When it came time to write this post again, I asked myself why I was giving so much attention to superhero movies. Why not romantic comedies? Why not science-fiction or animated films? Well, for good or bad, superhero films are the most prominent and popular genre of the moment. They've also been going through a fascinating period of growth and transformation.
2018 will forever be remembered for the success of "Black Panther." The eighteenth MCU installment is far and away the most high profile and successful black-lead film of all time. Then Disney went and topped themselves less than three months later with their epic cross-over "Avengers: Infinity War," which is currently the fourth highest grossing film of all time. Next to those two, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" feels a bit like an afterthought, but it made decent money. Next year should be equally lucrative for Disney, with "Captain Marvel" and the fourth "Avengers" poised to be heavy-hitters. I'm also looking forward to the next "Spider-man" installment.
Let's not forget that Disney also had another superhero blockbuster from one of its other studios. Animated superhero films were big in 2018. PIXAR's "Incredibles" sequel performed better than expected - and expectations were already considerable. Now it's the highest grossing animated film of all time, domestically. Sony's "Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse" was a spinoff that made sense, and will ensure that they hold on to their Spider-man rights for the foreseeable future. And though Warners' "Teen Titans Go!" movie didn't make much money, it has some passionate fans and great critical notices.
At one time, FOX was supposed to release three superhero films in 2018. However, "X-men: Dark Phoenix" and "New Mutants" both ended up being delayed, leaving "Deadpool 2" the lone superhero release on their slate. As adult-oriented counterprogramming, it did well during the summer, and the "Once Upon a Deadpool" cut was cheeky enough to make the holiday re-release appealing. The looming spectre of the Disney-FOX merger puts the future of all these franchises in limbo, but "Deadpool 3" is a given. I'm hopeful about the 2019 releases, though what I'm the most excited about on the FOX slate is Drew Goddard doing "X-Force." There is still no sign of "Gambit."
Sony's "Venom" did very well in October, despite crummy reviews and troubling chatter about the production. We can expect a sequel or two, which will keep the Sony Marvel franchise going for a while. However, it's future films like "Silver & Black," currently in limbo, and the Jared Leto "Morbius" project that will really test the viability of these spinoff films. I still think it's only a matter of time before the Sony and Disney controlled Marvel film universes end up fully merged, but on the other hand, the current division means that we get cool experiments like "Into the Spider-verse," which I hope we'll see more of.
And finally, the DC Universe on film is still pretty rocky, but starting to move in more interesting directions. "Aquaman" is doing much better than expected, and Warners has plenty of promising titles in the pipeline. The Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix is a giant question mark right now, but it's certainly got my attention. "Shazam" looks like a lot of fun, though I don't think it'll be the kind of success that Warners is hoping for. The "Wonder Woman" sequel has been pushed back to 2020, after a Harley Quinn-centric "Birds of Prey" movie with a ridiculous title.
2019 will also see the reboot of "Hellboy," and M. Night Shyamalan's highly anticipated "Glass." And if you want to get technical, the "MIB" reboot with Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth, and the third "Kingsman" movie can also count as superhero media, depending on who you ask. That all adds up to at least a dozen major titles coming next year, all vying for our attention. That would have seemed like a ridiculous notion a few years ago, but with "Joker" aimed at mature adults, "Shazam!" and "Spider-man" for kids, "Captain Marvel" courting female audiences, and "New Mutants" going for the horror crowd, it's not so ridiculous anymore.
Stan Lee is dead. Long live Stan Lee. And happy watching.
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