Why I Love Superhero Movies (& Don't Want To See Them Go Away)

Hello everybody!!!

That's right, the one, the only, Patrick Webb of Tug & Tram Blogging is still alive! I'm not dead, I haven't been kidnapped by aliens, and I'm not crazy! (yet)

Jokes aside, I hope you're all doing well. I wish I could've given you all a newer post sooner, but life has been crazy recently, mostly in regards to college. I just survived Midterm Week, and OH BOY, was that shit bananas!

Post-Mid Terms, I felt a little exhausted, so I didn't immediately jump in yet to writing. But, I've had a few days to rest, and I'm ready to jump into the blogging game again.

All right, as you can read from the title of this blog, I'm going to be discussing superhero movies. I got this idea mostly from the recent "controversy" (if you can call it that) of celebrities voicing their disdain for superhero movies, in particular Marvel.

First it was Martin Scorsese, who compared Marvel movies to theme parks, and said they're not cinema. Then, Jennifer Aniston voiced her disdain for Marvel movies, and believes they're pushing out other creators. Martin Scorsese and Jennifer Aniston both kept their criticism polite, unlike a certain IndieWire writer who really bashed Marvel. If you want to read the articles, I'll leave the links below this paragraph.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/martin-scorsese-marvel-theme-parks-1203360075/  

www.ladbible.com/entertainment/film-and-tv-jennifer-aniston-thinks-there-should-be-fewer-marvel-movies-20191010

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/marvel-martin-scorsese-theme-parks-avengers-endgame-robert-downey-jr-a9150396.html 

DISCLAIMER: There would be some minor spoilers for Marvel and DC movies, so read at your own risk. I'll even put the asterixes to warn you.

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So, why do I love superhero movies? And why are they important to me?

The earliest superhero films I remember seeing are Batman (1989), Superman The Motion Picture, Batman and Robin, and Supergirl. These movies (while not all good) influenced my love of superheroes, combined with cartoons such as Batman: TAS, Spider-Man TAS, and Spectacular Spider-Man.

When Marvel started making movies, I was curious. By 2008 I was curious about Iron Man. I'd only read a few Iron Man comics, and didn't know a lot about him. When I finally saw the movie, combined with Captain America: The First Avenger, I became HOOKED on the characters. I started reading more about Marvel, and learned about the characters from the movies.

Superhero films had a big impact on me. They're the reason why I decided to start writing superhero stories and create new characters. Without Marvel and DC's movies, I wouldn't be who I am today.

But are Superhero movies all the same? Are they, as the Independent Writer Caspar Salmon wrote, "action figures going bang in the sky," produced like a factory? No, of course not!!

Now Caspar Salmon is allowed to have their opinion (I certainly disagree), but I think Salmon's criticisms are too harsh.

Superhero films SHOULD be considered part of the canon, or just simply cinema. And why shouldn't they? That's like saying science fiction movies shouldn't be considered cinema because Star Wars has a similar aesthetic and the good guy always wins!!

Granted, Marvel has produced a lot of movies in a short amount of time, but shouldn't that be congratulated? They've figured out how to produce films that resonate with people, employ very talented people, and keep their continuity while doing so. Marvel Studios certainly isn't perfect (the unfair firing of James Gunn comes to mind) but no studio is flawless.

Now let's discuss the characters. To call the superheroes action figures or figurines is just unfair. Continuing my Star Wars metaphor, are we going to call characters like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Lea, and Rey just "action figures?" Of course not.

Sure, they sell toys, but that doesn't mean the characters are flat. We see superheroes struggle: Captain America struggles to keep following a government that's no longer aligned with his views, Thor loses his whole world, Hawkeye his family, I could go on, but for the sake of flow, I won't.

Next, let's discuss genre. Superhero films have in a way become a genre. But I don't think that's a fair description, it's slightly limiting. Superhero films can be apart of any genre.

Thor: Ragnorok, Hellboy and Aquaman can combine fantasy (and in Ragnorok's case sci-fi as well) with superheroes.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and again Thor: Ragnorok, Captain Marvel, combine science fiction to create new worlds.

Captain America: The First Avenger, Wonder Woman, the to be released Wonder Woman 1984, and even the new Joker movie (which I'm going to see today) can be time pieces that give us not just a look at the characters but a different time and provide more material for storytelling.

Superheroes are growing past what they used to be. They're more than just overpowered heterosexual white men, they can literally be anyone. Miles Morales, a kid with parents of different ethnicities (African American and Hispanic) can be Spider-Man. Khamala Khan, the daughter of Pakistani Immigrants, can be Ms. Marvel.

They can be in any medium: they can be live action, or animated movies like Spider-Verse or the Lego Batman movie, or any of DC's great Direct to DVD movies. I love the variety of superheroes, the variety of their powers and backgrounds.

I certainly want to see more superhero movies and from different studios. I don't just want Marvel to succeed, I want all superhero films to be good and succeed (except maybe Sony, but that's because they're Sony). And I definitely don't want to only have superhero movies, that would get boring. While I understand Martin Scorsese and Jennifer Aniston's concerns, I don't think we're going to see the death of cinema because of superheroes.

That's my two cents on the "controversy," (though maybe Discussion is a better word) on superhero films. What do you think of superhero films? Who's your favorite superhero? Let me know here on Blogger (if you can figure out how to do that, Blogger doesn't seem to be great for commenting). I also have a Facebook page, Patrick Webbs Tug & Tram Blogging, which you can find here: www.facebook.com/Patrick-Webbs-Tug-Tram-Blogging-115978946451247/?ref=bookmarks

I'm also on Twitter, @ConductorPat, if you would prefer to follow me there.

Thanks for reading today's post. Remember to keep writing, and.... I'll see you on the Tramway!