Is Superhero Fatigue Hitting Mainstream?

I have written much here that is critical of the superhero genre of film. It is a formula that requires no skill, is empty of meaning, and promotes a delusional way of thinking about the world. However, my biggest complaint is just that there is far too much of it.

Evidently, I am not wrong, because I am beginning to hear similar criticism from laypeople. If average film goers are getting burned out on superhero films, that really says something.

The biggest implication is that Hollywood may need to change course. That won’t happen overnight, for a variety of reasons. One is that Hollywood doesn’t make any kind of shift instantly. They are big and dumb and run by people who don’t actually to much thinking. Another is that Hollywood has a pipeline that is two or three years long, and even if they decided to stop making superhero films today, all of the films currently in production would continue to saturate the market for years. Another reason is that Hollywood would then need to figure out what to do instead, and how are they going to do that? It’s not like they know what their audiences want. They only stumbled on superhero films by accident.

It will be interesting to see if this continues. The industry may have some time, simply because of respite that is already occurring as a result of the pandemic. If production of superhero films was put on hold due to the pandemic, then we will only be feeling it now. If film audiences get to catch their breath, it might buy a few more years of superhero market before things hit a critical threshold.