Why Do People Suddenly Hate Superheroes

[CupofJoe]

Like or not*, Harry Potter is, I think, a good example of how to create a film franchise.
With each film Harry [et al] grew up and became different, slightly refreshed characters. And there was a strong creative vision behind it all.
On the other hand Fantastic Beasts is the opposite. You knew what you were getting and in the three films you just got more of the same and there wasn't the same strong vision [and will we ever get the last two of the planned series?].
* Actually I have a soft spot for the early HP films, but not so much for the last two [it should have been Neville!!!]

 

[LittleOwlbear]

I think lot of people are just oversaturated with superheroes and big franchises dominating cinema.

Also, when I want to get into a franchise, I don't want to get in half-assed, and therefore want to know all there is to the franchise, more or less. With Marvel or DC it's like studying a new subject lol. Even if it's just the MCU franchise, because it's hard to enjoy one movie, if you don't know all the subtext and deeper implication for the franchise they are refering to.

 

[Nighty_Knight]

Part of it I think is that the MCU was a unicorn. It turned out to be way more successful than the creators could have dreamt of before they started. They were lucky to get the right idea at the right time and execute it in exactly the right way. That's not something that can (easily) be replicated. Just look at the attempts by both DC and the Marvel stuff after Endgame to see that they're trying to do the same thing, but because reality changed it's not working as they hoped.

Another thing is that most of the stuff released just isn't very good. It has nothing to do with people being tired of superhero stuff.

This plays into the next bit, which is series fatigue. At some point, people stop caring about watching the next installment of police accademy. Part 5 or 6 in a series just doesn't generate as much hype with a general audience. Especially if what you release isn't good, and if you keep doing the same thing over and over again. This is slightly different with unicorns, which manage to grab an audience and leave them wanting more and more (see Harry Potter for instance). But those are the exceptions, not the rule.

So it's not so much people growing tired of superhero stuff, it's simply things returning to normal. The problem is that the film studios are lagging behind. They're still spending money like they're in the hype phase. And that disconnect creates problems.

There is a lot of truth to this as well.
Look at the Fast and Furious movies. Their box office numbers and hype grew and peaked at 7, and it has been going downhill since. It’s still doing well enough to keep making them, but for how long. (The jumped the shark for me after part 5, now they are basically spy/superhero movies).

John Wick is another series. I love this one, and it is still increasing it’s box office with each movie, but hopefully the series ends soon (at least John Wicks story) before it suffers a similar fate.

 

[evolution_rex]

Just wanted to put in my two cents here and suggest that politics actually have nothing to do with. Plenty of ‘woke’ movies fail but plenty do well, in truth there are vocal groups that attack movies that pander to ‘woke’ audiences, and when they turn out to be good nobody notices it but when the movie is bad, or has a lot of other factors that cause people to not want to see it, these vocal groups see it as a big win. Anyone remember the crying over the film Prey? Maybe a little, but it was overshadowed by the fact it was a great installment in the Predator franchise. Seriously, look at any of these movies when trailers start popping up, they’re everywhere. Barbie? People tried to hate on it, but it didn’t work. Why? It was one of the best comedies made in years.

The big thing here is that there is a huge shift in what audiences want. In the US, 9/11 changed the tone of film and television, and Covid did the same. I think this has spiraled into people just realizing that these mass marketed movies are made for the lowest common denominator. People finally want original entertainment, or at least new takes on these franchises.

All the other reasons people stated are also correct. I’d also like to point out that Marvel wrote itself into a hole with the multiverse thing. Multiverses eliminate tension. Characters can die and come back willynilly. Bad thing happened? Well in this universe it didn’t! It makes non-multiverse plots seem small and meaningless, but there are very limited things you can do with multiverse stories (Seriously, I think people are under the impression that it opens up possibilities, but most multiverse stories follow a handful of formulas). So if you’re throwing out all these movies that are either repetitive or meaningless, people are gonna get bored.

 

[SpecterOcelot]

People finally want original entertainment, or at least new takes on these franchises.

This, so much. I know for a fact I am exhausted with the trend of remakes/reboots and overly drawn out series continuations that has dominated the film industry for the last decade.
It's been said already but I would agree that it really comes down to oversaturation, combined with a total shift in the taste of younger generations media consumption. When I was young, liking Superheroes meant you were a geek and a societal outcast, and this wave of popularity really exploded when I was in high school. I think Marvel got just the right generation of children into being fans, and a lot of the revenue came from superhero movies becoming a family event at the theater. Now those children are grown, and the new generation are viewing them the same way we saw our parents favorite movies, old and outdated.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Deadpool and Wolverine will probably blow up the box office. The decline overall is multicausal, but much of it comes down to not being entertaining.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

And... Deadpool & Wolverine blow up the box office. Bad movies are the problem, not superheroes. The real supers fatigue is caused by shitty movies with lame characters and stories.

 

[pmmg]

Well....did the movie make its money because it was good, or did it make its money because Ryan Reynolds as dead pool, and to a lesser extent, Hugh Jackman as wolverine, are a big draw. Given it is the opening weekend, most people who saw it went not knowing if it was good or not. That would be reflected in the drop off after the word gets out (and maybe not even then).

