining
up around the block to get inline to read for these parts, because if they’re
made well, it will send their careers into overdrive. Just see how much success
Tobey Maguire had with his portrayal of Spiderman
after spending much of his previous film career in obscurity. Peter Parker has since had another reboot with The Amazing Spiderman starring up-and-coming actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, despite only having sprinted round the corner not long after its predecessor, it has done incredibly well at the box office.
Robert Downey
Jr’s career skyrocketed back into the popular public eye with Iron Man, after a disastrous decade
taking drugs and falling off the bandwagon time and time again. He is now
considered to be one of the most hard-working actors of his generation, and
what’s more he cool. Iron Man turned
his life around, and audiences love him as Tony Stark.
This summer’s
eagerly anticipated release Man Of Steel
has attracted acting royalty Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner, as well as
Academy Award nominee Amy Adams. Thor
nabbed Natalie Portman not long after her Oscar win, while Batman tempted Morgan Freeman, Michael Cane and Anne Hathaway. Jim
Carrey, who’s been rather quiet for the past two years will soon as The Colonel
Stars and Stripes in Kick-Ass 2, an
excellent casting choice that will no doubt delight the fans.
However with great power comes
great responsibility, and so with chances of success and glory also comes the
danger of risk and the studios and actors alike know this. For as many Dark
Knights and Men of Iron there are also Daredevils in red spandex and disastrous
computer generated Hulks.
Many comic adaptations in the past
have flopped; poor character development, weak story or wrong casting of lead
actor/and or director have been to blame. Both The Green Lantern and Hornet
films bombed at the box office. In the past special effects made for good viewing
and would be considered worth the entrance ticket price, but if the story is boring
and the characters unlikable, nowadays explosions and fancy magic CGI just
aint’ enough.
So equally as quickly as a
superhero movie could make your career, it could also potentially sink it even faster.
When Batman and Robin was released in
1997, the film did so poorly at the box office that Warner Brothers cancelled
the fifth sequel film Batman Triumphant,
and for years the franchise remained in production limbo. Arnold Schwarzenegger
is still teased about his cheesy portrayal of Mr Freeze to this very day; the
one role that will overshadow all the others and which will probably haunt him
for the rest of his life. Equally no director or actor worth his salt would
touch Batman at the time.
That is of course until in 2003
when indie director Christopher Nolan took an interest in rebooting. His previous
work included the excellent mind boggler Memento
and he has since gone on to further heights of success with The Prestige and the mind boggling Inception. He took a big risk and began
a new project, deeming to make a grittier and darker Bruce Wayne with more
humanity and depth. Fresh life was breathed into the tired franchise and with a
new batsuit (minus nipples) came a darker leading man and deeper character
history. A new breed of superhero was born.
It would seem that all the best
superheroes have now been nabbed. Are there any left to develop for the silver
screen? However after the Avenger’s
Assemble success last year, the one potential comic adaptation hit which is
currently stuck in development hell is The
Justice League, which if made, would bring together Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman all under one roof. This also brings up the question of whether
the leading actors from their respective movies would appear? It worked so well
for Iron Man and co, so in theory the
idea is genius. However the film has had so many problems its just cant get its
feet off the ground. Christian Bale has already quit the batcave, while
Superman has gone off and rebooted for the second time. At one point brand new
actors were considered for the roles (including The Social Network’s Armie
Hammer), but that also fell through and the actors dispersed to move on to
other projects. Hammer will soon be seen alongside Johnny Depp in this summers’
cowboys and Indians Disney romp The Lone
Ranger.
So is it all too much to except
another Avengers? The Avengers gang themselves will undoubtedly be retuning for
a second bite of superhero action. With every superhero being given the potential
for their own sequel first, will audiences tire out first?
Lets face it, if it’s a Marvel or
DC comic book movie there is always going to be someone who wants to see it,
and what’s more is happy to pay to see it in 3D. The future of 3D is another issue
all together, but it’s certainly helping boost the superhero demographic at
present.
The bottom line is that comic book
movies are fun, entertaining and take us to a world outside our stressed lives.
People still read about them and still want to see more stories about them.
Full of special effects and none too hard on the eye actors, superhero movies
are hot, hot property!
Iron
Man 3 is in cinemas now and Man of Steel is released in the UK on 14th
June.
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