Superhero film

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A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is an action, fantasy or science fiction film that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films are almost always action-oriented, and the first film of a particular character often includes a focus on the origin of the special powers including the first fight against the character's most famous archenemy or supervillain. The plot typically revolves around the efforts of the superheroes to thwart some dire peril of significant consequence.

Most superhero movies are adapted from comic books, where they are most prominent. By contrast, several films such as Darkman, The Meteor Man, Up, Up, and Away, The Incredibles, Unbreakable, Hancock, and MegaMind are original while The Green Hornet is based primarily on the original radio series and its 1960s television adaptation and Underdog is based on a classic cartoon.

History

Early years

Almost immediately after superheroes rose to prominence in comic books, they were adapted into Saturday movie serials aimed at children, starting with Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941). Serials such as Batman (1943), The Phantom (1943), Captain America (1944), and Superman (1948) followed.

In the coming decades, the decline of Saturday serials and turmoil in the comic book industry put an end to superhero motion pictures, with the exception of episodes of the television series Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves, which had been compiled for theatrical release, and Batman (1966) a big-screen extension of the Batman television series starring Adam West.[1] Other superhero films released at this time include Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968) based on the Italian supervillain character Diabolik.[2] Original superhero characters emerged in other more comedy oriented films such as the French political satire film Mr. Freedom (1969) and the American b-movies Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966) and The Wild World of Batwoman (1966).[3][4]

Later years

Richard Donner's Superman (1978), the first major superhero feature film, proved a critical success and a commercial hit. The success of Superman wore into the 1980s, as more successful entries emerged throughout the decade, beginning with Richard Lester's Superman II (1980) and ending with Tim Burton's Batman (1989).[5] Other films were released during the 1980s and 1990s including Swamp Thing (1982), Superman III (1983), Supergirl (1984), The Toxic Avenger (1985) followed by the rest of its series, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), The Punisher (1989), Dick Tracy (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), The Rocketeer (1991), Batman Returns (1992), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) which is an animated big screen spinoff of the television series Batman: The Animated Series, The Shadow (1994), Batman Forever (1995), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), The Phantom (1996), Steel (1997), Mystery Men (1999), and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997).[6][7][8] Marvel Comics' Captain America (1991) did not have a theatrical release and Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four (1994) was released neither theatrically nor on home video.[6] Alex Proyas' The Crow (1994) became the first independent comics superhero film that established a franchise.[6] As Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997) was critically panned for being too jokey and tongue-in-cheek,[9] The Crow brought in a new realm of violence absent in previous popular superhero films targeted at younger audiences and bridging a gap to the more modern action film.[10] The success of The Crow catalyzed the release of a film version of Spawn (1997), Image Comics' leading character. The success of the "darker" Image Comics characters shifted the direction of comic book movies. Marvel soon released their first film to become a franchise, Blade (1998). Blade was also a mix of a more traditional action film as well as darker superhero film with the title character having superpowers as well as carrying an assault of weaponry.[10]

The 2000s

The 2000s brought forward some of the most profitable superhero franchises in history, with Marvel Enterprises dominating the superhero film genre. It began with the surprise hit of Bryan Singer's X-Men (2000) which also became a film franchise but with less violence than the Blade series.[11] Later, one of the largest blockbusters of all time was released with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002).[12] With high ticket and DVD sales, several new superhero films were released every year in the 2000s, including Daredevil (2003), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Hulk (2003), Catwoman (2004), Hellboy (2004), The Punisher (2004), Batman Begins (2005), Fantastic Four (2005), Ghost Rider (2007), Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008) Watchmen (2009), Kick-Ass (2010) and Jonah Hex (2010).

Many sequels and spin-offs were also released throughout the decade, including Blade II (2002), X2: X-Men United (2003), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Blade: Trinity (2004), Elektra (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), TMNT (2007), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008), The Dark Knight (2008), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and Iron Man 2 (2010).

Non-Hollywood superhero films also were released including the American/Spanish production Faust: Love of the Damned (2001), Japan's Ultraman (2004), Bollywood's Krrish (2006) and Thailand's Mercury Man (2006). Several non-action film oriented superhero films were released in the 2000s with varying ranges of success.[citation needed] Brad Bird's The Incredibles (2004) for Pixar was a critically acclaimed digitally-animated family oriented superhero film.[13] Other hybrids include Sky High (2005) and Zoom (2006) which were fusions of the superhero and family film genres, My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) a combination of superhero film and a romantic comedy.[14][15]

Some series from the current and previous decades were also re-released, such as Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006).[16] Other series discarded the continuities of previously released films and began a reboot, most notably Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005) as well as Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Lexi Alexander's Punisher: War Zone (2008). Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) is unique due to the fact that it is a sequel to the first two Superman films, yet also a reboot to the third and fourth films.[17] Currently, the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight (2008) is not only the highest grossing superhero film of all time, it is also the most nominated superhero film in Academy Award history with 8 nominations with two wins for sound editing and best supporting actor for Heath Ledger and also one of the highest grossing films of all time.[18]

The 2010s

In 2010, Matthew Vaughn's adaption of Kick-Ass was released, followed by Iron Man 2 a month later. Following references to the "Avenger initiative" in the Iron Man films and The Incredible Hulk, Marvel released Thor on May 6, 2011.[19]. Additional 2011 films include The Green Hornet (2011), Thor (2011), Green Lantern (2011), Griff the Invisible (2011), X-Men: First Class (2011) and Captain America (2011). Projected movies include Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel, The Dark Knight Rises (2012) as well as a Spider-Man reboot titled The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and the next Superman installment to be directed by Zach Snyder, Man of Steel (2012).

