Hello everyone, I'm Andrew and I'm ready for another awesome year of superhero movies.
After all, 2017 definitely had some pretty impressive showings.
'Wonder Woman' wowed us,
'Spider-Man' came home,
and 'Justice League' ushered in a new era of facial hair replacement. ZING!
But as wild as last year was, 2018 could be even crazier.
We've got an unprecedented amount of superhero content coming our way,
which made us stop and wonder:
Are we getting too much of a good thing?
Is there a limit to the comic-book craziness that movie audiences will accept?
And is it possible to stand out from the pack,
or will history repeat itself and let great movies slip through unnoticed?
My fellow nerds, consider this video a State of the Union address for the entire superhero genre,
as we take a look at next year's landscape and ask:
Could the Superhero Bubble Burst in 2018?
Let me give you the rundown.
Don't freeze.
I never freeze.
Marvel Studios is kicking off the year strong with 'Black Panther,'
following it up with the hugely anticipated 'Infinity War' crossover,
And later winding down with 'Ant Man and the Wasp.'
Over at Fox, they're making the most of what could be their last year of independence with two big releases of their own:
'Deadpool 2' for their summer tentpole,
Remember, hugs not drugs.
and 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix' in the fall.
As for the Distinguished Competition, DC originally had two DCEU movies on the schedule for 2018,
But now that 'Flashpoint' has been delayed until God knows when,
all they've got is 'Aquaman' in December,
I think we're all gonna die.
And the just-announced 'Teen Titans: Go!' movie.
Batman?!
Throw in 'The Incredibles 2,'
Sony's animated Miles Morales movie,
and whatever the hell they've got planned for Tom Hardy's 'Venom'
and there you have a year absolutely smothered in spandex.
Shout-out to Kya.
Which leads us to the first potential problem:
Oversaturation
There are ten superhero movies set to release in 2018,
by far the most of any year, ever.
And realistically, most people just won't be able to watch them all in theaters.
For one thing, if you bought a ticket for every movie, you could end up spending well over two hundred dollars.
That's a lot of cheddar.
Here in New York City, an average 2D ticket costs about 17 bucks,
Multiply it by ten, throw in some popcorn, and well...
I'd rather get an Oculus Rift for that kinda scratch.
But even if you've got that Tony Stark money,
There's only so much CGI punching a person can take.
Don't get me wrong, if your movie has someone in a cape, I'm there,
but that's a given, I'm a nerd. The channel's called 'NowThis Nerd.'
Superhero movies only reached the heights they have today by appealing to the masses,
not just the True Believers.
And with the glut of movies coming out this year,
people are going to pick and choose which ones they shell out for,
and watch the rest from the comfort of their couch or computer chair.
Again, I'm a huge fan of the superhero genre, and I'm looking forward to every single one that's coming out.
But with such a packed calendar,
I'm just worried about smaller movies getting swallowed up by the big fish.
Ten years ago in 2008, only about six superhero movies came out,
and most of them were spaced far enough apart where it didn't matter much.
The ones that hit big were massive game changers like 'Iron Man,' which jumpstarted the whole MCU,
and the ones that flopped were either so-so movies like 'Punisher: War Zone,'
or complete trainwrecks like 'Hancock.'
Call me an airhead one more time.
Then there's the case of 'Hellboy II,' which was an unfortunate victim of an overcrowded box office.
Guillermo del Toro's brilliant film is maybe the best superhero sequel of all time, according to Mike Calabro,
and it had an excellent opening weekend.
Then, it experienced a catastrophic 72% drop,
the worst of any superhero movie ever.
Yup, I'm gonna need a beer too.
The culprit?
A little movie called 'The Dark Knight'
Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
that came out the very next week.
Batman utterly annihilated the indie darling Hellboy,
killing del Toro's hopes of finishing his beloved trilogy with one swift batarang.
I think I'll keep this.
Imagine how well it could have done had come out in 2009,
when the only other comic book movies were 'Watchmen' and 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine.'
Let's do this.
The character might have better luck with David Harbour's Hellboy reboot next year,
but if 2018 is any indication, the competition is gonna be even more stacked.
We're experiencing a rapid-fire onslaught of superhero movies,
but so far, the box office hasn't shown signs of spandex fatigue.
This year is going to be a big test for how much comic book action mainstream audiences are willing to endure,
Which is related to the next potential problem:
Escalation
That 'Infinity War' trailer sure was something, huh?
It was chock full of references that need explaining,
and easter eggs you might have missed.
But the vast majority of the audience isn't watching YouTube explainers before they buy a ticket,
If you are, you should watch ours!
I think a lot of people [e]are gonna be asking the same question as Thor:
Who the hell are you guys?
