It seems as though everyone these days has an opinion on “superhero fatigue”. According to Arrowverse creator Marc Guggenheim, the cause is that Marvel and DC are simply putting out bad movies.
A conversation around superhero fatigue has always been a tricky one to navigate, as for every genuine interlocutor there seems to be another ready to declare the genre dead just because it’s popular. Marc Guggenheim, the creator of one of the most popular superhero universes in history with the Arrowverse, has thrown his hat into the ring, saying the genre is likely to fall out of popularity like the Western and that much of the fatigue comes from bad movies from Marvel and DC:
“I think superhero movies are going to become like what Westerns are, which is… it’s a genre that you revisit every now and again,” Guggenheim spoke on The Aarthi and Siriam Show “I question how much of this is superhero movie fatigue and how much of this is not-great-superhero-movie fatigue…”
“One of the most successful movies of this year is ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ which is a [movie] with all the tropes including the multiverse and it’s a huge hit,” He continued. “Why is it such a huge hit? Because it’s done so well. I mean, it’s so good. So, I personally don’t think of it in terms of the audience is tired or not tired.”
Marc Guggenheim certainly has a point that many of Marvel and DC’s biggest flops weren’t received well by both critics and audiences. However, just as Dwayne Johnson has pointed out that Black Adam was the biggest opening of his career, the Arrowverse creator may be missing the factor of inflated budgets making movies appear to be failures. Though if this will cause the genre to go the way of the Western is something only time will tell.
From the Arrowverse to the DCU?
Stephen Amell returning as Green Arrow in the DCU would be far from the first time the Arrowverse has crossed paths with big budget DC Comics films. Ezra Miller famously appeared as his version of The Flash during the Crisis on Infinite Earths special, which also featured appearances by Robin actor Burt Ward and the cast of Titans, which had its own ties to the Shazam! films.
The final season of The Flash brought closure to the story of one of the most iconic and beloved characters in the Arrowverse. The series has been a staple of the CW network and has been widely praised for its action sequences and engaging character arcs along with its witty and heartfelt storytelling.
James Gunn and Peter Safran told journalists that their vision for the DC Universe includes locked scripts, wiggle room and a unified storyline across film, television, animation and video game projects. The two explained that the DC Universe could bring back elements from previous DC regimes, meaning that their eight-to-year plan is not a full reboot.
Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the DC Universe!
