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The Avengers and Superheroes: From Dreams to Reality

Although The Avengers will soon take American moviegoers by storm, a superhero movie with an ensemble cast was only a dream in the not too distant past.

Prior to the many advances in film technology, there was a time when superhero movies prompted studio executives to roll their eyes in laughter. Although the Batman franchise led the comic book charge on the big screen throughout the 1990s, superhero movies just couldn’t be done right in order to win over die-hard fans. Boy, how the times have changed!

Back in 1997 when I first started in the online world with the former #1 movie website, Corona’s Coming Attractions, the comic book industry was dying a slow and painful death. It was nothing like it is today. Comic book sales were in the crapper and stores were closing by the week, even Marvel declared bankruptcy in 1997.

Superhero movies, much like the fans, were on the outside looking in at all of the popular kids on the big screen. At that time it was the new era of Star Wars with the anticipation of The Phantom Menace between 1997 and 1999. It was also the era of The Matrix. The Avengers? Forget it. Even Spider-Man was only a pipe dream, filed away as “wouldn’t it be cool if” in the minds of fans who wanted Jim Carrey to play Peter Parker. That’s how it was for almost all superhero projects back then. The Avengers was unthinkable.

It wasn’t until X-Men in 2000 when people really started to take superhero movies seriously in relation to what was possible and potential to live up to the action packed source material. And now that The Avengers is almost here, it’s clear that X-Men paved the road for what was possible with a collection of superheroes on the big screen.

Although The Avengers will set a new standard for modern superhero movies post 2012, it all began in 2000. If you look at the numbers at BoxOfficeMojo, nine out of the top ten highest grossing superhero movies came after the release of X-Men. In fact, it was the big screen debut of Spider-Man in 2002 that truly kicked the comic-to-film door wide open. Since then, despite what the detractors said over the years, superhero movies have only become more popular.

But when superhero movies exploded in the early 2000s, the prevailing thought among online experts was that it would only take one or two failed films to kill the comic book momentum. How wrong was that?

Looking back at the hatred that critics and fans had for Ang Lee’s Hulk in 2003, it’s amazing to think Hulk survived on the big screen to be in The Avengers. Despite what the critics said back in the early 2000s, the likes of Catwoman, Daredevil, Elektra, and Spawn didn’t kill the superhero sub-genre at all. Although some critics questioned Marvel’s 2005 decision to turn Iron Man into a live action film, the success of the movie set a new standard for superhero movies. And despite the negative criticism surrounding Superman Returns in 2006, Superman will fly again with the release of Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, Man of Steel.

In 2008, however, the superhero game changed forever with the release of The Dark Knight, the sequel to the 2005 hit Batman Begins. A movie sub genre that lacked credibility only a decade earlier produced the second highest grossing movie in U.S. history behind James Cameron’s Titanic (pre Avatar). The Dark Knight legitimized the credibility of superhero films on a global mainstream level. Superhero movies weren’t just for fanboys anymore, they were for everyone.

As for The Avengers becoming a reality, it was the success of Iron Man that opened the door for stand alone movies with The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. And since The Avengers will undoubtedly be a massive success, fans will likely see stand alone movies with Black Widow, Nick Fury and Hawkeye along with sequels for Captain America and Thor plus Iron Man 3. Much like X-Men in 2000, The Avengers in 2012 will serve as a major event in the evolution of superhero movies and usher in a brand new era of what’s possible.

Boy, how the times have changed!

Source:google.com