Warning: contains spoilers for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”
Most of those who saw “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” this week went in knowing exactly what to expect. Thanks to overblown marketing and buckets of hype, the movie held very few surprises for those of us who had seen even one revealing trailer.
Superman’s death at the end of the film was a shock to many moviegoers, but not in the intended way. In an interview with Buzzfeed last week, director Zack Snyder addressed his decision to kill off the Man of Steel, saying, “To me, [Superman’s death] solved so many great problems.”
He continued that on the day the first trailer was released, he scoured the internet to see whether any die-hard DC fans had guessed the eventual outcome.
“I was shocked that people did not immediately jump to the conclusion,” Snyder said. “I think they just felt like ‘That’s impossible. They’re not going to kill Superman.’”
Had Superman been guest-starring on “Game of Thrones,” perhaps we would have felt an ounce of concern over his demise. But in the DC universe, where two Superman-helmed Justice League movies are already slated for release, there is literally zero chance Superman won’t come back.
Which makes the last 30 minutes of “Batman vs. Superman” completely pointless.
Zack Snyder finished his interview by telling Buzzfeed the final shot of dirt rising off Superman’s coffin “offers a teeny bit of hope for those people who need it.” Incorrectly assuming the audience thought for a second that Clark Kent would stay dead, Snyder’s attitude reflects the biggest problem with the recent bevy of superhero franchises: the lack of stakes.
Regular moviegoers have come to understand that superhero movies are less about delivering an entertaining film and more about setting up the next few installments of each respective franchise.
Marvel and DC are equally to blame in this — rather than focusing on each individual movie as they come, every recent film is like an overblown trailer. Packed to the hilt with easter eggs, not-so-subtle references and crossover characters, many aspects of the latest superhero movies have been perplexing to audiences who aren’t familiar with the extended universe.
This problem started in a big way with Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and only got worse with DC’s latest installment. When we already know the heroes are going to team up in the end, why should we care about who punches who on the way there? Nobody is playing to win. It’s just about how many cameos and references can be packed in before the end credits — and sometimes after.
Comic book history is well versed in superhero deaths, and while it’s true characters are often killed off and revived in quick succession, that’s one aspect of comic-book tradition our screens could do without.
If you want to kill Superman, kill him. Give us a reason to care.
The problem with hugely successful superhero franchises is they can’t afford to kill off heroes for good, and based on box office revenue, they don’t need us to care — they just need us to keep buying tickets.
Most major superhero stars have multi-film contracts, which literally guarantees their survival in movie after movie. Some people speculated that Captain America may not survive “Avengers: Age of Ultron” after images of his broken shield appeared in the first trailer, but Chris Evans’ Marvel contract guaranteed he is safe for at least two more movies.
The upcoming “Captain America: Civil War” is no exception to the rule. The only thing we love more than superheroes fighting villains is superheroes fighting each other, but not when the conflict will almost certainly be resolved without casualties.
Since we know the Avengers will unite to fight Thanos in the upcoming Infinity War movies, nothing that happens in “Civil War” will be enough to split them up for good. Marvel did kill off Pietro Maximoff, a.k.a. Quicksilver, in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which was a good start, but all of the major characters remain basically invincible.
While many of us are content, if not happy, to sit through each overblown Marvel or DC installment, I have to wonder when the fatigue will set in. When it was announced that a grand total of 22 superhero films will be released in the next four years, many outlets proclaimed that “superhero fatigue” was an inevitable outcome.
I originally assumed that with movies like “Wonder Woman” and “Black Panther” on the way, I would never tire of the superhero genre. But with each recent installment, the format gets a little more tired. How much more will audiences put up with?
We can count on Superman to rise from the dead, but can he bring the superhero genre back to life with him?