Upcoming projects

A Superman Returns sequel was planned for 2009 but delayed and later scrapped in favor of a reboot.[20] Captain America: The First Avenger is planned for release on July 22, 2011, leading up to the May 2012 release of The Avengers [21] In 2008, there were reports that DC Comics planned to release Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max.[22] A film about the character Venom is in development for an unknown date.[23] Other intended releases include several X-Men spin-offs (The current one being called X-Men: First Class),[24] Silver Surfer, Ant-Man,[25] and movies regarding many DC superheroes such as Wonder Woman and the Flash.[26][27] Warner Bros. has announced that a Green Lantern film will be released on June 17, 2011, to be directed by Martin Campbell and starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, with a budget of $150 million.[28] Despite initial reports of a forthcoming Spider-Man 4 project filming was ultimately cancelled and, following new direction and different casting, plans for a reboot arose instantly.[29] A Ghost Rider sequel titled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is being planned to be released on February 17, 2012.[30]

Parody

Kinka Usher's 1999 film Mystery Men features a group of inept amateur superheroes. Kevin Smith's 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, parodies film companies' seemingly compulsive purchase of comic book film rights with "Bluntman and Chronic". In the film, the character Brodie Bruce describes the process: "After X-Men hit at the box office, the movie companies started buying out every comic property they could get their dirty little hands on". Mark Hamill's 2004 parody Comic Book: The Movie, about a comic book fan and a film adaptation of his favorite character, was released direct-to-video and achieved mild success,[citation needed] garnering a cult following among comic book readers. Craig Mazin directed the more direct parody Superhero Movie, released in 2008. Another comedic play on superheroes is The Specials, a film in which the title team is more concerned with their public image than actually being superheroes. This is filmed in an almost "mockumentary" style.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ The Staff of Scarecrow, 2004, pg. 536
  2. ^ Pavlides, Dan (Unknown). "allmovie (((Danger: Diabolik > Overview )))". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-05-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Pavlides, Dan (Unknown). "allmovie (((Mister Freedom > Overview )))". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-05-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Beldin, Fred (Unknown). "allmovie (((Rat Pfink a Boo-Boo > Review )))". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-05-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Lichtenfeld, 2007, pg. 286
  6. ^ a b c Lichtenfeld, 2007, pg. 287
  7. ^ Mannikka, Eleanor. "allmovie The Toxic Avenger > Overview )))". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  8. ^ Betzold, Michael. "allmovie (((Swamp Thing > Overview )))". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  9. ^ "Batman & Robin Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  10. ^ a b Lichtenfeld, 2007, pg. 289
  11. ^ Lichtenfeld, 2007, pg. 293
  12. ^ All Time Top 1000 Grossing Films: U.S. Domestic Ranks
  13. ^ "The Incredibles Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-06-15. [dead link]
  14. ^ Deming, Mark. "allmovie (((Sky High > Overview )))". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  15. ^ Seibert, Perry. "allmovie (((My Super Ex-Girlfriend > Overview )))". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  16. ^ Wheeler, Jeremy. "(Superman Returns > Overview )". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  17. ^ Huver, Scott. "The Incredible Hulk: A Smashing Sampling of Scenes - Superhero Hype!". Superhero Hype!. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  18. ^ "All Time Box Office Domestic Gross". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
  19. ^ Pamela McClintock (2010-01-06). "'Thor' set to bow May 6, 2011". Variety. Retrieved 2010-05-30. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Lauren A.E. Schuker (2008-08-22). "Warner Bets on Fewer, Bigger Movies". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  21. ^ http://www.greenhornetmovie.com/
  22. ^ Adler, Shawn. "Green Arrow Plans Jail Break With Help From Joker, Lex Luthor In Upcoming Film". MTV. August 13, 2008.
  23. ^ "Gary Ross to Re-write/Direct Venom Spin-off?". Atomicpopcorn.net. 2009-10-08.
  24. ^ Rob Allstetter (2009-04-14). "Lauren Shuler Donner talks X-Men: First Class". Comics Continuum. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  25. ^ "Exclusive: Edgar Wright Talks Ant-Man". SuperHeroHype.com. 2006-07-26. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
  26. ^ Brian Linder (2001-01-24). "Wonder Woman Scribe Chosen". IGN. Retrieved 2006-08-01.
  27. ^ Claude Brodesser (2004-12-16). "WB shines Flash light". Variety. Retrieved 2007-02-12. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ http://io9.com/5214629/almost-all-systems-green-for-lantern-movie/
  29. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: 'Spider-Man 4' Scrapped; Sam Rami & Tobey Maguire & Cast Out; Franchise Reboot for 2012". Deadline Hollywood. January 11, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  30. ^ Peter Sciretta (2007-02-10). "Ghost Rider 2 Announced". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2007-02-10.

Bibliography

External links

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