Every summer more and more comic book heroes take center stage on the Big Screen. X-Men and Spider-Man turned the general public on to the genre and The Dark Night has people talking of Oscars in association with a comic book movie for the first time in history.
The original Superman movie starring an unknown actor of that time named Christopher Reeve paved the way for comic books to make the leap into major motion pictures. Later Tim Burton brought DC’s other top grosser Batman to our theaters. Michael Keaton portrayed the world’s greatest detective superbly though fans initially objected when Keaton was cast as the dark knight. Jack Nicholson stole the show with his performance as the Joker and was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actor.
Comic Book Movie Flops
Not all of our favorite characters had such success when making the leap to the big screen:
- Swamp Thing was adapted to the big screen by Wes Craven without his Freddy-like success.
- The Punisher starring Dolf Lungdren lacked good characterization and believability.
- Dick Tracy in some circles is seen as not a total failure but the box office sales were abysmal.
- Supergirl suffered greatly in the box office and home video sales were almost non-existent.
- The 1990 movie Captain America didn't even make it to theaters.
- The Fantastic Four of 1991 wasn't even released to home video.
Many of the problems these movies faced were due to the insufficient special effects technologies available at the time they were produced, but also screenplays lacked solid character development and believable dialogue. The Superman and Batman movies were successful movies despite the poor special effects technologies of the times they were made because they had excellent screenplays, good directors and solid casting.
It wasn’t until technology advanced to the point it’s at today that filmmakers could once again create successful comic book films. X-Men had great success in the box office which can be attributed to many factors:
- A great cast consisting of fan favorites coupled with an upcoming highly praised director.
- Being another of the most popular long-running comic book titles.
- Like Batman and Superman it had previous success in television as an animated cartoon series.
- the special effects for the film weren't hokey and unbelievable. When Wolverine's claws unsheathed for the first time, a collective breath was drawn and held in theaters because it looked real.
Toby McGuire portrayed another iconic comic book hero in 2002. Spider-Man was nominated for two academy awards and started a very successful franchise. Sin City was also met with general applause from the public. With technology able to recreate the special abilities and powers of comic book characters and serious actors willing to portray the characters, comic book films are going to become even more prevalent in the movie industry especially considering the amount of money they make for producers.
Heath Ledger is being pushed by the Warner Bro. studio to be posthumously awarded an Oscar for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight has been a huge success both critically and commercially. Christopher Nolan has brought a visionary’s style to the genre.
John Favreau’s Ironman was similarly successful this last summer and will become Marvel’s next big movie franchise with plans for Ironman II and Ironman’s appearance in the Avenger Initiative. Marvel also plans on releasing Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, so be on the lookout for your favorite comic book hero. You might be watching it in theaters soon.
