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Is the superhero movie era finally over? Dear Darkseid, I pray it is.
By Kent R. Kroeger (June 3, 2021)
Don’t get me wrong, I love superhero movies.
I stood in line in 1978 for Superman: The Movie with a level of anticipation only surpassed later by the birth of my children and the final episode of The Sopranos.
But after 40 plus years planning my summer vacations around movie premiere dates, I’ve had enough. And, as I am starting to suspect, much of the core superhero audience may be feeling the same way.
My evidence?
It starts with the two Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV shows released on Disney+ earlier this year: WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
WandaVision, a 9-episode TV series featuring two of the more popular superheros from The Avengers’ second-tier (Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff and Vision), is Disney’s first installment for the MCU’s Phase 4. The show took a daring artistic leap (by Disney standards) when it combined a series of aesthetically spot-on tributes to some of TV history’s greatest shows (I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched) with a dark, quirky mystery story: Was Wanda, through her superpowers, creating an idealized family life with Vision in Westview, New Jersey, or was she the one being manipulated by more sinister…
