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Superhero film

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Superhero movie" redirects here. For the 2008 film, see Superhero Movie.
2011 D23 Expo Marvel panel

A superhero film is a film about superheroes and their actions. Superheroes are individuals who often possess superhuman abilities or extraordinary skills. These films typically feature action, adventure, fantasy or science fiction elements. The first film about a particular character often focuses on the hero's origin story and typically introduces the hero's nemesis.

Many superhero films are adaptations, such as those based on superhero comics from popular comic book publishers, such as Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse. Some films are based on TV shows, such as the Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai franchises. The Green Hornet is based primarily on the original radio series and its 1960s television adaptation, and both Underdog and The Powerpuff Girls are based on their respective animated television series. Anime superhero films are based on manga and television shows. Some superhero films, like the RoboCop series, The Meteor Man, the Unbreakable film series, Hancock, Darkman and They Call Me Jeeg, were produced as original projects for the screen.

According to box office figures from Box Office Mojo, the highest-grossing superhero film franchises since 1967 include Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra Series, Toei Company's Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, New Line Cinema's Blade, 20th Century Fox's X-Men, Sony Pictures' Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi, the Amazing Spider-Man duology directed by Marc Webb, Pixar's The Incredibles, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). As of 2022, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had earned over $28 billion.[1][2][3]

History

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1939–1978: Early years

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Adventures of Captain Marvel (Republic Pictures, 1941)

Superhero stories gained popularity through comic books and were subsequently adapted into film serials. Early examples include Mandrake the Magician (1939), The Shadow (1940), Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), Batman (1943), The Phantom (1943), Captain America (1944), and Superman (1948).

Between 1941 and 1943, Max Fleischer Studios produced a series of animated short subjects based on the Superman comic.

In the following decades, the decline of Saturday matinee serials and issues within the comic book industry contributed to a slowdown in superhero motion pictures, with the exception of Superman and the Mole Men (1951), starring George Reeves, and Batman (1966), based on the Batman television series starring Adam West.[4] Superman and the Mole Men served as a test run for the TV series Adventures of Superman. Compilations of the series were later released theatrically.

In 1957, Shintoho produced the first film serial featuring the tokusatsu superhero character, Super Giant, marking a shift in Japanese popular culture towards masked superheroes in tokusatsu. Along with Astro Boy, the Super Giant film series significantly influenced later Japanese tokusatsu superhero films.[5] Moonlight Mask also gained popularity around that time, with six films retelling the story of the TV series.[6] Another early superhero film was Ōgon Bat (1966), a Japanese film starring Sonny Chiba based on the 1931 Kamishibai superhero Ōgon Bat.[7]

The kaiju monster, Godzilla, originally a villain, transitioned into a superhero role in the Godzilla films.[8] Described as "the original radioactive superhero" due to his nuclear origin predating Spider-Man's 1962 debut,[8] Godzilla became a hero in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964).[9] By the 1970s, Godzilla was seen as a superhero, with King of the Monsters magazine in 1977 calling him "Superhero of the '70s." Donald F. Glut described Godzilla as "the most universally popular superhero of 1977."[10]

The Ultra Series debuted in 1966 with the kaiju TV show Ultra Q. The franchise shifted focus to superheroes with Ultraman, expanding to films in 1967. Early films like Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature were compilations or theatrical releases of TV episodes. The first original Ultraman film, The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army, was co-produced with Thailand.[11]

The popularity of television superheroes in Japan led to the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises by Shotaro Ishinomori in 1971 and 1975, respectively. Like Ultraman, early Kamen Rider and Super Sentai episodes were released as films. Original Kamen Rider films before 1978 include Kamen Rider vs. Shocker, Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell, Kamen Rider V3 vs. Destron Mutants, and Five Riders vs. King Dark.

