Lot's Wife Edition 2 2016

CULTURE
by Clarissa Kwee
Illustration by Natalie Ng
The (Norse) Gods have truly blessed us for choice in source
material for superheroes, and we aren’t shy about delivery.
Since the release of X-Men in 2000, an average six superhero
films have been released each year, meaning there have been
64 major superhero films in the last decade, on top of hours
and hours of small screen adaptations being consistently rolled
out. Superheroes have become ingrained into everyday culture,
with one of Comic-Con’s hallmarks being its cosplayers who
dress as their favourite caped crusaders without shame. Clark
Kent, Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker have become millennial
household names. But there are some who argue that the rapid
influx of superhero media to grace our screens has run the
genre into the ground. Even the noisy and dedicated comic-book
fandoms cannot prevent these movies and shows from
“cannibalising one another” (Dominick Mayer, Daily Dot); ‘Peak
Superhero’ seems to truly be upon us.
Though most superhero media shares the same bloodlines,
the source material is chopped and changed to suit new
mediums, and the tonal shift between each new franchise
means there is literally something for everyone. On the small
screen, Fox’s Gotham dabbles in the thriller-crime genre, CBS’s
Supergirl adopts a plucky and heartfelt register, while ABC’s
Agent Carter is a drama about spycraft in the forties. At the
same time, 20 new superhero flicks are poised in the movie
line-up until 2020. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has nearly
swallowed the market whole, bearing resemblance to a golden
goose that lays as many of its episodic, blockbuster eggs as
possible, like an ‘annual TV show’. Meanwhile DC lumbers light
years behind in terms of its commercial success, the transcendent
rivalry between the two Goliaths coming to a head with
2016’s Batman v Superman and the two Justice League movies
hope to rival the gargantuan Avengers: Infinity Wars of 2018.
The period up until 2020 may appease true comic-book
aficionados, being peppered with out-of-the-box releases,
like Aquaman and Dr. Strange. Or with remakes, including
Spiderman being dragged into cinemas for its third rehash
since 2000 by Sony. They say strength comes in numbers, but
most of these heroes hold up both buildings and box offices on
their own. At this point, aren’t there too many cooks in Hell’s
Kitchen?
In terms of both comic-book adaptations and modern
remakes, the variety of content has plateaued superhero media
into the same patriarchal universes, rhythmic execution, and
disintegrating save-the-universe plots. Matt Zoller Seitz, from
review site Roger Ebert is unabashedly cynical about the superhero
deluge, a genre “where the imagination goes to drown
itself”. Maybe he has a point. Our heads might not yet be fully
submerged underwater, but our lungs are slowly filling with the
string of special effects replicated per fight or flight sequence,
ebbing numbingly into one murky digital sea. It seems like studios
are merely trying to capitalise on the grand success they’re
already experiencing. But despite big budgets, this media isn’t
as invincible as the heroes it features. Early seasons of CW’s
Arrow and ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. received criticism for
uneven tone, one ridiculed for its soap-operatic tendencies
and the other for doing little but “Scooby-Dooing around the
Marvel Universe” (Grantland). Grantland’s Mark Harris likens
the superhero craze to a ‘tulip fever’, where the genre’s market
is speculated to have no limits and continue to grow exponentially,
so society mindlessly buys into the hype, with most
superheroes being commodified as brands rather than original
content. Every time a new Spiderman is cast, dolls have to be
52 | Lot’s Wife