This may seem like a redundant question to ask considering the success of Deadpool and Wolverine but the release of Joker 2 fell flat on its face and considering that the first one made over a billion at the box office and became the highest grossing R rated movie of all time, the sequel flopping is a shock to many.
Now, there is a range of things that play into the failure that is Joker: Folie à Deux and the reviews before its general release are one of the biggest reasons. With the release of the 2019 Joker, we saw critic and fan reactions do a lot of the promotion for the film and with the sequel being released and bombed by critics fans instantly became less interested and therefore the film flopped.
What Can Superhero Films Take From The Joker Films?
Keeping this as quick as possible, there are a few things that other superhero films could take from Joker and its sequel and the biggest is the look. Joker and Joker: Folie à Deux are stunning films to look at. It is one of the biggest aspects of the film and if more Superhero films used talented cinematographers and directors, we would see superhero films get more love than they are right now.
This Year In Superhero Films
This year has been surprisingly slow for superhero films with Marvel deciding to only release one film for the first time in years. As Marvel saw their films flop and become more hated by fans, they decided to only release Deadpool and Wolverine and use this year as a recent year for future projects.
There have been a few releases this year for superhero films with the bulk coming from Sony. Madame Web caused a huge stir and within the next two months, we have Venom 3 and Kraven The Hunter.
The excitement for these films could not be any lower, however, Venom as a horse does interest us and makes us wonder if he’ll appear on any upcoming race cards at Boylesports. Humor aside, this year's superhero films have been a mess and hopefully, this reset year will make future projects all the better.
What Could Help These Films?
This may seem like a juxtaposition to everything we have said but I do think that the future of the superhero genre could, keyword there, COULD be bright. One of the best superhero directors of all time is James Gunn, the Guardians Trilogy and The Suicide Squad are all (bad pun incoming) marvels to watch. Now, with Gunn being the new face of the DC and completely overhauling the new era of DC films, we think that we could see a bright new future for comic book films.
The release of Gunn’s upcoming Superman film is one of my most anticipated releases of the last few years. Superman is the epitome of superheroes and the Zack Snyder interactions didn't exactly feel like what Superman is. With Gunn casting a fairly unknown main cast as the leads and fully trusting them, I think we will see the rewards of this.
David Corenswet looks like Superman and James Gunn clearly understands the character and what it means to be Superman. Hopefully, this will be clear in his film and the future of the DC will be able to spur on the success of the genre again in a way that shows care and isn't just for cash grabs.
We also have the Marvel films that are upcoming with the series being in a poor state, getting back the Russo Brothers showed clear intent from the Marvel execs and with Fantastic Four coming out next year, there is a part of us that wants to see these actors that we like have a film that is successful.