Original superhero characters appeared in comedy films like the French political satire Mr. Freedom (1969), the Polish parody Hydrozagadka (1970), and American B-movies Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966) and The Wild World of Batwoman (1966).[12][13]

1978–1998: Rising popularity with Superman, Kamen Rider, Batman, and Ultraman Zearth

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Following the success of Star Wars, Richard Donner's Superman (1978) became the first major big-budget superhero film from DC Comics and was a critical and commercial success. The same year, Toei Company's Spider-Man reimagining and the first Super Sentai crossover film, JAKQ Dengekitai vs. Gorenger, were released. Successful entries in the 1980s include Eight Riders vs. Galaxy King (1980), Kamen Rider Super-1: The Movie (1981), Richard Lester's Superman II (1981), Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1981), and Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop (1987), followed by Kamen Rider Black: Hurry to Onigashima and Kamen Rider Black: Terrifying! The Phantom House of Devil Pass (1988).

Other superhero films of the 1980s include Flash Gordon (1980), Swamp Thing (1982) and its sequel, Superman III (1983), Supergirl (1984), Masters of the Universe (1987), the Bollywood film Mr. India (1987), and The Punisher (1989). Numerous Super Sentai and Ultraman films were also released during this period.

Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) were released, and the DC Animated Universe began in 1992.[14] Superhero films of the 1990s include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequels, RoboCop 2 (1990), Darkman (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), RoboCop 3 (1993), the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), The Shadow (1994), The Mask (1994), Blankman (1994), Batman Forever (1995), Judge Dredd (1995), Tank Girl (1995), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and its sequel, Barb Wire (1996), The Phantom (1996), and Steel (1997).[15][16][17] Several Kamen Rider films were also released during this time.


Marvel Comics' Captain America (1991) bypassed theatrical release, and Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four (1994) was never officially released.[18][15] Alex Proyas' The Crow (1994) became a successful independent comic superhero franchise.[15] Spawn (1997) and Men in Black (1997) followed. While financially successful, Batman & Robin (1997) was critically panned.[19][20] Original Ultraman films became more common, with the release of Ultraman Zearth (1996) and its sequel.

1998–2008: Further rise with Blade I/II, X-Men, Raimi's Spider-Man, Daredevil, and The Dark Knight Trilogy

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Wesley Snipes starred as Blade in the Blade films.

Marvel's Blade (1998), starring Wesley Snipes, blended action and darker superhero elements.[21] Its success is seen as a factor in Marvel's increasing film production.[22][23] The popularity of the Ultraman Tiga TV series led to several films, including Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998) and Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000). The Matrix (1999), influenced by comics, cyberpunk, anime, and Hong Kong action films, impacted the superhero genre, with Adam Sternbergh of Vulture.com crediting it with setting the template for modern superhero blockbusters.[24] John Kenneth Muir, in The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, described The Matrix as revolutionary for movie visuals, paving the way for later superhero films, and credited it with making comic-book superheroes "hip".[25] Inspector Gadget and Mystery Men rounded out the decade. The Kamen Rider Kuuga TV series ushered in a new era for Kamen Rider, leading to annual film releases starting with Kamen Rider Agito: Project G4.

Hugh Jackman played Wolverine in numerous X-Men films.

The 21st century saw a rise in superhero film franchises. Following the comic book boom and successful comic book adaptations in the 1990s,[26] the success of X-Men led 20th Century Fox to license the film rights in 1994.[27] After Men in Black (1997), Columbia Pictures licensed Spider-Man in 1999.[28] X-Men (2000), directed by Bryan Singer, launched a franchise,[29] and M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable (2000) was also successful.[30][31] Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) became a major blockbuster.[32] Ultraman: The Next (2004) was released.[33]

Numerous superhero films followed in the 2000s, including Blade II (2002), Daredevil (2003), Hulk (2003), X2: X-Men United (2003), Hellboy (2004), The Punisher (2004), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Fantastic Four (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Spider-Man 3 (2007), and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). The Incredibles (2004) was a critically acclaimed animated superhero family film.[34] Other films combined superhero elements with other genres, such as Sky High (2005) and Zoom (2006) (family films)[35] and My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) (romantic comedy).[36] Reboots like Batman Begins (2005) and The Incredible Hulk (2008) emerged, along with Superman Returns (2006), a sequel and reboot. The Dark Knight (2008), directed by Christopher Nolan, achieved critical acclaim and awards recognition.


