"If you’re someone who likes to go to the movies, you’ll have noticed that there have been a lot of superhero movies in the past couple of years. More than there used to be, that’s for sure." - Alex Stullman, 8th Grade
If you’re someone who likes to go to the movies, you’ll have noticed that there have been an abundance of superhero movies in the past couple of years. More than there used to be, that’s for sure. And if you’re someone who likes to watch these superhero movies, you’ll have noticed they are most definitely not as good as they used to be. Even hardcore Marvel fans are having doubts. Many are not going to see new Marvel releases because they’ve been set up for disappointment recently.
However, this isn’t just about Marvel. In light of recent DC movies, such as The Flash, Blue Beetle, and the James Gunn DC takeover, there’s much to cover in the darker equivalent of superhero movies.
Let’s start with DCs history. DC movies have been around for a lot longer than Marvel ones, when we’re talking live-action. The many actors and versions of the Batman movies are too many to list, starting with Batman: The Movie in 1966. There have also been tons of movies following Superman, and basically every hero ever, before and after Batman: The Movie. Some have been good, (Batman, 1989) and some have made me want to rip my hair out (Wonder Woman 84, 2020). DC has never really been consistent with a connecting storyline between movies, like how Marvel did with their Infinity Saga.
However, this isn’t just about Marvel. In light of recent DC movies, such as The Flash, Blue Beetle, and the James Gunn DC takeover, there’s much to cover in the darker equivalent of superhero movies.
Let’s start with DCs history. DC movies have been around for a lot longer than Marvel ones, when we’re talking live-action. The many actors and versions of the Batman movies are too many to list, starting with Batman: The Movie in 1966. There have also been tons of movies following Superman, and basically every hero ever, before and after Batman: The Movie. Some have been good, (Batman, 1989) and some have made me want to rip my hair out (Wonder Woman 84, 2020). DC has never really been consistent with a connecting storyline between movies, like how Marvel did with their Infinity Saga.
Batman: The Movie (1966)
And speaking of the Infinity Saga, Zanthe Jones-Gerachis, an 8th grader at OSA, says that’s where things started to go south. “It does seem like Marvel had taken a little bit of a downhill drop since Endgame, and the end of that - when some people died,” she states. “Ever since they killed Iron Man, it really declined.”
And Gerachis is right. Ever since the contracts of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johanssen, and Chris Evans ended, the reviews of films have gone from a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (Avengers: Endgame) to a 46% (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania). And on top of that, the steadily declining Disney+ shows are just a money grab at this point. Loki Season 2 is coming out in October, and that’s possibly the only thing to look forward to in the near future. She-Hulk was a disaster in every way possible. Instead of being the female equivalent to Bruce Banner’s Hulk, Jennifer was “stereotypical,” says Gerachis. She has a thin waist, big boobs, hardly any muscle, or not in any way that might make men uncomfortable. She’s essentially become a male fantasy, just green.
And Gerachis is right. Ever since the contracts of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johanssen, and Chris Evans ended, the reviews of films have gone from a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (Avengers: Endgame) to a 46% (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania). And on top of that, the steadily declining Disney+ shows are just a money grab at this point. Loki Season 2 is coming out in October, and that’s possibly the only thing to look forward to in the near future. She-Hulk was a disaster in every way possible. Instead of being the female equivalent to Bruce Banner’s Hulk, Jennifer was “stereotypical,” says Gerachis. She has a thin waist, big boobs, hardly any muscle, or not in any way that might make men uncomfortable. She’s essentially become a male fantasy, just green.
She-Hulk (2022)
On the other side of the superhero trap, there’s DC’s second-to-latest (we’ll talk about the latest later) film, The Flash. The Flash, in short, is way too long. Or maybe it’s not, but the pacing and acting makes it feel like a lifetime. Nicky Batill, someone who thought it would be fun to watch it while waiting for her kid after school, found herself wondering, “When will this thing just end already?” When I watched it in the theater, I was wondering the exact same thing. The story (if you could call it that) is stretched paper thin, bleeding the actors and jokes dry. On top of that, they don’t even have a good main character to save everything. The fact that Barry (The Flash) is played by the controversial Ezra Miller helps no matters. I guess that’s why their main scene partner was an alternate version of themself. Leaving the theater, I couldn’t help but feel that I just wasted 2 hours and 24 minutes of my life. At least it wasn’t the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League.
