Are superheroes still the prominent idolized figure they once were or have audiences grown numb to the concept of role models being “super” and a “hero”?
It wasn’t too long ago that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would produce top box office hits year after year. Their superhero movies were funny and they would teach us about morals and ethics in a subtle way.
Fast forward to modern day and the same Marvel hero-based production movies aren’t generating as much of a buzz at the theaters as it used to.
The MCU’s latest movie “The Marvels” stands at number 33 ranking for the “worst opening-weekend box office numbers ($46.1 million) of any MCU film up to date” on the “Marvels Moving Ranking” list. It managed to kick the number 32 ranking, “The Incredible Hulk” 2008 remake out of last place as “The Marvels” trails behind the Hulk movie’s $55.4 million opening weekend gross.
This may have something to do with a new and younger crop of faces trying to fill the giant shoes of the previous prominent acting figures in the industry while trying to carve out a new superhero identity for themselves. It could also be the viewer’s preference of watching familiar faces (like Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, etc.) as opposed to grinding the time in to watch a newbie actor or actress trying to find their niche.
It may be superhero fatigue and the audience are just tired of the same ole rinse, wash, dry and repeat cycle of a superhero saves the day concept while looking dashing or beautiful.
To elaborate more on this, let’s pivot to another superhero production studio like Sony, which holds the exclusive rights to Spider-Man; a rare Marvel superhero entity whose rights were sold before Disney bought the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Madame Web” is Sony’s latest superhero movie in the Spider-Man universe and it made its debut in February with a gross of $15,335,860 during its opening weekend. It generated less than half of the next lowest Sony superhero movie opening debut “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 3D”, which made $35,363,376, according to the “Box Office History for Sony’s Marvel Universe Movies” article.
I believe that “The Marvels” and “Madame Web” ticket sales shortcoming at the opening weekend box office has a lot more to blame than just superhero fatigue.
It may be a combination of this and the new heroes being introduced into the MCU universe are figures that many hardcore Marvel fans may not recognize. Then you toss in a whole new generation of unfamiliar actors and actresses into this scientific concoction, and what you get at the box office are movie-goers unwillingness to pay the piper for a few hours of escape from reality.
I do believe that superhero movies are here to stay but they may not be as successful as their predecessors until these young actors and actresses fully establish their identities in Hollywood.
Either way, there will always be a need for a role model figure in our society whether it’d be someone we can relate to in real life or a superhero icon on the big screen.
