It’s Been The Best Year In Terms Of Overall Quality
While a lot of people thought that 2016 was set to be the “Year of Comic Book Movies,” there were more than a few missteps that left fans disappointed with the output. Look, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been by any means, but did anyone really expect 2017 to top last year’s phenomenal releases?
Say what you will about ranking this year’s films, but there hasn’t been a single bad comic book movie in 2017. Sure, we might argue about a few minor issues with the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Justice League, but they aren’t terrible films in the slightest, so don’t fall into the internet’s hyperbole trap and love for exaggeration.
Every release has delivered something and not one of them feels like it belongs on a list of the worst superhero films of all time – if you feel differently, kindly remember Joel Schumacher’s last contribution to the medium. That alone should inspire us to recognize that the future of this genre is looking brighter than it ever has before and be optimistic for what’s to come.
There Is No Superhero Fatigue
With Justice League underperforming at the U.S. box office (due to high expectations), it’s led to many proclaiming that superhero fatigue is setting in and audiences aren’t going to watch these movies in droves like they used to. Well, it’s true that more was expected from the DC team-up spectacle in terms of domestic earnings, but the facts about comic book movies in 2017 say there’s no fatigue.
If you look at the top 10 highest-grossing films for the year, four of the films currently on the list are superhero movies – and Justice League‘s final tally won’t be known until it finishes its run on the circuit, so it could still make an appearance later on. This means that with four superhero-related properties on the list, we’re exactly in the same position as we were last year.
Fatigue isn’t setting in – it’s just been a bad year overall for big releases with numerous films falling below box-office predictions (remember Blade Runner 2049?). The issue here is the financial expectations being set by the studios for each film in this day and age. Unfortunately, expecting every movie to reach a billion dollars isn’t going to happen and expectations need to be tempered. Let’s face it: money is getting tighter for every household and we need to be selective over what we watch at the cinema.
