Are You Too Superhero-Saturated For The Flash?
When it comes to superhero movies, how much is too much? Warner Bros. has announced its 2011 slate and its plans for 2012 (more on that in a minute), and they involve Green Lantern, The Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. If you think that's a whole lot of heroes to deal with from one studio over the next few years, there's even more where that came from.
In just the first seven months of 2011, audiences will get The Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Thor, X-Men: First Class, and Captain America. The latter three are top-tier Marvel franchises that will be released no more than a month apart from each other in the summer, each subsequent installment kneecapping the prior film's theatrical legs upon release (if the DC property Green Lantern hasn't done enough damage to them already).
Then, in 2012, WB has scheduled the next Batman for summer and Superman for winter and is hoping to at least add The Flash to that calendar slate. Those comic characters will be going up not just against the rebooted Spider-Man but also Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, and many more superheroes all stuffed into Marvel's mashup The Avengers -- and we're not even counting the unannounced caped crusaders who will start staking out 2012 release dates in the coming months.
Sure, this is a genre that's currently booming, but I can't help but wonder if by overfeeding the audience, studios may find fewer and fewer people looking for another helping.
Anyway, here's the WB slate for 2011, announced today at a Time Warner investors meeting:
Red Riding Hood: April 22, 2011
The Hangover 2: May 26
Green Lantern (3D): June 17
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (3D): July 15
Journey to the Center of the Earth 2 (3D): Sept. 23
Happy Feet 2 (3D): Nov. 18
New Year's Eve: Dec. 9
Sherlock Holmes 2: Dec. 16
Warner Bros. sets 'Sherlock' sequel date; 'Flash' close to greenlight [THR]
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
This will be the ULTIMATE test to see if the Comic-Con crowd really has the buying power studios try to exploit.
The true BONUS?
Fat guys in sweaty FLASH outfits at the 2013 convention.
So does this mean DC is taking Marvel's lead with The Avengers and is planning on attempting a Justice League movie?
George Miller was supposed to do a Justice League flick a while back. I remember there was talk of "skewing young" and that it wouldn't tie in with either Nolan's Batman or Superman Returns. I think that project went poof though.
I would definitely be down for a Flash movie. Provided it was done right. And preferably with Jensen Ackles as Wally West.
At what point do we start hoping that the heroes die so that we don't see them on screen again until another reboot?
I don't think it's as much of an oversaturation as you seem to think. In fact, I think the very suggestion that there's any sort of oversaturation at all is a bit sensationalistic.
As you say, the "Superhero Movie" is a GENRE. And while yes, it is "booming" in terms of how many films are being planned/released, it is still FAR less represented in any given year than the majority of other genres.
And yet, no one is talking about the over-saturation of family-friendly comedies, or horror movies, or crime dramas, or R-rated comedies... of which all categories seem to have AT LEAST one film per month.
Dang, that Flash is all ripped and Gyllenhaaled and everything.
I think its overkill, but then I am not a massive fan of super hero movies and never been into the whole comic book thing. Even so there is a huge possibility that they will over saturate the market and people will grow tired from an onslaught of super hero movies. From my perspective they should space them out over a few years to give the genre longevity rather than risking it by throwing too much at us in one go.
I heard they were developing an Aquaman movie where he successfully cleans up the BP oil spill, but then realized the plot was way too unrealistic.
the Gyllenhaal (god knows how to spell it) siblings should don the powder blue tights and be the wonder twins.
Waneta Sepich