For more than a decade now, we’ve seen an explosion of superhero movies spanning nearly every recognizable comic book character. The films have made billions for various studios across Hollywood, and are far and away the most anticipated spring/summer blockbusters every year. Though at the same time, particularly in the last few years, we’ve seen a large increase in the number of superhero TV shows. There has always been some consistent level of superheroes on TV, but the shows were spread out and never swarmed the airways the way they’re about to now. We had Wonder Woman, The Hulk, and a couple Superman variants have their own shows, but now? We have Arrow, its spin-off The Flash. We have a Supergirl show in the works. We have Agents of SHIELD, Agent Carter and four separate Marvel Netflix shows spanning Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones. And of course we have Gotham, arguably the most anticipated new show of the fall.
I thought it might be a good time to discuss how superheroes work both on TV and film, and which format seems more likely to be able to craft effective stories.
For a long while now, it’s been movies that have been able to create the best visions of superheroes onscreen. First it was the X-Men, a perfect cast that brought the mutants to life beautifully. Then it was Sam Raimis Spider-Man that showed us the best version of the webslinger ever. Then there was Nolan’s dark and gritty Batman trilogy that achieved immortality. Now it’s the era of Disney/Marvel, who cranks out steller Avengers-based movies year after year, and found success with the obscure Guardians of the Galaxy this year as well.
Movies allow for huge budgets, and therefore the special effects needed to bring these epic city-destroying, galaxy-ending plotlines to a head. TV simply can’t compete with that on a cost level, and therefore are forced to stay more grounded in reality, or severely limit the capability and effects of superpowers.
And yet, it seems as if the era of endlessly amazing superhero films might be waning just a bit. The new Spider-Man franchise isn’t great. Nolan’s Batman is dead, and now he’ll be reborn at the hands of the less capable Zack Snyder who already disappointed some with his Superman reboot. Marvel films are still going strong, but how long can they maintain this kind of momentum? Will Avengers 2 and Iron Man 4 and Thor 3 and so on end up being as good as their predecessors?
TV is a different case, as all of these shows are just kicking into gear now. I would argue that Arrow and Agents of SHIELD have made phenomenal cases for superheroes making their way to TV, even without huge budgets, as the format allows a more traditionally comic-book-y way to tell a story.
Arrow sets up season-long plotlines that read like a long comic miniseries. Agents of SHIELD had enough time to get viewers to know and love its cast, only to have one of them betray them in perhaps the biggest superhero-related shock in recent memory, film or TV. Television seasons allow us to get to know these characters intimately over the course of 12, 20, 44 episodes, and create more compelling scenarios as a result. Superhero movies are largely structured the same way, ending in some giant CGI explosion-fest, but TV can’t afford that, so they have to rely on the power of their storytelling alone. And that’s why I think you’re seeing this huge superhero explosion in the medium.
[Photos via CW and ABC]
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