Unmasked: The Future of the Superhero Genre

 

For decades, movies and television series, and even video games have introduced fans to the superhero genre in ways that are both familiar and unfamiliar. For the last 15 years, fans have been able to enjoy the 23+ movies that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe and see their favorite characters like Captain America and Iron Man fight the battles everyday citizens can not. What I love about the MCU is that you find directors like Joe and Anthony Russo and Sir Kenneth Branagh who take the genre of the superhero film and mix it with another film genre to create a unique cinematic experience for the fans. Take 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier and its sequel Captain America: Civil War for example. Both are political thrillers masked beneath superhero films. That is the genius of superhero films, especially with Marvel. You think you have seen it all and then a new director comes along that changes that for you.

While critics did not like it, I enjoyed the Dwayne Johnson film Black Adam for the same reasons I enjoy recent Marvel films. While being a superhero film at its core, Black Adam also does a good job of mixing elements of a political thriller in a way that makes you feel like you are watching a movie that is what happens when the National Treasure films get together with the Uncharted video games and out comes a baby in the form of this unique superhero film set in the Middle East with heroes unlike any other previously shown heroes. Black Adam did not perform well at the U.S. box office but in my opinion, while some of the blame should be on its marketing, some of it is also on the fact that many critics are so used to certain types of superhero movies that when new superhero movies come along that change the way people view the genre, they act like they are watching community theatre compared to Broadway. 

The superhero genre is ever-changing and adding new concepts like time travel and the multiverse, while also introducing characters that either have never been seen in live-action form before or have never had a film or television show made about them before. What draws me into superhero movies besides what I have mentioned before is the new way of introducing the representation of characters of different minorities. That is great because often times characters that are non-White are overlooked in favor of America's poster boy Captain America and his white counterparts in the Avengers. One film that I am sad will never see the light of day is Batgirl. Leslie Grace, a Latin-born singer-actress was slated to portray Batgirl with newly minted Oscar winner Brendan Fraser slated to play the villain Toymaker, however, due to unforeseen circumstances the movie was canceled by Warner Bros Studios. Before that happened, I had no ill will toward Warner Bros but I do now. While it is not known why Batgirl was canceled, I do believe that it is because the character is Caucasian and the actor is Latina meaning the studio was not willing to take that risk. That does not make any sense to me considering you have Anthony Mackie, an African American actor taking up the mantle of Captain America who is very much not Black. 

Depending on where you look, Batgirl was a possible victim of the new corporate strategy of HBO Max not releasing movies on their platform and in theaters, which itself does not really make any sense to me on paper. Batgirl had completed production so it's unfortunate that the movie will not have an audience. The movie was billed as an HBO Max original but then the plan changed to have the film go to theaters while simultaneously releasing on HBO Max. Warner Bros felt like they were lied to. The film's budget went well over its initial budget of $100 million and the studio felt like they would not see a return on profit. While that situation is bad, Latinx fans will get to see a superhero like them when Blue Beetle releases in theaters. Blue Beetle stars Xolo Mariduena, who is best known for his role on the Netflix series Cobra Kai, as the titular superhero and features a mainly Latinx cast including George Lopez and Raoul Trujillo while also featuring Caucasian actress Susan Sarandon in the villain role. I hold out hope that this film does not have the same reaction as Batgirl. The character of Blue Beetle is Hispanic in the comics so Xolo should be in good hands. The problem with Batgirl in the comics is that Barbara Gordon has never been a race other than Caucasian. Blue Beetle is a joint production between DC films and Warner Bros just like Batgirl and has the same HBO Max deal. I have been keeping up to date on information for both films. I was heated when I heard about what happened with Batgirl but I am feeling better with Blue Beetle because I have not heard anything about that movie being postponed or canceled or even going over the budget. Superhero movies are the future of cinema and I hope that studios can take a chance on them and not have any more DC productions get the Batgirl treatment. 

DC is under new management now that James Gunn is taking over the movie and television shows side and knowing that he used to also work in Marvel Studios as a director for all three Guardians of the Galaxy films, I know that he knows just what to do to make sure that does not happen again. Marvel and DC are both big superhero companies and both produce movies that make a ton of money, especially Marvel. DC has everything it needs to put up a fight against Marvel, but the leadership at DC Studios needs to understand what type of product the fans want to see otherwise they will always get trampled by the MCU in terms of profit. Marvel has never had a film get treatment like Batgirl, so maybe the studio should choose which studios they work with better. Warner Bros may not be the best fit given how they treated Batgirl. The people who worked on that film put their blood, sweat, and tears into making a great product, and the studio practically told them it meant nothing. I am not going to tell fans to pick sides between DC and Marvel but maybe it is good that many actors who have done both like Ryan Reynolds for example end up leaving DC for Marvel because Marvel treats them better.