Posted in: Amazon Studios, Max, Netflix, Opinion, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: amazon, max, netflix, opinion, peacemaker, the boys, umbrella academy

Superhero Series Aren't The Problem But They Might Be The Solution

Folks are "burnt out" on superhero stuff?!? Because shows like The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Peacemaker & others prove that theory's false.

With Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) Ezra Miller-starring The Flash pulling up lame at the box office and Marvel Studios' big push towards "Secret Wars" getting off to a Downey soft (the fabric softener, not the "Robert/Jr." one) start with "Quantumania," the headlines have already started offering last rites to the superhero genre. Down with spandex! Burn the capes in the town square! There are too many superheroes on our screens! And that's when the Bleeding Cool TV Editor in me starts to get righteously pissed off because that couldn't be any further from the truth when it comes to streaming. We've got Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, Max's Peacemaker, and Amazon's The Boys & its animated adaptation of Invincible – and that's just off the top of my head (with all due respect to the recently-ended "Arrowverse" and its influential decade-plus run). In fact, maybe it's time to hit the brakes on superhero films altogether because the things that people are looking for are never going to be accomplished in a theater industry still trying to decide if it's recovered yet or not.

If you had a chance to check out DC Studios co-head & Superman: Legacy writer/director James Gunn when he visited Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, then you know that Gunn addressed the argument that there's too much superhero content. While admitting that he agreed, Gunn also brought up that a lot of that has to do with unoriginal, cookie-cutter concepts being thrown up on the screen without a focus on the story itself. In addition, Gunn made the point that superhero content needs to experiment with genres more (offering a "superhero murder mystery" as an example). While we agree with what Gunn had to say – a big problem? It was posted only days before The Flash was released. Ouch. Still, Gunn gets an "out" because the first real film we can hold him (and co-DC Studios head Peter Safran) responsible for will be 2025's Superman: Legacy. But even if The Flash was a huge red "F" on Gunn's DCU report card, that doesn't make what he had to say any less relevant. Because what he also did was make the case for why a streaming superhero future just makes sense.

Simply put? A $300M, three-hour seizure-causing flash fest isn't going to be able to give you a lot of the things that you're looking for because… folks got to get paid! These things are test-marketed to death so that they can reach as broad of an audience as possible – and that doesn't leave a lot of room for depth or nuance when it comes to storytelling. Real emotions get replaced with fan-servicing – and even then (we're looking at you, Avengers: Endgame), you can't "dare" to let the audience feel too bad for too long – even if the storyline involved the murder of half of the universe's living creatures.

I'm not saying that there aren't exceptions to the rule – both "Black Panther" films exist on an emotional & artistic level that rises above the Marvel Studios moniker. But the vast majority? Well, let me offer you a challenge. Check out Netflix's series adaptation of Dennis Liu's comic book & short film Raising Dion, and then tell me how quickly you can name five superhero films that hit as emotionally hard as that beautiful series did. I triple-dog-dare you. In fact – I can't believe I'm about to write this considering how much I've beaten up on it – I would put Netflix's Jupiter's Legacy up against more than half of the superhero films that have come out in the past 15 years. As for mixing up the themes & genres? Look back on the shows that I've named in the piece – not a lot of similarities there… ars there? I wish Marvel Studios could apply to their film side what they've been able to accomplish with streaming – with shows like WandaVision. Seriously… who saw that coming? I could see us getting to the point where films will end up being used as the big openers or finales to stories that get told over several seasons on streaming – an approach that might be exactly what the theater industry needs.

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