Granted, there hasn't been a movie yet that was too straight-up weird for audiences,
and I still get a huge kick out of the masses enjoying all the crazy shit about comics that I've loved for years and years.
No school like the old schoo!
This isn't coming from condescension, I genuinely enjoy the fact that the heroes I grew up reading and watching are enjoyed by pretty much everyone now.
However, it is possible 'Infinity War' could take things a step too far...
It's asking a lot of the moviegoer to:
remember all these bizarre characters,
what they've been up to,
and which magic gem is in which fictional country.
Now, we're just playing devil's advocate here,
It's my time now.
Obviously there are a lot of characters and plot-lines to wrangle,
but I have no doubt 'Infinity War' is gonna knock it outta the park.
That begs another question, though:
Where do you go from there?
Marvel Studios has spent a decade preparing fans for the crossover to end all crossovers.
They introduced us to the archvillain six years ago,
That was six years ago?!
Six years ago I was living at home, I was still in college... Wow, Thanos left home and so did I.
and sprinkled Infinity Stones across half a dozen movies,
All for this moment.
So what's gonna happen when Thanos goes down and the good guys win the day in Part 2?
We know there's a new Spidey, Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy in the pipeline,
but will Marvel be able to capture the same magic twice?
And will they be patient enough to wait another ten years for the payoff,
Will we be patient enough to wait another 10 years for the payoff,
especially now that the beloved cast is getting a little long in the tooth.
Keep up old man!
Nobody would know...
Only time will tell,
but the way Hollywood's been going lately,
the movies could lose what made them special in the first place,
thanks to Homogenization
And we're not talking about milk!
Talking about movies. You keeping up?
Another huge side effect of the Marvel Revolution is the corpratization of superhero movies.
Well, it's not that new.
Comic book characters have been making bank for movie studios since the '40s,
but in the wake of the MCU, the major players are exercising air-tight control of their franchises.
Superhero films hardly feel like movies anymore,
They kinda feel like long, expensive episodes of an awesome TV series.
There's too much money at stake to take real risks anymore,
and if you're a filmmaker who doesn't toe the company line,
they'll have no problem getting rid of you for someone who does.
Just ask Edgar Wright and Joss Whedon.
Even a company guy like Zack Snyder saw his movies butchered in the editing suite.
The phenomenon isn't strictly limited to comic book movies, either.
We did a whole video about Disney shitcanning Star Wars directors,
But either way, nothing kills artistic spark and innovation like a ten-year plan mandated by your corporate overlords.
And now, as the companies conglomerate even more,
the content has a real risk of becoming cookie cutter.
Hey, I'm as giddy as anyone about a potential X-Men/Avengers crossover,
but I'm a little sad that we're losing the vibe and style of the Fox films.
Two days on the road, only one meal, and hardly any sleep. She's eleven, I'm freaking ninety!
A long time ago, the comic book industry whittled down to two big players,
Marvel vs. DC. The age-old conflict.
Now, we're seeing the same battle play out on the major stage,
only now it's Disney and Warner Bros locked in eternal combat until one gets big enough to swallow the other.
But, like in comics, there's plenty of originality in the independent scene,
It's just that the cost of entry is much steeper with film.
I mean, giant beams of light that shoot into the sky don't come cheap.
We'll see what changes once the merger goes through,
but for now, 2018 has some pretty exciting stuff.
I've waited 14 years for a sequel to 'The Incredibles,'
Yeah, baby!
and I love the energy and artistic spirit Ryan Coogler's brought to his extremely important 'Black Panther' movie.
We are home.
My king.
Stop it.
Plus, let's be real, 'Infinity War' is going to blow all of our minds,
and in the unlikely event it's a shitshow,
well those can be entertaining too.
WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!
Is this going to be the year where capes and cowls go out of fashion?
No capes!
We're definitely starting to see patterns that don't look good for the future,
And we're a little nervous that too much of a good thing,
could be a bad thing.
But judging by 2018's killer lineup,
superheroes are still in a pretty great spot.
Thanks for watching! I want to know what you think: Are you sick and
tired of superheroes yet, or have we barely scratched the surface of comic
book movies? And what superhero films are YOU most looking forward to in
2018? Let us know in the comments, And as always, Please subscribe to
NTN! [a]this changed, we condensed it to a shorter segue [b]we added DCEU
[c]we changed this from 'saw them all in theaters' to 'bought a ticket for
every movie' [d]andrew says oculus rift, which is about the same price
[e]original script said 'us' we changed it to 'people' [f]make sure
you use a take that says Plus, not But [g]this used to be the end, we
changed it [h]this is now the end
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