The atrocity of The Flash just brings my point back to the inconsistency of the DCU, because Blue Beetle, their most recent film, destroyed all of my expectations and more. Blue Beetle, instead of being a shallow, unappealing classic DC movie, was actually really funny, and had a great message of family. The movie follows Jaime Reyes and his struggling family as they navigate the ups and downs of gentrification in their city, finding work, and, most notably, the fact that Jaime is now a superhero after some otherworldly bug decides to meld itself to his body. The plot of this film is simple and straightforward, the characters are developed and likable, (except for the villain) and there are good jokes that are well delivered.
The atrocity of The Flash just brings my point back to the inconsistency of the DCU, because Blue Beetle, their most recent film, destroyed all of my expectations and more. Blue Beetle, instead of being a shallow, unappealing classic DC movie, was actually really funny, and had a great message of family. The movie follows Jaime Reyes and his struggling family as they navigate the ups and downs of gentrification in their city, finding work, and, most notably, the fact that Jaime is now a superhero after some otherworldly bug decides to meld itself to his body. The plot of this film is simple and straightforward, the characters are developed and likable, (except for the villain) and there are good jokes that are well delivered.
Blue Beetle (2023)
Along with Blue Beetle, probably one of the most memorable films of the summer demonstrates perfect filmmaking, Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This animated masterpiece was 2 hours and 20 minutes, about the same runtime as The Flash, but while watching it in the theater, time flew by until I couldn’t believe the credits were already rolling.
The film is the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Oscar-winning adaptation that took audience’s heads clean off with incredibly creative animation styles, possibly the greatest soundtrack ever, amazing characters, and visuals that could be compared to Renaissance paintings. Well, number 2 did all of that again, growing the plot of the first, and somehow making the animation even more beautiful. (I’ve seen this movie in the theater three times.) Every panel is like a different work of art. Across The Spider-Verse is possibly the only multiverse-themed film I’ve ever seen that actually made sense, (save for Spider-Man: No Way Home) and they did that by, even with a multiversal theme, (notoriously complicated) having a straightforward plot. Here’s the main character, here’s his motives, here’s the two villains getting in his way. Here’s a problem–how will he solve it? Here are the stakes and, most importantly, here’s how everything you just saw in the last two hours ties together. Voila!
Recent superhero films like Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3, Blue Beetle, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, and The Suicide Squad demonstrate all of this while keeping to an important detail: elegant simplicity. What this means is that the plot is elegant and straightforward, while also keeping the audience’s attention and roping them in, making them care about what’s going on.
When asked what she finds important when watching a superhero film, Gerachis said, “It has to have good character development. You can’t just introduce a character and be like ‘here ya go.’ You have to be like, here’s the backstory, and here’s what they’re like, and they’re not just like every other person, they have pet peeves and they have habits, and these things, and they have faults.”
Iron Man was far from perfect- that’s what made audiences fall in love with him. (That, and his charisma.) The same goes for Captain America. Movie companies can’t just get a well-known actor, put them in a movie, give them no development or personality, and expect audiences to love them. It just doesn’t work like that, and the films are suffering in the box-office because of it.
The film is the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Oscar-winning adaptation that took audience’s heads clean off with incredibly creative animation styles, possibly the greatest soundtrack ever, amazing characters, and visuals that could be compared to Renaissance paintings. Well, number 2 did all of that again, growing the plot of the first, and somehow making the animation even more beautiful. (I’ve seen this movie in the theater three times.) Every panel is like a different work of art. Across The Spider-Verse is possibly the only multiverse-themed film I’ve ever seen that actually made sense, (save for Spider-Man: No Way Home) and they did that by, even with a multiversal theme, (notoriously complicated) having a straightforward plot. Here’s the main character, here’s his motives, here’s the two villains getting in his way. Here’s a problem–how will he solve it? Here are the stakes and, most importantly, here’s how everything you just saw in the last two hours ties together. Voila!
Recent superhero films like Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3, Blue Beetle, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, and The Suicide Squad demonstrate all of this while keeping to an important detail: elegant simplicity. What this means is that the plot is elegant and straightforward, while also keeping the audience’s attention and roping them in, making them care about what’s going on.
When asked what she finds important when watching a superhero film, Gerachis said, “It has to have good character development. You can’t just introduce a character and be like ‘here ya go.’ You have to be like, here’s the backstory, and here’s what they’re like, and they’re not just like every other person, they have pet peeves and they have habits, and these things, and they have faults.”
Iron Man was far from perfect- that’s what made audiences fall in love with him. (That, and his charisma.) The same goes for Captain America. Movie companies can’t just get a well-known actor, put them in a movie, give them no development or personality, and expect audiences to love them. It just doesn’t work like that, and the films are suffering in the box-office because of it.
