2023 was terrible for superhero movies; Have they found their kryptonite or can they be reborn?

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‘The Flash’, ‘The Marvels’, ‘Blue Beetle’ and the new ‘Ant-Man’ were disappointing at the box office. The near future is bleak, but there is hope for the genre. “Do something good and people will watch.” This has more or less been the standard response from any director, screenwriter, producer or actor about possible superhero movie fatigue. By 2023, the studios have forgotten their own advice. The year was a disaster for the genre. With the exception of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, and animations such as “Spider-Man: Through the Spider-Verse”, all productions of the genre in cinemas had box office sales well below average. Among the failures (and their worldwide grosses) are: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”: US$ 476 million “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”: US$ 134 million “The Flash”: US$ 271 million “Blue Beetle “: US$ 129 million “The Marvels”: US$ 205 million The misfortune is not limited to cinema. Even hero series have suffered harsh criticism — right, “Secret Invasion”? — and highlighted a gap between the public and adaptations from Marvel or Warner, the two big studios behind the two big publishers of American comics. But why was the year so bad for a genre that has already broken the US$1 billion barrier several times? Does low quality alone explain it? And is there hope for the future? What explains such a bad year? There is a certain audience fatigue, yes, but the truth is that tolerance for weak or average films in the genre has dropped immensely since the pandemic. The reactions to “Eternals” ($402 million) or even “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($432 million) were already showing signs that even Marvel could no longer consider itself infallible. Both studio and competitor have released countless poor or mediocre productions since the genre’s explosion in popularity. Rarely has the public reacted so negatively. The horrific “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016), for example, grossed almost US$875 million. “Iron Man 3” (2013), almost as bad, broke records with its US$1.2 billion. In terms of quality, on average, the 2023 films are no worse than these last two. Okay, “The Flash” is a mistake that should never have happened, but the rest would at least recoup its investment in other years. But such a bad sequence takes its toll. Horrible films were the exception. This year, the exception became the rule. Watch the trailer for ‘The Marvels’ Integrated universes became homework Marvel was also held hostage by its MCU (acronym in English for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) — and, as a bonus, it took its distinguished competitor along with it. The case of the publisher of Spider-Man and company is worse, as the forced expansion to Disney’s streaming platform with several series throughout the year turned following the new adventures into homework. Look, “The Marvels,” for example. To understand at least the stories of the three protagonists, it was necessary to watch: “Captain Marvel”, a 2019 film; “WandaVision”, a series with nine episodes from 2021 and; “Ms. Marvel”, a series with six episodes from 2022. And that’s just to get the basics, without taking into account everything else in the construction of the publisher’s great saga that already has 33 films released. Of course, this is an extreme example. But when fun that should be casual turns into homework, it’s no surprise that fans demand the same level of dedication from studios. Ezra Miller, as Flash, and Sasha Calle, as Supergirl, in a scene from ‘The Fash’ Disclosure/Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics Problems behind the camera/off filming 2023 was also marked by a complicated year for Marvel and Warner behind the scenes. The first placed all its chips on Jonathan Majors, the actor announced as the big villain of the next phase of the MCU. After being the antagonist in “Quantumania”, he also appeared in the second season of “Loki” and was expected to star in at least one more film of his own, the announced “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty”. On the 18th, he was found guilty in a trial of attacking and harassing his ex-girlfriend. Shortly afterwards, the studio announced his dismissal, but it is still unknown how he will correct the path set. Warner has suffered since 2022 with the controversies of Ezra Miller, his Flash in theaters. Big bet for 2023, “The Flash” could not count on the actor for promotion. Okay, the problems with the film itself go far beyond the star, and all the star power in the world couldn’t save this mess, but it’s not hard to imagine how much its instability hurt the overall project. The studios still suffered — through their own fault, it is important to highlight — with strikes by actors and, to a lesser extent, by screenwriters. Without being able to use their main protagonists in interviews and actions before the premiere, “Blue Beetle” and “The Marvels” had an even bigger mountain to climb. ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ gets new trailer Is there hope? Yes there is. But not in the near future. Films like “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” show that the genre is not dead, and that the maxim “do something good and they will come” remains valid. One of the best films of the year, the animation has everything it takes to win the 2024 Oscar in its category and is Sony’s great hope for its rights to Spider-Man. On the other hand, the same studio also has potential bombs planned with “Kraven – The Hunter”, which was postponed from October 2023 to August 2024, and “Madame Teia”, scheduled for the beginning of 2024. Based on the latest starring films by Spider-Man’s villains and supporting characters, both “Venom” and “Morbius”, and in the trailers for future releases, it’s hard to believe that good things are coming. DC, on the other hand, places all its hopes on James Gunn, who said goodbye to Marvel with the only good hero film (with actors) of the year, “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3”. Announced in 2022 as one of the co-presidents of the newly formed DC Studios, the filmmaker has already announced a fresh start for the publisher’s integrated universe in cinemas and will direct and write “Superman: Legacy”. Scheduled for 2025, the Man of Steel film should be the first in the studio’s new phase. James Gunn holds an illustration of ‘Peacemaker’ Reproduction/Instagram/jamesgunn Meanwhile, Marvel is trying to organize the house. Some say the company realized that so many launches at the same time were diluting the attention of its master and guru, president Kevin Feige. In addition to rethinking its cinema strategy after Majors’ departure, the studio announced a new plan for its series, which will now have a more classic structure, with producers responsible for each story (known as showrunners in Hollywood). Disney’s purchase of Fox also gave the publisher back control over the film adaptations of some of its most popular heroes, such as the Fantastic Four and especially the X-Men. In 2023, Marvel began to give hints that the teams should appear soon in the MCU. It remains to be seen which universe it will be in: the one in 2023 or the one before.

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