2008–present: Ubiquity with the MCU and DCEU, expansion to streaming services

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The cast of Marvel's The Avengers (2012), a commercially successful film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

2008—2014

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Iron Man (2008) launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Subsequent releases included Watchmen (2009), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Kick-Ass (2010), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Green Hornet (2011),[37] Green Lantern (2011), X-Men: First Class (2011), Thor (2011),[38] and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). 2012 saw the release of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,[39] along with Marvel's The Avengers, which became the top-grossing superhero film at the time,[40] followed by The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. Films like the X-Men and Marc Webb and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films were not originally considered a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, due to their ownership by Fox, but have since been either acquired by Marvel or incorporated under agreement and retroactively added.

Man of Steel (2013) rebooted Superman.[41] Marvel released Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) underperformed at the box office. The Wolverine (2013) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) were released, with the latter serving as a reboot of the X-Men franchise. The Invisible Boy (2014), directed by Gabriele Salvatores, won the Young Audience Award at the 2015 European Film Awards.

2015—2018

[edit]

Avengers: Age of Ultron was released in 2015. The DC Extended Universe was launched with Man of Steel, followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (20

  1. ^ Clark, Travis. "All 28 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, ranked by how much money they made at the global box office". Business Insider. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
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  3. ^ "The 84 Best Superhero Movies of All Time, Ranked by Tomatometer". Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  4. ^ The Staff of Scarecrow, 2004, pg. 536
  5. ^ Japan Pop!: Inside the World of Japanese Popular Culture, p. 262 ISBN 0-7656-0560-0
  6. ^ Galbraith, Stuart (1994). Japanese Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror Films. McFarland and Co., Inc.
  7. ^ Zack Davisson. "The First Superhero – The Golden Bat?". Comics Bulletin. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Lankes, Kevin (June 22, 2014). "Godzilla's Secret History". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  9. ^ Grebey, James (May 28, 2019). "The history of Ghidorah, Godzilla's rival for the title of King of the Monsters". Syfy Wire. NBCUniversal. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  10. ^ Glut, Donald F. (2001). "Godzilla, Saurian Superhero". Jurassic Classics: A Collection of Saurian Essays and Mesozoic Musings. McFarland & Company. pp. 225-229 (225-6). ISBN 978-0-7864-6246-9.
  11. ^ Waterhouse, Peter M.; Hellens, Roger P. (July 2015). "非コードRNAに、ペプチドがコードされていた！". Nature Digest. 12 (7): 31–32. doi:10.1038/ndigest.2015.150731. ISSN 1880-0556.
  12. ^ Pavlides, Dan. "allmovie (((Mister Freedom > Overview )))". Allmovie. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  13. ^ Beldin, Fred. "allmovie (((Rat Pfink a Boo-Boo > Review )))". Allmovie. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  14. ^ Lichtenfeld, 2007, pg. 286
  15. ^ a b c Lichtenfeld, 2007, pg. 287
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  18. ^ Ito, Robert (March 2005). "Fantastic Faux!". Los Angeles. p. 108. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  19. ^ "Batman & Robin Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
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  22. ^ "An unsung hero: How Blade helped save the comic-book movie". Blastr.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
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  24. ^ Sternbergh, Adam (February 4, 2019). "The Matrix Taught Superheroes to Fly: The Matrix laid the template for the gritty, gravity-defying, self-seriously cerebral modern blockbuster". Vulture.com. Vox Media. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  25. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2008). The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, 2d ed. McFarland & Company. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7864-3755-9.
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  28. ^ "Cameron Spun Out of Spider-Man Movie". Eonline.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
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  37. ^ "The Green Hornet – Official Site". Greenhornetmovie.com. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
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