The New Westerns
Captain America and the Lone Ranger are more similar than they appear
Jonah Hex, an anti-hero from the DC universe.
Western films ruled Hollywood from 1930 to 1960. For nearly 30 years, Westerns were churned out at a nonstop pace. Their all-American values resonated with movie goers during this era, and is why they lasted so long. But eventually enough was enough and people got tired of seeing Westerns. Their era ended and Westerns have become a thing of the past. But a new genre has taken its place nearly 40 years later: the superhero movies.
Starting in the late 90s, superhero movies were slowly becoming main stream. No more low-budget Superman movies or cartoons, but big-budget Spiderman and X-men films. The Spiderman trilogy and the X-men trilogy sparked this new era of superhero movies, introducing the general public to these heroes. Now with Marvel’s “cinematic universe,” movie goers can expect at least three to four triple A superhero movies a year. Marvel is currently on the last of a three phase movie schedule, ending with Avengers 3. Marvel plans to release eleven movies under the third phase, adding to the twelve movies already released during phases one and two. Twenty three movies is quite a lot for one person to consume. In addition there are TV shows on ABC and Netflix that will eventually tie into the movies, all produced by Marvel. The Fox films (including Deadpool and other X-men films) and the DC universe (including The Dark Knight Trilogy and Batman vs Superman) add to the already overwhelming number of comic book films. The big question is; when will people tire of superheroes?
Steven Spielberg stated in an interview by the Associated Press that “We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western.” Too much of something is always bad. Because something worked once is no guarantee that it will work indefinitely. There will come a day when superheroes become “uncool” once again, but for now they are the icons of movies. If these movies continue to innovate and shock audiences, they might just stick around for as long as the Westerns did.
References:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/steven-spielberg-predicts-superhero-movies-819768
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fall-movie-preview-spielberg-plunges-cold-war-131839190.html?ref=gs
