The Success of the Superhero Movie

With DC comics recently announcing 9 new movies, with release dates covering 2016 to 2020 and the first being Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, the hype surrounding the superhero movie couldn't be greater. The Avengers 2 has recently finished filming and Ant-Man, Captain America 3, TMNT 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man 3 are all in varying stages of production. Many believe that the phenomenal success of Marvel's The Avengers (2012) was the beginning of the current boom in the genre, as it showed that these movies could still make a huge amount of money (The Avengers made over $1.5 billion worldwide!).

Of course, there have been many mistakes made over the years. Catwoman (2004) is widely considered as one of the worst films ever made and the Fantastic Four movies (2005 and 2007) were very badly received (a reboot is already in production). However these films are now several years old and with recent success' like X-Men: Days of Future Past and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the studios are showing that they've learnt from past stinkers.

But has the superhero movie ever really been away? The last decade was also a seemingly excellent time for these films. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), Spider-Man 2 (2004) and X-Men 2 (2003) were all very successful. Even Pixar's The Incredibles (2004) was an excellent showing, providing a much need humourous break. Many view Iron Man (2008) and The Dark Knight as the last great films of the genre, until The Avengers.


Overall, the future looks very promising for the superhero movie with Guardians of the Galaxy and TMNT currently dominating the box office (the former receiving excellent reviews). The only way is up for Marvel and DC Comics, but who will emerge the victor?