Superhero Films - The Development of the Genre

8/11/2019 Superhero Films - The Development of the Genre

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By James Wale


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The form finds itself


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The form finds itself

Extremely early superhero films existedwithin the early days of comic books,often produced as television serials.

Early films had titles such as CaptainMarvel and The Batman linking theseserials to the comics.

These films were seen as rather

experimental and didnt have hugebudgets, which created the impressionof them being cheap and tacky.


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Classic


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Classic

Two of the first Superhero films seen as classics isthe first Superman and Batman films. They areseen as hugely influential to later films such asThe Dark Knight, Man of Steel and many others.

As there were more films based on Marvelproperties in the 00s, films were released andseen as classic based on these, such asSpiderman, X-men and Iron Man as it startedthe Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Usually Superhero films are largely seen as

blockbusters and hugely successful, recentmodern day classics such as Avengers Assembleand Guardians of the Galaxy as they create alarge impact on pop culture.


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Parody


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Parody

As the early films were made on slightly lowerbudgets, early parodies featured tacky effects,.In the 1983 film The Return of CaptainInvincible parodied Captain Americas overt

patriotism, calling his enemies communists. As in the 21stCentury Superhero films becameextremely popular, films began to parody theheroes egotism (The Specials), backstories(Superhero Movie).

Other parodies showed exaggerated versionsof heroes, often putting them in violentsituations and showing real Worldconsequences (Kick Ass, Kick Ass 2, Super).


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Homage


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Homage

As Superhero films are so significant in thebox-office and have become hugelyinfluential. PIXARs film The Incrediblesfeatures homages to several heroes,including Superman, Mr. Fantastic andmany others.

Films which unite all previous characterssuch as Avengers Assemble and X-men:Days of Future Past can be seen ashomages to all their previous films, andrewards to the films fans.


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Stretching the Boundaries


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Pushing the Boundaries

Superhero Films exist in a genre which often experiments,one of the first examples of this is Scooby-Doo meetsBatman taking away all the conventions of a dark,depressing Batman film and instead replacing them with acartoon setting.

Marvel took a huge risk with their 2014 film Guardians ofthe Galaxy but it became a huge blockbuster, it featuredpreviously unknown Marvel Characters and was nothugely linked to the rest of the Cinematic Universe.

Sometimes the experiments do not work as well, such asSeth Rogans The Green Hornet which was a moderate

failure. Some have argued the film was not marketedcorrectly and was miscast, which creates a huge contrastto Marvels success.

Animated films such as Despicable Me show comicsurroundings for Super villains, creating antiheroes.


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Semantic Elements (Part 1)

Settingthe films are usually set in largecitiessuch as New York (Man of Steel,Avengers Assemble) however some takeplace in outer space and on other planets(Guardians of the Galaxy, The Green Lantern,Thor).

Soundtrackthe soundtrack is usually acombination of action-packed orchestral musicmixed with rock and alternative music. One ofthe films this is most prevalent in is Iron Man,

where the rock soundtrack helps show TonyStarks personality and even plays animportant role in some plot points.


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Semantic Elements (Part 2)

The main herothe main character (orcharacters) are heroes that gain

extraordinary powers in a variety of different

ways.

The antagonista main villain who usuallyhas powers that usually match the hero.

Costumeusually includes superhero suits

in colours you can associate with them

(Superman, The Green Hornet).


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Semantic Elements (Part 3) The love interestthe character the hero

is attracted to and finally gets into arelationship with.

The logoan image to associate with thehero (Bat-symbol, the X in X-men).

Action/ fighting scenesusually moretowards the end, fighting between theheroes and villains.

Explosions/ destructionusually bright

orange special effects, creating a sense ofaction.


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Syntactic Elements (Part 1)

Hero unsure of themselves/ what theystand forin many films the hero becomesunclear of their direction due to differentrevelations (Spiderman becoming a wrestler,Captain America fighting SHIELD in The

Winter Soldier). The hero faces lossusually someone close

to the hero dies be it a love interest or closefamily member, which could make or break

them using their powers. (The AmazingSpiderman 2, Batman, X-men)


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Syntactic Elements (Part 2)

Uniting to fight the villain - heroesovercome their differences to fight a

common foe (Avengers Assemble, X-

men, The Incredibles).

The hero is seen as a villainin the

press and by the general public the hero

is shown in a negative light (Spiderman,

X-men: Days of Future Past).

Superhero Films - The Development of the Genre

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