Are superhero movies actually good again?
With 'Superman' and 'The Fantastic Four' having a moment, it turns out that fans weren’t exhausted by superhero films. They were just tired of watching bad ones
WHEN SUPERHERO MOVIES were unbearably bad – I’m talking Thor riding a chariot pulled by screaming goats bad – everyone from Kevin Feige and James Gunn, to Martin Scorsese and Tom Hanks started talking about “superhero fatigue.” The gist? Audiences were tired of them. I mean, we absolutely were – Marvel served us a near-constant stream of the stuff in theatres and on Disney+. To say that weekly instalments of She-Hulk were the breaking point is an understatement. The main problem with superhero fatigue, though, is that it put the blame on the viewer. Fans weren’t exhausted by superhero movies. They were just tired of watching the bad ones.
But this summer, superhero movie studios – and their paying audience – are finally changing their tune. Offering fans a brand new starting point, DC’s Superman starring David Corenswet grossed over $500 million at the box office since its release on July 11. Meanwhile, Marvel’s stand-alone The Fantastic Four: First Steps already raked in $218 million USD in just three days. So, are superhero movies back? To me, it feels less like a question and more like a statement. Yes, superhero movies are back. Whether you like it or not.
On Monday, I sat at a screening for Fantastic Four in a theatre packed with viewers who seemed overwhelmingly excited for the latest Marvel instalment. I can’t remember more palpable buzz from my seat-mates since I saw Robert Downey Jr. walk onto the Comic Con stage wearing a Doctor Doom mask. The last decade of superhero films since Avengers: Endgame felt like one long slog of IP grabs and resurrected nostalgia, but this room felt different. Audiences laughed, ooh’d and aww’d, and walked away with big grins on their faces. What gives?
Well, it was the exact opposite reaction to the groans I heard following films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels – which both required countless hours of dedicated MCU homework before you even stepped into the theatre. Instead, Superman and The Fantastic Four are both fresh entry points into their respective comic book universes. So far, the decision to forget the past (for now!) seems to be paying off. But why are superhero movies having a moment this summer, exactly? Has the quality of superhero films drastically improved, or are audiences just desperate to fall in love with stories of good triumphing over evil again during this calamitous political moment in America?
Let’s start with the first part: are these superhero movies better than before? I’d say yes, they are. While not revolutionary – Superman and Fantastic Four are still films that follow a familiar formula about super-powered individuals who fly around and fight misguided supervillains – the quality is much improved. Marvel and DC seemingly listened to their fan’s feedback and turned around stories that had something to say beyond just setting up the next instalment. Superman is playfully busy and well-cast, while Fantastic Four finally finds a place for Marvel’s earliest comic book family. Both films are bright and colourful, with Fantastic Four boasting a whole new paint job of retrofuturistic ‘70s camp. It’s a new direction and it also looks like one. Even if it’s just a veneer – and studios will serve us more CGI slop in 2026 – it’s working.
At the same time, the villains are also easier to understand. Most of our on-screen antagonists are just lazy analogues of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Lex Luthor isn’t too far off, but it still feels good to watch Superman sock him in the face. There’s a catharsis for stories that inspire hope and kindness in the face of hate that I’m sure people are connecting with nowadays – even if Fox News laments them as “woke.”
Personally, I’m also tired of sitting through disappointing superhero movies. Like many Marvel and DC fans, I want to like Superman and Fantastic Four! These new jumping-on points feel like the perfect moment to appreciate superhero films once again.
However, positive momentum swells just as quickly as it can go away. While Superman and Fantastic Four are winning now, it’s partially because they have yet to become part of their greater cinematic universes. DC Studios head James Gunn views Superman as the launching point for his new DCU, with plenty of films and TV shows in the works . . . which he’s cranking away on instead of simply working on a Superman sequel and building the audience back first. Meanwhile, Marvel is about to add their new super-family to two new Avengers films that will absolutely require audiences to have watched 40+ MCU movies and TV shows prior to the main cross-over events.
For now, let’s just enjoy the moment.
A version of this story originally appeared on Esquire US.
Related:
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ post-credit scenes, explained
