What if they announced a “Justice League” movie and nobody cared?
That’s exactly what seemed to happen last week when Warner Bros. officially confirmed that a film uniting its biggest superheroes — Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman — was in production for a planned 2017 release.
A few years ago, this news would have sent fanboys rushing into the streets to overturn cars with joy. And now? People seemed more interested in the weather.
Comic-book movies have been a mainstay of the box office since at least 2000 when “X-Men” was released, but it’s time to face the fact that their popularity might be about to wane.
We as a society seemed to have reached “peak superhero” — the theory, as in oil production, that output reaches a maximum level at a certain point, after which a steady-but-permanent decline begins.
If this isn’t the point of saturation, I don’t know what is.
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” opens Friday, and studio Sony has already announced plans for two more sequels, as well as various Spidey spinoffs, including an all-villains team-up called “The Sinister Six.”
Fox, the studio that controls the X-Men, has “Days of Future Past” coming up later this month and has begun work on a sequel for 2016, as well as another solo Wolverine movie and several “X-Men”-brand films to be determined.
The studio also has next year’s “Fantastic Four,” as well as a sequel, in the works.
Meanwhile, Marvel Studios has movies slated all the way through 2021, including August’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” another “Avengers” movie next summer, a third “Captain America” the year after and a few more as-yet-unnamed projects.
Warner Bros. has “Batman vs. Superman ” in a couple of years, directed by Zack Snyder, who was handed the keys to the DC superhero kingdom despite many in the nerd demographic strongly disliking “Man of Steel.”
It’s simply not possible that every one of these movies is going to hit, and all it’s going to take is a couple bombs to cool the studios’ love for the genre and to start burying it.
It’ll be interesting to see how “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” does. It’s sure to be a big hit based on the character alone, but will it be as big as the first film, which earned $262 million back in 2012? Audiences paid to see the first film, but there didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for it. The sequel is getting lukewarm reviews.
If it underperforms, there’s your canary in the coal mine. If it doesn’t, something else will soon.
The weariness with superhero movies is starting to creep in. Famous comic book artist Rob Liefeld, who created Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds in 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand”), tweeted this week, “I am numb to the superhero movie buzz. First time I felt it was approaching white noise.”
I feel the same. I’ve always enjoyed superhero movies for the most part, but lately, fatigue has set in. Maybe it’s the been-there-done-that quality of a lot of them.
The Marvel movies seem to remain the most fresh, in part, because that universe allows for all different kinds of storytelling. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” was like a 1970s political thriller, and “Guardians of the Galaxy” takes the action into outer space.
That’s a lot more variety than, say, the “Spider-Man” films, which are fueled by teen angst and similar CG shots of the hero swinging through the canyons of New York. Here we are, the fifth film in since 2002, and it all starts to feel a little familiar.
Same goes for “X-Men,” where, by its nature, every film must deal heavily with the themes of alienation and discrimination — followed by a final fight scene.
Maybe it’s not surprising that the box-office returns for the movies in that series have been falling since “The Last Stand.”
Last year’s “The Wolverine” made just $132 million — hardly a boffo take for a superhero film featuring a character who’s nearly as well-known now as Spider-Man.
I like Wolverine. And I really like Hugh Jackman. But I never bothered to see the film. That’s a far cry from the first two “X-Men” movies, which I braved the crowds to see on opening night.
I just don’t care as much anymore, and anecdotally at least, that seems to be true of a lot of other people.
Hollywood has never been known for its restraint. When something hits, the industry will churn out dozens of similar products until it’s alienated the audience and killed the once-golden goose.
When we look back 20 years from now, 2014 might be remembered as the beginning of the end. Next year’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” has the potential to become among the biggest movies ever. But after that?
If the superhero movie craze began in 2000 and this is the peak, that means we have about 14 years until it’s completely dead and buried. By 2028, Hollywood will have forgotten about these spandex guys and moved on to the next craze: movies about sentient household appliances.*
* That’s just a guess.