This year has seen three superhero films hit the multiplexes and not one of them has been a breakout hit. Worse yet, for Marvel’s upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger, each superhero film released this year has done worse than the one before it. That cannot be good news for Marvel as they get ready to unleash The First Avenger onto the silver screen on July 22nd.
There have been many theories why this year’s crop of comic book adaptations have failed to catch the public’s imagination. Some people argue Hollywood has done what Hollywood always does with any successful genre, and cranked out so many superhero flicks that film fans are just plain sick and tired of men wearing tights and capes and are simply burned out. I think that is partially true but then again, each of these films have opened in first place at the box office, made over $100 million domestically and that much again overseas (outside of Green Lantern which still has several more territories to open in). So obviously there are a lot of people still buying tickets to see these films.
Another common argument for the downturn at the turnstiles for comic book films is that DC and Marvel are simply going too far down the food chain when it comes to picking new titles. There isn’t any doubt it’s much easier to market Spider-Man, Batman or even X-Men than the lesser characters the two big publishers were peddling this year. Even my mother knows Spider-Man despite having never read a comic book in her life, but most people I know still think of Thor as a Norse god rather than one of Marvel’s Avengers. Unless, they’re regulars at Comic Con that is.
Still, if Marvel could make Iron Man a smash hit there isn’t any reason to believe a solid adaptation of Green Lantern couldn’t have done better at the box-office than it has so far. The man with a ring is certainly as well known as Iron Man, even if there wasn’t Black Sabbath song that could be used on Green Lantern‘s soundtrack. This is why I want to throw out another theory I think is most crucial of all.
Fans are sick and tired of the superhero origin story.
Daniel Snyder touched upon this ever so slightly in his Atlantic Monthly piece last month when he argued that comic films often waste time stating the obvious. Still, he argues origin stories “aren’t always a bad idea”. I disagree.
While we can all point to examples of origin stories that have broken the mold (such as Batman Begins and a couple other exceptions) I have three reasons as to why origin stories for comic book heroes can be done away with permanently.
- Origin stories are boring. They tend to be very similar and not all that interesting.
- Origin stories breed cynicism. When film fans discover that the movie that went to see spends more time setting up a story than telling one, they think the studios are simply trying to get them hooked to see sequels that haven’t even been produced yet.
- Most important of all, in my opinion, origin stories are totally unnecessary.
I remember my first batch of comic books. My dad bought a stack of them when my family was going on vacation so us kids would have something to read in the car. If I remember correctly, there was a Superman, a Fantastic Four and a Sergeant Rock. Blamma, Blamma, Blamma! Crock! Kapow! There might have even been an Archie and Jughead in the pile but I’m not completely sure about that.
Not one of these comics was an origin story. I didn’t need one. I didn’t care how the Fantastic Four got their powers, I just thought it was cool that Johnny Storm could spontaneously combust and fly through the air. Same thing was true for Spider-Man. It was years before I knew he got his powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider and I think I had the same reaction back then that I have today. The spider bite concept is patently ridiculous. Still, it never affected my enjoyment of the Spider-Man series.
If Hollywood really wants lesser heroes to make a splash in the marketplace they need to focus less on the origins of their powers and more on telling a great story that entertains and enthralls.
So here’s my question for the audience. Do you think audiences need an origin story to enjoy a comic book movie or do you think the superhero genre would do better without them? Do you think Captain America could potentially suffer do to being yet another origin story audiences may not be interested in?
