State of the superhero

A look at the year in superhero-inspired movies, as the "genre" faces seismic shifts.

The Gist

• “Kraven the Hunter” is the latest comic-book based movie to bomb at the box office.

• Superhero movies are still a vital part of the movie business, but their reliability is changing.

• Next year, Marvel will look to build on the momentum of “Deadpool and Wolverine,” while DC will aim for a comeback after a string of flops.

After superhero movies dominated the 2010s, the “genre” is starting to slow its roll.

The latest, “Kraven the Hunter,” debuted in theaters over the weekend with just $11 million domestic, less than any of Sony’s other misbegotten Spider-Man offshoots (While “Kraven” is more of an “antihero” movie, based on a Spidey villain, we’ll categorize it as “superhero” for the purposes of this piece).

“Kraven” follows other post-pandemic superhero/comic-book movie bombs like, well, any Sony movie that isn’t a Venom; “The Marvels”; “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania;” “The Flash”; “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom;” “Joker 2”; and so on. (Three of those movies are sequels to ones that grossed over $1 billion). And even “Venom: The Last Dance” will finish its run as the lowest-grossing of the trilogy.

Industry analyst David A. Gross wrote in his newsletter regarding superhero movies: “The floor for anything less than established and extremely compelling has fallen out. That’s the new normal.” He noted that there were just four releases this year (five if you count “Joker 2”) and four are on the calendar for next year — fewer than the seven-per-year pre-pandemic average and a potential $1 billion loss for the movie industry to fill.

That’s partly why I recently argued the urgency for Hollywood to establish new movie franchises. Sure, superhero movies can still succeed; just look at “Deadpool and Wolverine,” the second-biggest movie of the year. But they aren’t as reliable as they once were. Meanwhile, movies like “Barbie,” “Super Mario,” and “Wicked” have shown an appetite for fresh (but familiar) screen IP.

Let’s take a closer look at the last two years of movies based on Marvel and DC properties, up until “Kraven” — including global box office, Rotten Tomatoes critic score, and Cinemascore grade:

• “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — $476 million; 46%; B;

• “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” — $134 million; 49%; B+

• “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” — $845 million; 82%; A

• “The Flash” — $271 million; 63%; B

• “Blue Beetle” — $130 million; 77%'; B+

• “The Marvels” — $206 million; 62%; B

• “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” — $439 million; 33%; B

• “Madame Web” — $100 million; 11%; C+

• “Deadpool and Wolverine” — $1.3 billion; 78%; A

• “Joker: Folie à Deux” — $206 million; 32%; D

• “Venom: The Last Dance” — $475 million; 41%; B-

I’d say two of those dozen movies were successful. The rest were disappointments or resounding duds that didn’t quite connect with critics or audiences alike.

Superhero cinema will attempt a comeback in 2025, despite fewer releases than what was expected pre-pandemic. Marvel will look to capitalize on the good-will and momentum from “Deadpool 3” with three new movies that are much more risky: “Captain America: Brave New World,” featuring Anthony Mackie’s first film in the role; “Thunderbolts,” starring a bunch of side characters; and “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” characters that have starred in three bombs over the last two decades.

DC will also launch its new movie universe next year with James Gunn’s “Superman.” To put into perspective how much is riding on this movie: “Deadpool and Wolverine” earned more worldwide than the last five DC movies did combined. But based on everything we know about Gunn’s plans with the new DC, it’s approaching the “shared universe” concept much differently than Marvel has or the deceased DCEU did; a Clayface movie, based on a Batman villain that’s never appeared in live-action before, is a head-scratcher — until you realize it might be a tightly budgeted horror movie written by Mike Flanagan.

Then in 2026, Avengers, Spider-Man, and Batman movies are on the calendar. As I wrote recently, this might be the first year with real pre-pandemic promise. 2025 is a test to see if the riskier superhero movies can take off; the following year is a test to see if the safe bets can still thrive.

Of course, I always urge people that if they want to spend more time with these characters, they can just open a comic book.

Beyond the Traverse

🦩 A “Barbie” sequel may or may not be in the works.

🏆 The Oscars are finally going to stream live on Hulu.

💇‍♀️ Of course Disney is making a “Tangled” live-action remake.

🇺🇸 Of course Chris Evans is returning for “Avengers: Doomsday.”