Imagine a time before 2012 when comic book movies were a niche art form that only came out sparsely within 2 to 3 years. X-men (2000), Spider-Man (2002) and Batman Begins (2005), not only opened the possibilities of comic book movies being more accepted with mainstream audiences as it was a genre made for a select group of people, but became the dominant genre in the film industry. Fast forward to 2022, we have had a slew of comic book movies from the most top tier A list characters, to the most obscure as the come. Seeing this reminded me of another genre that had countless amounts of films that slowly killed the genre…the western. Now you might be asking “Jordan, there are still western films that have come out over the years, they might not be good but they are still coming out” While you are correct, that’s the problem. When we look at western films that have come out after Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, they have not captured that same essence that made those films great. Now if we look at comic book movies, 2 of the biggest in recent memory Avengers Endgame (2019) and Spider-Man No Way Home (2021), have released and become pop culture phenomenons. And while there are comic films that have become critical and financial successes, such as The Batman (2022), there is always a Justice League (2017) a Suicide Squad (2016) and a Fantastic 4 (2015) that make comic book movies look rather played out when looked through a holistic lens.
