The Internet's Polarized Opinions on Superhero Movies

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Reading social media posts and watching YouTube reviews, sometimes, it seems like there are only two polarized opinions on the current state of superhero movies. These are a bit of a generalization on my part, but not by much. From time to time, I do run across some more nuanced individual opinions, but it seems like it's more rare these days.

One side...

-- Probably grew up reading comic books, “playing outside until the streetlights came on” and “drank from a hose.”
-- Believe in absolute, pure, traditional black and white morality, in both escapist fiction and in real life.
-- Believe they are on the pure good side.
-- Want their escapist superhero stories to be dark, gritty and serious in a way that makes traditionally masculine male, straight and probably white legacy superheroes look manlier.

While the other side...

-- Probably grew up watching the bright, colorful early MCU and now want to show that they are grown up, mature and serious.
-- Think going to a mainstream Summer popcorn movie is participating in an anti-establishment revolution.
-- Can't root for a superhero that isn't representation for at least one marginalized group.
-- Profess to believe in gray morality in fiction. Claim pure evil villains are “the worst writing.”
-- In practice, believe whatever character they project their politics onto is pure good and everyone else is pure evil.
-- Will probably project their politics onto the “misunderstood” villain who “wants to change the status quo” by, you know, committing mass genocide or something.
-- Are baffled and outraged that mainstream entertainment corporations aren't making said villain the unquestioned hero.
-- Want to see legacy heroes torn down and punished as harshly as possible for any commonplace human foibles.
-- Want their escapist superhero stories to be dark, gritty and serious in a way that is grounded in highly politicized, ripped-from-the-headlines “realism.”
-- Is the current target audience of the MCU.

Meanwhile, there's me...

-- Grew up in the 1980s and 90s, but inside, watching cartoons and drinking soda.
-- Was an adult when the bright, colorful MCU began.
-- Am 42 and feel like I spend most of my rapidly passing life at my retail job.
-- Have lost interest in entertainment that doesn't want to entertain me.
-- Think escapism should, to some degree, portray a world that you would want to escape to and should not be taken literally.
-- Believe in a morally gray middle-ground in real life.
-- Don't feel at all inspired to root for politicians, sports teams and so on in real life.
-- Want some degree of black and white morality in escapist fiction so I can have the experience of rooting for one side to win.
-- Think genocidal characters are definitely the villains, no matter how sad their backstory is.
-- Want diverse casting in general. Don't care if every movie is a 100% statistically perfect representation of society.
-- Don't care what societal groups the superhero belongs to. Just want an interesting character.
-- Like movies where the fun parts are fun and the serious parts are serious and some parts can pull off both at once.
-- Like superheroes who, though they may struggle, on some level, have a passion for superhero work and say “woo-hoo!” sometimes.
-- If in the mood for depressing, gritty realism, would not turn to escapist superhero movies to get it.
-- Am not sure why I care enough about this to write out this long post in my precious, limited free time

What about everyone else? Are you on one of those two sides, or do you have a different opinion?

Other: Meh.

Superhero movies have become boring and pointless ever since Disney bought Marvel.

THAT is my opinion.

Not interested in them. The LEGO Batman movie looks kinda interesting though.

Why are superhero movies a common favourite among autistics?

(Not criticising, just curious).

I, for one, find superhero movies incredibly boring.

Me too. I think it's partly cultural though. Most British kids didn't grow up with superheroes in the same way that Americans did.

Our 'heroes' like James Bond and Sherlock Holmes were people who were incredibly competent at their jobs, rather than being in possession of magic powers.

I think that's why Batman played better here much earlier than the others. I used to love the Adam West batman tv show.

I just can't get invested in watching a magic man fight cgi stuff. It's like watching someone else play a videogame to me.

My opinion is that Marvel and DC have sucked all the oxygen out of Hollywood for almost two decades now. I don't even watch most of the films anymore. I hope people get sick of them soon.

Wow, I didn't expect so many people in the “other” category with me!

Off the top of my head, here are some thoughts on why that might be:

-- Escapism. Getting away from our daily problems and worries for a little while. I think NTs enjoy that as well.

-- Masking/secret identity. Having to pretend to be a “normal” person while secretly being strange in a way that gives you amazing abilities but also great difficulties. The danger of someone finding out. Having people assume you're being lazy, selfish and cowardly because they don't/can't know the secret.

