As I was writing the box office report for the Fantastic 4: First Steps film, it popped into my head that what we call "Superhero fatigue" isn't fatigue, per se. I've never actually liked that phrase because you'll still see large groups of people show up for superhero movies worth getting excited about, like a Spider-Man release.
However, Fantastic 4 and Superman didn't exactly pull in the numbers Marvel would have in its hey-day, which would suggest that there is a fatigue there. I'm not sure entirely sure fatigue makes up the whole. To be honest, I think it's that superheroes have just lost their novelty.
We've had superhero movies for decades, but Marvel made it into something of a cultural event. It was a continuation of a story that featured incredible locations, heroes, beloved individuals, and all of it led up to a confrontation with long-teased villain. It was an undertaking that required insane piles of money, time, and dedication from both studios and fans alike.
It was such a cultural force, that studios tried to replicate it repeatedly, and not just in the superhero genre. Universal attempted to create a Dark Universe with all its old horror properties, and they even put Tom Cruise at the center of it. The Godzilla franchise and the "Monsterverse" is also a product of an attempt to create a Marvel equivalent with kaiju.
But after Endgame, the luster on this genre rubbed off. The cultural aspect of it ran its course and people began shrugging it off. If Disney-Marvel had never turned the MCU into a billboard for modern politics, it might have gone on a little bit longer, but I think the end-result would've been the same.
Superheroes are just common now. It's not superhero fatigue so much as it is superhero normalcy. It wasn't some grand event that made the superhero genre dive in popularity. The pendulum just swung is all.
Will it ever be the top dog again? Maybe one day. The law of undulation is absolute, but Hollywood now has the task of finding its next new novelty item. The question is, what will it be?
I have a prediction...
Comedy.
Again, comedy isn't necessarily something Hollywood ever stopped making, but it was something it stopped doing well and with other genres taking up all the action in the room, comedies began falling to the wayside.
It also doesn't help that we went through an age of insuperability, where comedy was practically outlawed by leftists who thought you couldn't punch anywhere but up, and "up" was a very subjective place.
Think hard. Can you name a single comedy that really left an impact on the culture in the past five years? There have been comedies, but how many can you think of on your own?
The top one is likely going to be Barbie, but while it was a comedy, it wasn't exactly one that left a lasting impact. You don't find people quoting it or referencing it often. Free Guy, No Hard Feelings? Decent enough, but not actually moving needles.
But I do think we're entering an age where laughing is acceptable again, and making off-color jokes is something people seem to be craving.
Enter The Naked Gun, which currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, this might not mean much as Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews are usually disconnected from what the public actually thinks, but this is a unique moment in that critics actually think a comedy is good.
This new film is something of a "rebootquel," with Leslie Nielson's Frank Drebin's son "Frank Drebin Jr." taking over, and being played by Liam Neeson, an actor usually reserved for serious roles. He delivers a deadpan performance that perfectly fits this style of comedy.
So far, people I do trust are saying this is a fun movie.
Do I think this movie will give us the laughter we once got out of the original Naked Gun films, or Austin Powers, or even Blazing Saddles? Not really.
What I'm counting on is that this film gives Hollywood the all-clear to start making real comedies again that actually will cause us to belly laugh and quote it later. Hollywood is a fickle, risk-averse kind of industry, and if this film does well then it will encourage more comedies to be made. It might even give birth to the resurgence of the rom-com.
And I think that's desperately needed for the Western World. We spent so long taking ourselves seriously that I think we could all just relax and laugh for a minute.
Time will obviously tell. I'll see the movie myself and let you know if it's worth it the first moment I can. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed.
