Superhero movies ain’t the zeitgeist-smashing hulks they used to be. At least, that’s the prevailing sentiment, both among Hollywood executives and fans of the genre. While Marvel’s cultural domination was once unmatched and even a mediocre DC movie could make a killing at the box office, the return on these comic-book-based action flicks is rapidly diminishing. Television isn’t faring much better — look at reactions to Wonder Man compared to WandaVision, which basically earned a movie-sized sequel.
So are onscreen superheroes past their prime? Not according to the showrunners of Invincible, which returns to Prime Video with its fourth season of ultra-violent, cartoon superhero adventures on March 18.
“I would argue the zeitgeist has definitely not moved on from a superhero obsession,” franchise creator Robert Kirkman tells Polygon in a video interview, “but I think the audience has become so much more accustomed to superhero stories and savvy about superhero stories.”
For Kirkman, who also wrote the original Invincible comics, the issue isn’t so much that fans are bored of superhero movies, it’s that the genre needs to evolve. Simply being a competent movie isn’t enough anymore in the way it once was.
“They were a very unique, exciting, new thing when Marvel movies started coming out two, three, four times a year,” Kirkman says. “Now, the audience has grown so accustomed to that storytelling that superhero stories need to elevate the genre. People are as hungry for superheroes as they always have been.
Kirkman’s co-showrunner, Simon Racioppa, agrees, and adds that the baseline for these movies is still pretty high. If anything, the genre is a victim of its own success. Each new release raises audience expectations for whatever comes next.
“If you want to pop out of the crowd, being a good show isn’t enough,” Racioppa says. “You need to capture something unique, or smash in some other element that hasn’t been there before, or just execute exceptionally well on all levels.”
Then again, maybe the real issue is bigger than superheroes in general. When the Marvel Cinematic Universe first touched down with 2008’s Iron Man, Netflix’s streaming service was just one year old. Back then, Tony Stark only had to compete with whatever else was in theaters at the time. Now, each new movie and show is competing with every show, movie, and video game that’s ever been made.
“When you’re on a streaming service, you’re not competing with the 10 shows being produced right now, you’re competing with every TV show that’s ever been made,” Kirkman says. “So if you’re making a sitcom, you’re right next to Friends and Seinfeld. Good luck!”
He continues: “That’s just the media landscape now. You have to figure out how to be unique and how to break through, because we’re all boxes on a streaming service that people scroll past at the end of the day, superhero or not.”
The first three episodes of Invincible season 4 debut March 18 on Prime Video.
