With so many superhero films being produced, is there really a need for revamps and reboots?
With more and more super hero revamps is Hollywood just trying to make money?
Artwork by Rachel Uyemura
Comic book movies have become a common trend in the film industry today.
This last decade has seen a major revitalization in the comic book to movie market. So much, in fact, that superhero films have become a staple of movie excellence in a previously deceased outlet. Movies like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises show us that comic book movies aren’t just the silly fun they used to be, but can be some of the greatest films of the year. However, something else that’s catching on in more recent years is the rebooting and revamping of older comic book movies. Spiderman has now been rebooted, as well as Batman with Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and on June 14, 2013; Man of Steel will bring Superman back to the big screen. With all these heroes returning to stardom, a major question comes to mind. Is there really a need for more superhero movies in a now flooded market?
Before I swoop into this troubling subject, I’ve got to cover the difference between a revamp and a reboot. Revamps are actually an entirely different concept than reboots. When a movie franchise is “revamped” it means that it is returning to previous source material, while bringing a modern twist to an otherwise finished franchise. With regards to comic book films, revamps have never garnered much success. Both revamps of Tim Burton’s Batman films (Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin) were flat-out disgraceful to the source material, and solidified the death of an otherwise promising saga. The glorified special effects show that was the 2006 film Superman Returns didn’t do much better for the already floundering series. Nevertheless, reboots of superhero films have seen great success thus far. According to http://boxofficemojo.com, The Amazing Spiderman earned a total domestic gross of about 2.5 million dollars in theaters, and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy is now widely considered as the definitive Batman series.
Without further ado, I will address the question that plagues my mind. Now at this point, revamps have not had a very good track record, but that doesn’t mean they still don’t deserve a chance. Obviously I’m not advocating the revamps of series that don’t deserve it (such as Ghost Rider), but I do believe that many people would like to see other forgotten heroes pulled out of the depths of despair. The X-Men franchise continues to change up their films by exploring new stories and time periods, which has garnered a fair amount of accomplishment. The only films that mar an otherwise untarnished franchise were the mediocre third installment X-Men: The Last Stand and the fairly abysmal X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Despite these two films, the X-Men franchise continues on with the possibility of an X-Men First Class sequel, and the continuation of Wolverine’s story with a set 2013 release, The Wolverine.
Another unique way to keep releasing superhero films was the way The Avengers films handled sequels. Ever since the release of Iron Man in 2008, Marvel had released a movie adaptation of many other Avenger heroes, and made The Avengers film as well. After four years of films and buildup, Marvel released their fantastic Avengers film to critical acclaim, and commercial success. The keen marketing tactic of releasing five separate films with different stories and characters (aside from Iron Man 2), and having them all come together for a perfect collaboration made this franchise a hit, and its’ not over yet. Iron Man 3 is coming out this April, and Thor is set to have a movie sequel this year, as well. I assume we will have another Avenger film in the near future, and I am looking forward to this.
Obviously these film franchises are not concerned with the idea of revamps or reboots, but for those that are, my only advice is to change up the source material from the previous films just enough to make it attractive and appealing, but not to the point where it becomes something completely different from what it was originally intended to be. The new Amazing Spiderman film and The Dark Knight trilogy shows us that reboots aren’t just a possibility for superhero films, but a welcome addition. This is why it pleases me to say that the 2013 film Man of Steel not only looks to be a great new Superman film, but a triumphant return of the same caliber as Batman Begins. Drawing from trailers and various other film sources, I can infer that Man of Steel is planning on taking a very dark and serious light to an otherwise underdeveloped, though iconic, character.
The original 1978 Superman film was and still is an idealized movie classic, and is thought of as originally sparking the hero film craze. No one could have anticipated the four sequels that followed. However, times have changed, and people now tend to like their superhero films with a bit more grit and realism. Man of Steel may reflect what it would really be like growing up with strange and inhuman abilities in a small southern town. The third trailer for Man of Steel shows a young Clark Kent rescue a bus full of school children, him being one of the children on the bus. He then talks to his father, Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner, The Company Men) about what happened, and his adopted father tells him that he maybe should have let the children in the bus die. This leads me to believe that the invincible Superman (vulnerable only to kryptonite, of course) will have to deal with a very emotional inner conflict. The fact that no matter how powerful he is, he will not be able to save everyone when disaster strikes is a trying reality. I believe a conflict such as this is far more interesting and involving than Superman’s only weakness being a radioactive crystal.
Needless to say, superhero films aren’t going away anytime soon. Sequels, spinoffs, revamps, and reboots will continue to hold their ground in the movie industry and, honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s enough variety out there to appeal to everyone’s likes and dislikes, which is why these films are so successful. However, if there ever were too many superhero movies, the easiest way to quell the tide would just be to stop watching them. After all, this has happened before. The late 80s and the entirety of the 90s was a time when superhero films weren’t just average, they were horrendous. Movies such as The Green Lantern and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance show a glimmer of this now forgotten time, but hopefully the majority of the hero franchises out there will never sink to this level. For now, I have high hopes for the ever growing superhero movie market.
