The Superhero Film: Past, Present And Future

The superhero film: a homage to everything that people expect of this small world the minute they open their eyes - a world plagued by the stench of greed and pride, yet saved by the promise of salvation. No one comes into this world thinking that they could be a hero. Some learn it, some are inspired to be it, and some are blessed with the miracle of luck as they save a child from certain death, but nevertheless, a hero is not a superhero. A superhero rises to any occasion, saves anyone in need, and is the epitome of everything good in any situation. Needless to say, no human being can be a superhero, especially since we don't have the ability to fly, to shoot raw energy from our eyes, or even to survive large amounts of exposure to radiation. So we look to the world of fiction to write down and draw our wishes for a perfect society with a perfect role model for our children, a society that is beyond our mundane lives, and a society that looks to the skies in times of need. Though our friendly neighborhood heroes have been around on paper for many a decade, the superhero film has only recently begun to rise to the forefront thanks to the powerhouses that are Marvel and DC Comics. As the film industry continues to follow society's current needs, the state of the superhero film will continue to follow as well. From the past to the present, these eccentric personalities have gone through major reconstructive therapy in order to reflect the current need for a hero - and for money of course. Separating the timeline into different "eras", we outline the superhero film. Click below to continue reading. The First Era Before we get started, how about a little history? The very first superhero film was The Adventures of Captain Marvel which premiered as a serial in 1941, around the same time the comic book industry was coming into their own. The film was well-received and led to the creation of more serials based on rising stars in the comic world such as Batman, Superman and Captain America. Though not quite as groundbreaking as they are today, these serials paved way for more recent films. Due to the perceived violence and the effect these comics had on children, the superhero film and its legacy was cut short. For the next three to four decades, only a handful of superheroes saw the light of day when it came to the big screen. That all changed though when a film from a galaxy far far away took the world by storm, which resulted in a sudden interest in more fantasy based films. Along with this storm flew the man of steel in the classic 1978 film, Superman, starring Christopher Reeve. Superman was met with critical acclaim and is noted for giving life to the sub-genre once more. Click below to continue reading. The Novelty Era As the notion of the spectacular swept the film industry, audiences couldn't get enough of their mysterious heroes. Following the success of Superman, a whole string of Batman movies stepped out from the darkness and proved equally as popular. This series along with another handful of lesser known superhero films were only focused on one thing: the superhero. It's silly to say, but it's completely true. There was no focus on what made them superheroes. Instead, the focus was on the fact that these superheroes were just that: super. They weren't human, they weren't tangible, but they were made to give the audience an escape into fantasy - or perhaps an escape into their ideal reality. This era leading up to the new millennium was characterized by over the top characters resulting in a lack of emotional connection with the film and the audience. But you know what? That didn't matter because emotional connection was not the point. Audiences wanted to see dazzle, audiences wanted to see flair, and audiences wanted to see the fantastical. If someone who had never seen the films were to watch them now, the first word would probably be cheesy or cliché, which makes perfect sense seeing what these films were originally made for. Click below to continue reading. The Traditional Era Coming into the new millennium, superhero films went through drastic changes to keep up with the demand for more action films. Gone was the "cheesy" humor and gone was the whole notion of fun over drama. For the next decade, Marvel took the industry by storm and introduced each of their popular stars in films of their own. Starting with X-Men and Spider-Man, these action packed flicks were still humorous at times, but instead of simply being a mask and costumes, true origin stories and angst came forward. This was the era where the rise of a superhero and what it meant to be one came into light, or in other words, the definition of today's traditional superhero. The whole process of starting out human and discovering your potential, responsibilities, and powers gave these superheroes a sort of humanity that was not seen before. Amongst all the explosions arose somewhat three-dimensional characters, including that of the villains, who were up to this point evil just to be evil. Granted, the camp and quirkiness of it all was still there, but it was kept second to the action. Another characteristic among these films were that the female characters were mostly two-dimensional. Not so much in that every female ended up being a damsel in distress and the Achilles' heel to their respective savior, but the women with superpowers themselves ended up being two-dimensional as well. This comes as no surprise as these films were made for the male audience, especially the younger ones. They wanted to give the impression of the traditional strong male protecting their woman, their city, and their responsibilities. In this era, men didn't cry, they punched. Then Spider-Man 3 came along with a nod to the past novelty era. The camp was there, the quirkiness was there, and the cheesiness was obvious to all audiences and their mothers. Needless to say, this movie was not well-received, but it did at least try something different. It was trying to mix in the darkness with the humor, but the result turned out to be something just ridiculous to watch. This "darkness" however, made way for the next era. Click below to continue reading. The Vulnerable Era As Spider-Man was preparing to end, Batman began...again. Batman himself has a more grittier undertone than most superheroes, but Batman Begins took that underlying grit and sucked up any light in its wake. Not only was the darkness more apparent in films leading up to the present, but the pain in each hero was clear. Iron Man, Wolverine, and even The Hulk were plagued by some facet of their personality, which was brought directly into the plot. There were still explosions galore, but human feelings came into play more than ever before due to the desire for more thought-provoking and emotional films. In hard times, audiences wanted to see icons of strength fall to their knees as well to make them feel better about themselves. If a superhero could rise after being completely broken, so could they. The obvious examples of the current era are The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, but even The Avengers had moments of serious dialogue exploring more of what each hero saw as pain. In The Amazing Spider-Man, delinquent-hipster-Peter was more troubled than the traditional webslinger even with all the snazzy remarks. The heroes of this era also act more independently and are not too focused on what was traditionally "right". In the end, these superhero films are more about the reality of the situation and the fear of failure, something past heroes dared not fathom. The female characters were becoming more useful as well due to the ever-narrowing gap of gender roles. No longer do they get thrown off every building in town screaming for dear life. For the most part, they end up providing support even in the face of battle. The villains also have an origin story, though often not as explored as their nemeses. The development of their origins are much like the superhero's development in the previous era - it's there, but just to get things started. Looking into the future, the concept of a superhero will continue to become more human to the point where the audience will actually believe they're simply watching an action or drama film instead of the sub-genre of superhero film. It would also be of no surprise if villains themselves ended up fronting their own films seeing as how the word "dark" these days has a slightly positive connotation when it comes to critiquing a film. With a whole line of superhero films on the horizon, we'll see if these predictions are indeed correct as we go into the inevitable dark era.