Cool: Evolution of Superhero Films Movie Chart
In case you hadn’t figured it out yet visiting our site that comic book movies and geek centric films are our main focus with everything else falling under that. I was chatting up on Facebook the other day when my pal Vic over at ScreenRant passed along this really cool superhero movie evolution chart they had posted that day. I hadn’t had time to post this until now and thought it was a really neat look at how the box office and movie industry has evolved and the superhero films have evolved with it.
The chart originated from the website Koldcast Web TV Network, where you can also read their great accompanying article tracking the development of superhero movies over the last two decades or so.
I like the chart as there is no other movie that defined the big budget mass release of a comic book into the mainstream film industry then Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman, with Christopher Reeves.
I also like how it shows what the studios thought of comic book films in the eighties right into when it seemed like any superhero film was green-lit, poorly written or not was released in the 90s. Now you can see as of late even though more movies are being made how much more care has been taken in the development and casting of superhero movies, resulting in historic financial and critical dividends. In 2008, the universally acclaimed The Dark Knight became the first superhero movie to gross over one billion dollars worldwide, say what you want about the film and why that happened it is still an amazing feat.
I think some milestones previous to Dark Knight and after Superman that need to be pointed out is Spider-man. I think its appearance on-screen in 2002 was a big deal for the next evolution of comic-book character and how they were marketed not just traditionally but online as well. Spider-man’s appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con also changed that event as well, where studios learned the potential of beginning a film’s buzz with the true and hardcore fans. I think Batman in 1989 as well because of all the ways they created buzz for the film in the pre-internet age using the bat logo, the casting of Nicholson and use of Bat signals and various other event style marketing making it a major milestone for the time.