So, I am not sure we can answer from an opening weekend if the quality of bad or good is in play, and if that is what is saving or hurting other movies.

 

[Ban]

Late response, but as the most casual of casual cinema-goers, I grew bored with superhero movies after the Dark Knight Rises. After a while the movie scene is just saturated for my section of the audience. I believe I went to one of the marvel films as a teenager or early twenty-something, but there wasn't an engaging story there and the focus seemed to be on endless quips and gags. That in itself could dissuade audiences. I liked them quite a bit as a kid, with the X-Men films, Kick-Ass and the Dark Knight. Perhaps audiences have simply aged out, and this generation's children are concerned with other types of media?

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Feedback from people I know who have seen it, it's pretty good. What people expect and want from the franchise.

I couldn't care less, although Wolverine is one of a few "Supers" I ever liked. Reynolds and Jackman have enough influence/power to keep the franchise in line, which is part of what I've heard from people closer to the situation.

EDIT: A funny "splat" critic review was that the "fan service grew wearisome," and then I glanced at fan #'s: 97% ripe. Now, Rottetomatoes is a flawed system, but I wonder if the fans got sick of being serviced? Probably not. Of course, my first rule when looking at RT is that the critic #'s are for amusement purposes only.

Well....did the movie make its money because it was good, or did it make its money because Ryan Reynolds as dead pool, and to a lesser extent, Hugh Jackman as wolverine, are a big draw. Given it is the opening weekend, most people who saw it went not knowing if it was good or not. That would be reflected in the drop off after the word gets out (and maybe not even then).

So, I am not sure we can answer from an opening weekend if the quality of bad or good is in play, and if that is what is saving or hurting other movies.

 

[The Kings Reflection]

When you're a kid that want's a toy and you eventually get it, after awhile, no matter how cool the toy was initially, you will want another toy.

For so long in cinema, movies had effects (practical and then CG) that weren't real enough for us to experience a suspension of disbelief, but they were well made with good stories. But for the past 15 years or so, we've had movies with graphics that were indistinguishable from reality, and more often than not, they relied mostly on visual extravagance to thrill audiences.
But that's not enough to impress us anymore. We still want superhero's, amazing CGI, hell even bathos humour, but if it doesn't have a good story I don't think anyone cares anymore. That sort of ostentatious, but shallow film making isn't going to impress people.

People aren't sick of superheros, they're sick of movies without anything to say

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I'm also sick of super heroes. Have been for years. Over a decade at least, and I didn't like that many to begin with. They simply don't entertain me.

One trouble with CGI is that is reaches a level of "perfection" that becomes imperfect—too clean maybe—and the brain doesn't accept it. Or at least mine doesn't. This is also an issue in Sci-Fi. Or in a ralated sense, the lack "reality" in a series like Wheel of Time. I never once believe the people are in a real place.

 

[pmmg]

I'm also sick of super heroes. Have been for years. Over a decade at least, and I didn't like that many to begin with. They simply don't entertain me.

One trouble with CGI is that is reaches a level of "perfection" that becomes imperfect—too clean maybe—and the brain doesn't accept it. Or at least mine doesn't. This is also an issue in Sci-Fi. Or in a related sense, the lack "reality" in a series like Wheel of Time. I never once believe the people are in a real place.

My term for this is CGI boring.

Recently, I was watching the movie 'They Were Expendable', an old John Wayne movie. In it, there is a scene where the PT boat is charging in at a destroyer, and all around it the sea is exploding, and guns are ripping holes in things. And as a viewer, there was this great sense of 'Wow, how did they film that and get is so right?'

Its totally gone today. Just a bunch of spandex dudes with a green screen and treadmills. Yawn.

 

[Prince of Spires]

For so long in cinema, movies had effects (practical and then CG) that weren't real enough for us to experience a suspension of disbelief,

I disagree with this sentiment. When we look back, the CGI and practical effects look bad. However, in the moment they were amazing (in some cases at least). I saw the rereleases of Star Wars 3-5 in cinema's, and they were wonderful. Easily good enough for me to suspend my disbelief. As were all the Star Trek movies and series. As was Superman. As were plenty of other things. (And that's before mentioning movies like The Lord of the Rings or the Matrix, which are newer though still more than 15 years old).

It's all with what you're used to. If it's as good or better than the average at the time it looks amazing and people will suspend their disbelief. If it's worse than average, people will complain.

Same with people complaining about CGI taking the lead over story by the way. That complaint has been around for 30+ years at least. And yes, in some cases directors get carried away with special effects and place them over the story. In other instances, the story was just bad and no amount of CGI could save it.

In the end, people simply forget all the bad movies (or books or songs) that were released ages ago, and only remember that one good movie per year (or less)

 

[minta]

For the very simple reason that the quality has dropped off significantly, the addition of TV shows (which are basically movies broken up into six parts) has also contributed to people's general boredom with the MCU.

 

[xena]

That's the typical cycle: people get excited about a specific type of movie, studios saturate the market, and eventually people get sick of them and want something different.