Five years ago, director Todd Phillips released Joker — a film centred on Batman's most iconic arch-nemesis, which redefined the comic book genre. The gritty thriller stood apart from the tales of fantastic heroism seen in Spiderman: Far From Home and Avengers: Endgame. Its dark, realistic approach proved to be a huge success, becoming the first R-rated film to gross over one billion dollars at the box office.
Now, the fan-favourite supervillain has returned to the big screen in Joker: Folie à Deux. However, the film takes an unexpected turn —rather than building on the grounded psychological themes of its predecessor, Folie à Deux presents itself as a surreal musical. This puzzling choice has left both audiences and critics disappointed, and the film currently sits at a 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, less than half that of Joker. Worse still for the Clown Prince of Crime, Folie à Deux's box office performance is nothing to laugh about, with a disastrous opening weekend grossing $38 million at the US box office — far below its expected $50-70 million range.
This year seems to have made a joke out of comic book movies. Other than Deadpool & Wolverine, this genre has been subject to flop after flop. Take, for instance, the recent remake of The Crow. At first glance, this had the potential to reach the heights of Joker — a reimagining of a gothic tale, with a lead character hailing from edgy origins. However, the film turned out to be a certified box office bomb, grossing a meagre $23 million worldwide, failing to break even against its $50 million budget.
The term “superhero fatigue” comes to mind, reflecting the growing tiredness among audiences toward the overwhelming output of comic book movies filled with uninteresting characters and repetitive storylines. If comic book movies are here to stay, then they need a serious rethink to retain the cinematic powerhouse status they once held.
But despite the financial failure of Folie à Deux, there may still be hope for the cape-wearing genre. Pop culture aficionado and director James Gunn has tasked himself with reinventing the DC cinematic universe, starting with a script centred around one of the most beloved superheroes of all time. Set for release next year, Superman: Legacy could be the perfect antidote to the dreaded superhero fatigue, steering the genre away from its dark and edgy phase, towards the optimism that made the heroes in these stories so admirable.
Only time will tell whether comic book movies are here to stay, or if they will become some kind of costumed relic, and fall out of style like the Westerns before them.
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