-- Creative/unconventional problem solving. Discovering “how they're gonna get out of this one” using their superpowers in unique and unexpected ways.

-- Worldbuilding. Society constantly tells us that we need to understand and follow its rules, but we often find the rules confusing, contradictory and pointless. I think we enjoy having a fictional world where we know the rules, (even though they, too, may be confusing, contradictory and pointless) while other people who are less familiar with the material don't. In fact, we might have to explain to them what the rules of the fictional universe are!

-- Childlike outlook on life. Superheroes are cool. They're exaggeratedly big and strong. They wear bright, colorful costumes and have neat gadgets. They do impossible things. I think this one is why I'm sometimes annoyed by the constant cries for superheroes to be more and more serious and mature. Because I myself like them for childlike reasons.

-- Outlet for non-confrontational person to fantasize about being more aggressive in an unrealistic setting without serious consequences.

-- Politics. Unlike me, some people on the spectrum are very interested in politics. And, as is frequently pointed out in discussions of superheroes, they were “always political” in some way.


All that said, if I really think about it, there aren't many superhero movies or TV shows I would count among my favorites. As a kid, I preferred reruns of the campy Adam West "Batman" over the more serious animated series. As an adult, I remember really liking were the 2000s “Teen Titans” cartoon (NOT “Teen Titans Go!”) and Pixar's “The Incredibles,” both of which were primarily aimed at kids/families and which could both do silliness AND drama. I'm actually more interested in drawing my original superhero characters than I am in most superhero movie franchises. Most of the MCU films are just okay on their own, but they did effectively hype me up for the overarching narrative. Until Phase 4. Now, I'm like...let Kang the Conqueror come! After defeating Thanos, all the heroes are miserable anyway, so what's the difference?

The other day, the Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” films were on TV in the break room at work. While they're not my favorite movies either, I did find myself getting drawn into watching them in a way that doesn't happen with most of the recent superhero movies. Even with “Spider-Man 3,” which is a very flawed movie, I still appreciated it feeling more like a “movie movie” than a lot of the more recent, “grounded” material.

One recent film that I liked was the animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which is visually creative and has an engaging story. But I think that's an outlier.



In the dismal, depressing Disney+ miniseries “Secret Invasion,” which inspired this thread, the spies are incredibly incompetent. At least in the first couple of episodes. The fact that they're trying to make it seem grounded and serious makes that all the worse. I think the focus is more on the tired social messaging than telling a good story.

SPOILERS for the first episode:

I like drama-type movies, with general situations most of us face every day. The stories I write are drama-based as well, with a bit of comedy thrown in.

I remember watching one of the Transformers movies at the cinema when I was a teenager, and I was bored silly.

Adam West was the only real Batman.

^^The only Batman that ever batmattered.

I don't think those are the only two factions.... if anything, the two groups who want it "grim-and-gritty" BOTH seem to be in the minority compared to all those who prefer the flamboyance and humour of, say, Phase Three Marvel.

I would rather watch a gritty, hard-core science-fiction movie that does not devolve into horror, fantasy, or soft-core porn.  Too bad Hollywood does not understand the concept.

I think crossover appeal to casuals drives ticket sales, but also leads to bitching from diehards.

It's a shame, because to me the masala-movie spirit of Marvel really captures the appeal of the original comics, where you'd have high stakes cosmic conflict and goofy jokes on the exact same page.

I had very little interest in superhero fiction until a few years ago, when I rewatched the X-Men films and got suckered into finally watching the MCU and reading X-Men comics both old and new. Particularly like the X-Men stuff because amid all the relaxing lowbrow fun of watching dozens of souped-up mutants duke it out, it actually manages to be quite thought-provoking. The current arc is a utopia story, a social thought-experiment in the grand tradition of Thomas More and Samuel Butler.

There's a film review in a science fiction magazine I really wish I could lay my hands on. The reviewer said something that stuck with me, about the ambivelance that SF readers often feel towards SF on the screen. How TV and film can put across the scale and the sense of wonder, but "mumble the concepts to death with their great toothless mouth". (Or something like that.)

Makes sense.  It can also be said that a good SF book can inspire greater imagination than the most popular CGI-laden remake out of the Hollywood meat-grinder.

I enjoyed the first two Captain America movies. Not so much the third.