Superhero Fatigue Syndrome
From Salon:
This is what happens when you put studio executives in charge of making movies: Despite being a truly middling summer blockbuster (and doing pretty terrible in the international market), Warner Bros. studios is convinced that it can squeeze some money out of a “Green Lantern” sequel.
In fact, the studio’s president Jeff Robinov — not the screenwriters, and not director Martin Campbell, who may or may not be fired anyway — has already promised us an “edgier,” “darker” movie:
“To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action … And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth.”
I somehow doubt that the Earth-space ratio is what killed this movie. Perhaps Ryan Reynolds’ face just doesn’t translate well in foreign countries. Or maybe part of the issue can be found by looking at the huge push by DC Comics and Warner Bros. to remind their audiences who the Green Lantern is. (As long as you put it on a Subway cup, they will come.)
I could even go out on a limb here and say that maybe everyone, barring studio heads at Warner Bros. and Marvel, is suffering from immense Superhero Fatigue Syndrome (SFS). With “Thor’s” rainbow bridge starting off the summer, followed by “X-Men: First Class,” “Green Lantern” and “Captain America” (not to mention the upcoming release of “The Avengers,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” and Zac Snyder’s “Man of Steel”), our movie theaters are filled with more colorful bodysuits than a Blue Man Group show in Vegas. Roger Ebert noted earlier this year, “As the leadership of many studios is taken from creators and assigned to marketers, nothing is harder to get financed than an original idea, or easier than a retread.”
SFS: Superhero Fatigue Syndrome.
You know what condition I have? TATASASFS: Talking And Talking About Superheroes And Superhero Fatigue Syndrome.
So until further notice or a really good analysis comes along about this subject, I am done talking about superheroes, their impact on movies, contemporary cultures, and rabbits with sharp pointy teeth.
As long as Hollywood thinks they can make money off superheroes, they will keep making superhero movies.
For more of the Salon article, go here.