Is There Truly A So-Called Superhero Fatigue?

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While I did write an article a while back on the regard to something that many describe as a “superhero fatigue” I haven’t truly felt like that article was what it should have been. Yet with recent news regarding the film Avengers: Age of Ultrons under-performing than predicted and even Ant-Man seems to have the second smallest opening for the company with only The Incredible Hulk having had a lower opening weekend in the franchise, it makes one wonder how is the current situation for superhero films in general. Are we truly reaching a saturation point for superhero films or is this the quiet before the storm?

On the one hand, these box office numbers are certainly nothing terrible especially considering that Age of Ultron has still managed to join the billion dollar club this year, but while one would point out that Ant-Man only grossing $60 million in its opening weekend, do not forget this is a completely new franchise with a rather difficult to sell character.[1] Many will point out on that Guardians of the Galaxy was also quite risky to sell, but to a certain degree had quite an ensemble cast in a Star Wars-esque film in a rather mediocre box-office year in general. This year has been quite consumed by Age of Ultron, the surprise massive avalanche that was Jurassic World and even Minions making a surprise amount of money. One cannot deny though that while one would state that the low numbers for Ant-Man point to a lackluster interest in superheroes, it has only been a quiet year in general with a lot of attention also going towards some future projects.

The reason I stated this might be the quiet before the storm is simply due to various elements. First of all, in December we will see the new incarnation of Star Wars in The Force Awakens heading our direction, which will most certainly have many people focusing largely on that, but next year we have some rather massive superhero films heading our way. DC and Warner Bros. are going to release Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which could potentially draw in a massive amount of viewers and only a month later we have Captain America: Civil War, which functions as a unofficial Avengers entry due to its massive cast. These two films alone have stolen a lot of interest from this year with already some massive successes.

I have a feeling that Ant-Man will become very popular for articles to point out that especially Marvel Studios is losing its wind in the Box Office. Have already mentioned a few reasons that Ant-Man has faced some difficulty and one could also count in that the two before-mentioned films have taken in a lot of attention as SDCC’15 was just around the corner. If we are completely honest, who would have ever imagined that a character such as Ant-Man would get any attention at all and turn in a profitable weekend opener. Hell, it even made more money in the opening weekend than Terminator: Genysis did and it is quite a brand recognition behind it. There are some things that are sadly difficult to truly pin down when it comes to the unpredictability of the Box Office, something the surprise success of Guardians of the Galaxy has certainly proved last year.

Furthermore, superhero fatigue would also be depending on other elements outside of cinema, as one would also have to look at television. Daredevil has proven to be quite a success not only critically, but also might have been a bigger success for Netflix than even its flagship series, House of Cards. While some tend to point out Agents of SHIELD’s ratings are low, they are still quite a success for ABC considering that they are a female-focused network. The Flash and Arrow have seen quite a success over at CW alongside Gotham at Fox also proving to be quite a ratings puller. Only show that sadly missed the mark this year was Constantine, but one could point out that it is not exactly what one would consider a superhero show.

So, what are the chances for Fantastic Four being a success this year? That will probably be the biggest question if it will manage to make any money. Even if it makes more money than Ant-Man, it has a brand recognition due to the films that have already been released a while back. The true test for the superhero fatigue will come in the upcoming year as if the two massive films underperform will prove that just maybe the general audience might have lost its overall interest in the superhero films and they might have to reconsider their further actions. It is always difficult to say, but in my opinion there are other issues regarding the superhero franchises, especially taking the way it is treated by the academy commonly being snubbed even if they are given a nomination.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think there is a superhero fatigue? Leave a comment below and tell me your reasons for believing there is!


[1] Cf. Simanton (2015): http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4085&p=.htm, Dated: 18.07.2015.

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