The filmmaking business was once described to me by a professor as “the intersection of art and commerce”. The art we take in means something to us, whether it be literature, music, drawing, painting, or in this case: cinema. But can art be sincere while also being profitable? Can a superhero movie, based on corporate owned intellectual properties, be art? Can art still shine when you are making a movie with a list of expectations from both fans of the work you’re adapting and from the studio executives who hired you?
It is a fine line to walk in this modern age of superhero movies: big budget bombastic blockbuster movies that are meant to appeal to the whole family from junior to nana. Most of these movies that come out not only have to hit the “four quadrants” of an audience to help it make its money back (and then some) but also have the extra task of trying to appease the smallest but most vocal audience: fans of the comic books that the movies are based on. If that is not enough pressure, how about having to make studio executives happy while also making them money?
Piece of cake. No problem. Child’s play.
When this many factors have to be taken into consideration to make something like a Marvel movie, or restart the DC superhero movies from scratch, or even attempts to bring smaller independent creations to life like Kick-Ass, Hellboy, and Scott Pilgrim vs the World; filmmakers, craftsmen, crew, and contractors may have one of the most thankless tasks in the modern entertainment industry (bold words coming from a former PA on a network television show, shudders).
When company financial quarters are on the line and producers are breathing down the necks of writers and directors to finish a movie quickly, cheaply, and make it make money, therein lies what filmmaker Martin Scorsese, in his New York Times opinion piece Martin Scorsese: I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain, calls, “the gradual but steady elimination of risk…because, of course, the individual artist is the riskiest factor of all”. This criticism has finally made its way to the general audience in the past few years. How many YouTube videos can you find discussing “Marvel’s flop era” or “DC’s dropping the ball”? When the same type of genre movie is being pumped out as if it were on an assembly line, audiences can start to notice the cracks in the foundation. Whether it be, “hey I don’t think much thought was put into this story plot point” or “hey wait, I feel like this is the same movie as this other one I’ve seen” or “why do the visual effects look like they weren’t given enough time to look good?”, oversaturation that refuses to innovate will cease to amaze. As Scorsese writes in the op-ed, “they are everything that the films of Paul Thomas Anderson or Claire Denis or Spike Lee or Ari Aster…are not. When I watch a movie by any of those filmmakers, I know I’m going to see something absolutely new and be taken to unexpected and maybe even unnamable areas of experience.” (Martin Scorsese: I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain).
This is a criticism that filmmakers and artists have been shouting and fighting studios over for decades when it comes to bid budget studio superhero movies and it has led to the popularization of the phrase, “Superhero Fatigue” for both audiences and filmmakers.
The battle has been waging since at least the 1970s.
Famously, the director of 1978’s Superman, Richard Donnor, left the production of Superman II during filming due to the constant back and forth between him and the producing duo of Alexander and Ilya Salkind over everything from the movie’s tone to merchandising appeal. This twist led them to find a new director to reshoot over half of the movie they were already almost done with.
More recently, actor Edward Norton, multi-Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, was the leading man in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk from Marvel Studios. After this film “underperformed” (it made its money back according to movie revenue website The Numbers) and was met with mixed critical reviews, Norton famously parted ways with Marvel Studios stating the film was hampered by a weak script that he and the director kept trying to improve. Norton stated in a 2018 Comedy Central roast of actor Bruce Willis. “I thought we should make one Marvel movie as good as the worst Christopher Nolan movie, but what the hell was I thinking?” (Madappa).
So, we must ask: just where does an artist fit in the making of a product?
The answer may be to stop trying to fight the system and, instead, work within the system. Filmmakers can use that “superhero movie fatigue” to create new types of superhero stories that audiences may respond to and not realize they have been craving something new to eat. As A.D. Jameson says in his article Can Marvel Movies Be Works of Art? A Response to Martin Scorsese, “Clever artists have always found ways to make daring artworks inside a system committed to making risk-free entertainment:”.
The future of “fixing” superhero movies may be in the hands of filmmakers such as James Gunn and Matt Reeves, writer/directors who make it a point to hear what the studio wants, “We need a Superman movie that will do very well!” or “We need a Batman movie that feels different”, and with those goals in mind, form an artistic vision around it. I would say to look no further that 2022’s The Batman for an example of how one can not only make a franchise movie that is well received, but make a franchise movie that will make Martin Scorsese scream that it is “the unifying vision of individual artist” (Martin Scorsese: I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain).
Works Cited
Jameson , A D. "Can Marvel Movies Be Works of Art?" FSG, Work in Progress, 9 Jan. 2020, fsgworkinprogress.com/2020/01/09/can-marvel-movies-be-works-of-art/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
Madappa, Anushree. "Edward Norton, AKA The Incredible Hulk, Once Ripped Into MCU Saying Best Marvel Film Ranks Lower Than The Worst Christopher Nolan Movie: “I Wanted A Better Scrip." Koimoi, 12 Sept. 2024, www.koimoi.com/hollywood-news/edward-norton-aka-the-incredible-hulk-once-ripped-into-mcu-saying-best-marvel-film-ranks-lower-than-the-worst-christopher-nolan-movie-i-wanted-a-better-script/#:~:text=He%20added%2C%20%E2%80%9CI%20thought%20we,Christopher%20Nolan's%20Dark%20Knight%20Trilogy. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
Scorsese, Martin . "Martin Scorsese: I Said Marvel Movies Aren’T Cinema. Let Me Explain." The New York Times, 4 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opinion/martin-scorsese-marvel.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
"The Incredible Hulk (2008)." The Numbers, 13 Jun. 2008, www.the-numbers.com/movie/Incredible-Hulk-The#tab=summary. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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