{"id":1689,"date":"2017-07-07T10:54:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T16:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sixseeds.patheos.com\/watchinggod\/?p=1689"},"modified":"2017-07-07T10:54:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T16:54:44","slug":"spider-man-homecoming-proves-superhero-movies-never-better-cant-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2017\/07\/spider-man-homecoming-proves-superhero-movies-never-better-cant-last\/","title":{"rendered":"Spider-Man: Homecoming Proves That Superhero Movies Have Never Been Better. (But It Can’t Last.)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Years from now\u2014nay, decades\u2014film historians will look back at 2017, rub their graying goatees, adjust their monocles and say, \u201cMan, what was up with all those sequels? Who in their right mind would think anyone needed another Transformer<\/em> movie?\u201d<\/p>\n

Their next thought would surely be, \u201cBut those superhero movies were sure awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they\u2019d be right. We\u2019re unquestionably living in the golden age of cinematic superheroes, this year\u2019s been the 24-karat cherry on top.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve yet to see Disney\/Marvel\u2019s Thor: Ragnarok <\/em>(which looks delightfully unhinged in the trailers), and who knows what Warner Bros.\u2019 Justice League<\/em> will look like this November. But even if both are duds, it can\u2019t diminish what we\u2019ve seen so far. Sony\u2019s excellent Spider-Man: Homecoming <\/em>cements 2017 as the best superhero movie year ever.<\/p>\n

Sure, Homecoming<\/em> has some problems from a family perspective, but overall it\u2019s pretty delightful\u2014fun and light and true to who I think Spider-Man\/Peter Parker is. It\u2019s as much a comedy as it is an action film, and as much about growing up as it is about being a superhero. It\u2019s remarkable that another<\/em> Spider-Man franchise reboot\u2014the third in 15 years\u2014could feel so special. It\u2019s even more remarkable that this<\/em> Spider-Man film, which locks Spidey into Marvel\u2019s cinematic universe, could be made at all.<\/p>\n

See, Spider-Man belongs to Sony. All the heroes in The Avengers are part of the Disney\/Marvel entertainment leviathan. The idea that Disney and Sony would share the web-spinning superhero feels akin to the NBA\u2019s Golden State Warriors loaning Kevin Durant to the San Antonio Spurs for a few weeks.<\/p>\n

But in a dizzying display of corporate cooperation and common sense, both studios realized they had something to gain through partnership. Sony\u2019s last attempt to reboot the web-slinger fizzled, but it desperately needs that bankable franchise character to drive reliable profits year after year. Meanwhile, Disney knows that incorporating Spider-Man into its massive Marvel universe drives yet more interest to the franchise. Oh, and since Disney and Marvel still get profits from Spider-Man merchandise<\/em> (toys, clothes, toothbrushes), it behooves the studio to have a strong Spidey anyway.<\/p>\n

So Sony, knowing Disney and Marvel know a thing or two about making good superhero movies, turned the keys over for Homecoming<\/em> to Marvel\u2019s President Kevin Feige\u2014allowing Marvel to make the movie while keeping all its proceeds. Meanwhile, Marvel gets to incorporate Spider-Man into their own movies without sharing profits with Sony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought we\u2019d be able to make a Spider-Man movie set in our universe, and here we are,\u201d Feige told the Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/em>. \u201cIt truly was a dream-come-true scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unlikely partnership led to a rare win-win-win: Sony now has what looks to be a box-office hit and a strong, bankable character for years to come. Disney brings one of Marvel\u2019s greatest characters into its own universe, and Sony\u2019s movies become advertising for the wider story the studio wants to tell. And fans \u2026 well, they just get a pretty great movie in Homecoming<\/em> and appearances from Iron Man and Captain America. It\u2019s like waking up on Christmas morning and learning that there really is<\/em> a Santa Claus.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s face it, we superhero fans have been opening presents for a while. Homecoming<\/em> is the third out-of-the-park home run for the superhero genre this year<\/em>\u2014and one that illustrates not just the genre\u2019s economic power, but its rich storytelling possibilities.<\/p>\n

Logan<\/a><\/em>, is a grizzled, bloody Western\u2014an R-rated tour de force that takes a very familiar character (the X-Men\u2019s Wolverine) into some stark, startling new terrain. From a purely cinematic standpoint, I think it\u2019s the best superhero film since The Dark Knight<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Wonder Woman<\/a><\/em> is all superhero flick\u2014a pure example of what the genre does so well. But the character also feels like a throwback to the principled protagonists of the 1940s and \u201950s: the Cary Coopers, the John Waynes and Jimmy Stewarts of yore. In the midst of the movie\u2019s 21st-century bombast, it still feels old-fashioned in the best of ways.<\/p>\n

And then you\u2019ve got Homecoming<\/em>, a film that owes as much to 1980s John Hughes teen flicks as it does to the Avengers. (There\u2019s even a delightful nod to Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Add the dizzy-fun of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2<\/a><\/em> to the mix, throw in the cheeky comedy of The LEGO Batman Movie<\/em>, and you\u2019ve got a superhero year for the ages. These movies aren\u2019t just lucrative: They\u2019re good<\/em>. Those who poo-pooh superhero movies as explosion-filled pap for the masses haven\u2019t been paying attention this year.<\/p>\n

As a fan of superhero flicks, I\u2019d like to think this train\u2019ll go on forever\u2014that every year we\u2019ll see three or four or five great superhero flicks until I\u2019m watching a 83-year-old Robert Downey Jr. rise from his wheelchair and slip into his Iron Man suit again. But therein lies the problem, doesn\u2019t it? Superheroes may never grow old, but the actors playing them do. And so, frankly, do the storylines. Even though the films still make oodles of money, I wonder whether we\u2019re hitting the point of over-saturation. I wonder whether we\u2019re heading to a natural peak (perhaps Marvel\u2019s super-stuffed Infinity Wars<\/em> sequel, scheduled for 2019) that hides a cliff beyond. I remember that once upon a time, American moviegoers just couldn\u2019t get enough Westerns \u2026 until one day, they all realized en masse that they could.<\/p>\n

Maybe the future won\u2019t always be so bright for our spangled do-gooders. But for now, fans like me can savor these superheroes and the quality films they anchor. And maybe we\u2019ll look back, adjust our monocles and say, \u201cThose were the days, weren\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years from now\u2014nay, decades\u2014film historians will look back at 2017, rub their graying goatees, adjust their monocles and say, \u201cMan, what was up with all those sequels? Who in their right mind would think anyone needed another Transformer movie?\u201d Their next thought would surely be, \u201cBut those superhero movies were sure awesome.\u201d And they\u2019d be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2036,"featured_media":1690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[73,12,372,332],"class_list":["post-1689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-superheroes","tag-disney","tag-marvel","tag-spider-man","tag-superheroes"],"yoast_head":"\nSpider-Man: Homecoming Proves That Superhero Movies Have Never Been Better. 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