Bats and Beasts and Spiders, OH MY!

     The 21^st century sure is a good time to be a comic book fan, because (incase you haven’t noticed) just about every stinkin’ superhero you can find on a bookshelf has been featured in a film within the past ten years. As most moviegoers know, the only superheroes to be featured in successful, popular franchises in cinematic history were DC giants Superman and Batman. Now, Marvel leads the bandwagon with the incredibly successful Spiderman and X-Men franchises. But of course, what’s showbiz without competition? Batman and Superman both are back, but have not performed anywhere close to the Marvel heroes in terms of box office. And thanks to the performance of their better known stars, Marvel has launched other franchises such as the recognizable Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, and even Daredevil. And, you guessed it, to compete with Marvels ever-growing slate of movies (upcoming movies include Ghost Rider and Spiderman 3), both a Batman and Superman sequel are on the way. Not to mention the smaller comic book company icons such as Hellboy are even returning with sequels…

     Now stop for a second, and scan the paragraph above…how many superheroes can you spot in the text? And I didn’t even mention others like The Punisher, Tomb Raider, Elektra, and The Incredibles. If you haven’t clued into the point of this article already…..THAT’S A LOT OF FREAKIN HEROES! The new comic book movie age started with X-Men in 2000, after comic book movies disappeared for a good half-decade because of the utter crap that was Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin. Since 2000, we’ve been treated to over twenty-five comic book oriented movies! Not that I’m complaining or anything…I absolutely love comic book movies (and comic books themselves). Hell, I wish I could just slip into a coma tonight and awake when Spiderman 3 comes out next May. All right, all right…Ill stop ranting…Here’s the question: Is it too much, and is the comic book movie genre already becoming ‘burnt-out’? OR are solid scripts, like the Spiderman series and Batman Begins, keeping the genre fresh enough for it to continue?

What do you think?