The Real Cause of Superhero Fatigue May Not Be Superheroes at All

Superhero fatigue was real, but perhaps audiences weren't necessarily tired of superhero movies. As I see it, "They were tired of superhero movies that weren't giving them a reason to show up."

The best superhero movies, like The Dark Knight and Black Panther, are actually about something

The best superhero movies aren't just about people with superpowers fighting each other. They're actually about something. The Dark Knight explored terrorism, surveillance, and how far we're willing to go in the name of security in a post 9/11 world.

Black Panther explored isolationism and colonialism, and asked whether a wealthy nation has a responsibility to help those beyond its borders. Both films use superheroes to say something.

Some superhero movies don't really have anything to say at all

Then you have movies that don't really have anything to say at all. They're soulless and hollow. They just feature people floating around in front of a green screen, shooting CGI lasers out of their hands at each other for two hours.

When you're getting half a dozen of these things every year, why bother going to see the one that looks exactly like that?

Making this many superhero movies means they can't all be great

The problem with making this many superhero movies is that they can't all be great. When you're constantly recycling the same basic formula, eventually some of these movies are going to start to feel a little soulless.

So, yes, superhero fatigue was real, but perhaps audiences weren't necessarily tired of superhero movies. They were tired of superhero movies that weren't giving them a reason to show up.

Do you think superhero fatigue came from the genre itself, or from films that had nothing to say?