Credit: (Left) Marvel Studios, (Middle) DC / Warner Bros., (Right) @JamesGunn TwitterThere’s no denying that audiences are growing increasingly tired of superhero movies, which is something that’s been brewing for some time now, particularly since the Marvel Cinematic Universe reached its peak with the incredible Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Since then, the MCU has experienced a downturn in both quality and audience engagement. Many fans, perhaps even Marvel themselves, will say that it’s “superhero fatigue”, and though this is obviously the case, it also feels like an excuse to hide the fact that most of the films and television shows the studio has churned out in the last four years have been bad. You only need to look at Phase Four to see what we’re talking about, while Phase Five is already off to a bad start with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
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Not only are audiences and critics growing tired of superhero movies, the box office figures are starting to speak for themselves, and the same can be said about the DC Universe films, with its most recent release Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), which feels as generic as they come, turning in an underwhelming profit at movie theaters. But is the problem superhero movies in general, or just bad superhero movies?
Well, newly-appointed DC Studios’ co-CEO James Gunn, who has directed his fair share of superhero movies, from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) to The Suicide Squad (2021), has a lot to say on the matter.
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Earlier this year, Gunn announced that the DC Universe is getting a major do-over, with upcoming film The Flash (2023) serving as a wiping-of-the-slate, as it’s set to literally reset the DC Universe, thus allowing for a new continuity of films and television shows to replace previous DCU films such as Man of Steel (2013), Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017), and Justice League (2021), to name a few.
The first wave of films will fall under the umbrella title “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters”, similar to the MCU’s “The Infinity Saga”, which will include both a Superman reboot titled Superman Legacy (2025) and a Batman reboot titled The Brave and the Bold (TBA).
But is it all a little too late? In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Gunn agrees that there is such a thing as “superhero fatigue”, however, he doesn’t believe it’s as straight forward as people simply being bored with the genre itself.
“I think it doesn’t have anything to do with superheroes,” he said. “It has to do with the kind of stories that get to be told, and if you lose your eye on the ball, which is character. We love Superman. We love Batman. We love Iron Man. Because they’re these incredible characters that we have in our hearts. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense on-screen, it gets really boring.”
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Gunn obviously has a point, however, it’s possible that we’re all feeling a little burnt out by superhero movies in general. With that said, The Flash has already received glowing reviews from movie star Tom Cruise, who last year “saved cinema” with the box office titan Top Gun: Maverick (2022), and Ben Affleck, who reprises his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming film.
These kinds of endorsements will likely see fans flock to movie theaters — and perhaps it’s just what the film needs to stand a chance. Otherwise, despite the fact that The Flash does look pretty good, without these reviews, it’s possible the film is destined for some measure of failure, largely because the interest simply isn’t as strong as it was a few years back.
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Gunn went on, saying, “But I get fatigued by most spectacle films, by the grind of not having an emotionally grounded story. It doesn’t have anything to do with whether they’re superhero movies or not. If you don’t have a story at the base of it, just watching things bash each other, no matter how clever those bashing moments are, no matter how clever the designs and the VFX are, it just gets fatiguing, and I think that’s very, very real.”
Though Gunn has his feet firmly under the desk over at DC Studios, his final Marvel installment Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) will be released on May 5, this year. Could the superhero genre pick itself up, or has the audience already snapped its fingers Thanos-style? Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure — somehow, DC finally has an actual plan in place, which is more than what we can say about Marvel these days.
Check out the official trailer for The Flash below:
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The Flash releases in theaters on June 16. As per Wikipedia, here’s the synopsis for the DCU film:
Barry Allen/The Flash travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, which traps him in an alternate reality without metahumans. He enlists the help of Batman and the Kryptonian castaway Supergirl from alternate realities in order to save this world from the restored General Zod and return to his universe.
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The Flash stars Ezra Miller (Barry Allen/The Flash), Sasha Calle (Kara Zor-El/Supergirl), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Ron Livingston (Henry Allen), Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne/Batman), and Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne/Batman).
The Flash releases in theaters on June 16.
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What do you think James Gunn needs to do with the new DC Universe to end “superhero fatigue”? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!