I hated Batman. No idea why.
In my pre-teen to teen years, Hollywood started toying with the idea of taking comic books and turning them into movies.
The end result wasn't that great.
There were a lot of clunkers. The Batman series started off promising then took a turn for the comical (see Jim Carrey, Arnold, Uma...) Ben Affleck as "Daredevil" was uninspiring. "Spawn" was odd. Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther was weird.
Hollywood, then, treated Comic Books like comedies.
Today, with the rise of directors who grew up on these comics, comes the rebirth of the superhero genre.It all started, in my opinion, with the Spider Man movies. They took a beloved superhero and made a serious (not hokey or pokey or lame) movie.
The ink jumped off the pages of graphic novels to the big screen thanks to huge advances in motion graphics, technology, and cameras.
X-Men followed suit, as did a new Superman movie. Batman got a three picture deal that transformed the character. Iron Man took the industry even higher, which then led to Thor, Captain America, and eventually the Avenger series.
TV profited too. Arrow, The Flash, Agents of Shield all prospered. Netflix developed a Daredevil series that is brilliant.Gotham is pushing the limits of Monday night television. It's gritty, raw, and occasionally a little funny (the perfect formula for how a comic book should be handled).
There's even talk of a Hawkgirl/Atom TV series coming in 2016 (Legends of Tomorrow). That's not to say there weren't a few clunkers along the way. Sure, no one knew how to properly tell the Hulk's story (until they figured out he's more of a bit player in the Avenger's storyline - which works). The TV show Heroes started off as a smash hit and then fizzled in a dizzying array of confusion and cuteness (there's a reboot going on now that's promising).
There will eventually be a tipping then a breaking point. Over saturation might doom the Super Hero genre as everyone scrambles to get their own (see CBS: Supergirl).
Mostly harmless.
Some people have complained that the Super Hero genre is killing Hollywood. The blockbuster is busting the art - a common phrase uttered by independent studios.Fine by me. Fine by the 10 year old version of me.
It's a good time to be a nerd.
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