There is a popular industry narrative called “superhero fatigue” that is forcing many major studios to rework their approach toward superhero movies. It is one of the reasons why the DC Universe is undergoing a major reset under James Gunn. However, in a recent interview, DC co-CEO Peter Safran said it’s not really diminishing audience appetite for the genre, but rather the quality of the movies that is making fans feel that way.
Trying something new is the only way out of mediocre movie fatigue, says Safran
Speaking to the Associated Press, Safran stated that the issue isn’t audiences being tired of superheroes, but “mediocre” movies. From his perspective, audiences will show up if the movie is good enough, and for that, filmmakers have to deviate from tried-and-tested formulas in the superhero genre and try something new.
“I never felt that there was superhero fatigue. I felt it was mediocre movie fatigue. You gotta try something new. You have to change the game a little bit,” he said. Safran’s stance hints at the notion that studios have been rushing projects without strong scripts, leading to an overproduction of films with inconsistent quality.
The narrative stems from the mixed-to-negative reception of several Marvel and DC films. In fact, one of the reasons the DCEU, the predecessor to the DCU, was scrapped is due to the failure of films like Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash, among others, are underperforming at the box office. Even for Marvel Studios, there have been more misses than hits following the phenomenal success of Avengers: Endgame.
However, the new DCU is off to a promising start, with the first installment of Superman performing strongly at the box office. Furthermore, Safran is also confident about the next film in the universe, Supergirl, saying the story it is based on is “something cool and original and we haven’t seen before.”
It is clear that under Gunn, the studio is moving toward a script-first approach, focusing on quality over quantity as its reset strategy. Safe to say, Safran believes that the intrigue for superhero films will always be there as long as there is sufficient quality control.
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