Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

To who?

Comic book movies still dominate the box office and comic book sales have seen steady increases for the past decade or so.

Neither are showing any signs of letting up. The fact the movies themselves are starting to trend downwards in quality only matters to people who care about such things, which is a minority of moviegoers. To most people all that matters is ‘splosions.

Agreed. Reports of their death is greatly exaggerated. Sure they've had some stinkers but there's still lots of good. Let's not forget about the crap like IM2, Thor, Thor 2, TIH. Even AoU was thoroughly meh. Phase 3 was the one that was basically all home runs save for maybe Captain Marvel, but even then that movie was still pretty good.

[OutOfTheCube]

The big whiff is no MCU X-Men announced. They bought Fox and that IP two and a half years ago and keep teasing mutant type stuff, still nothing in production and they've announced their slate out to 2026. That was the big new thing that could've built up hype.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by SilverKast

At any rate, I've been really disappointed with comic book movies of late. They all seem to be about lot of CGI, explosions, and not much in the way of great storytelling to back it up. I'm a huge comic fan, but even I don't see anything that looks interesting - let alone worth me forking out to see in the theatres.

This is where I'm at. I've been a comic book fan for 40 years, since my Dad gave me his huge stack of Archies.

For me, I think it's a form of burn out. I'm just not EXCITED about the movies in this phase. I've seen them all, but I've gone when I felt like it, a week if not more after opening. The thrill isn't there.

I intend to go see Wakanda Forever...but probably in 2-3 weeks, when I can make some time and get around to it. The MCU is not, to paraphrase, 'appointment theatre' anymore.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

To who?

Comic book movies still dominate the box office and comic book sales have seen steady increases for the past decade or so.

Neither are showing any signs of letting up. The fact the movies themselves are starting to trend downwards in quality only matters to people who care about such things, which is a minority of moviegoers. To most people all that matters is ‘splosions.

Fatigue is definitely starting to set in. Superhero movies have been around for decades so they are never going to disappear but their popularity will eventually decline and it's safe to say they have peaked already. Slow decline will likely ensue in the coming years as all movie genres are all susceptible to cycles. It won't be over night as I believe it will be like Westerns where the decline is gradual over decades.

[bdubbs]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

The big whiff is no MCU X-Men announced. They bought Fox and that IP two and a half years ago and keep teasing mutant type stuff, still nothing in production and they've announced their slate out to 2026. That was the big new thing that could've built up hype.

Agreed with this. It's shocking that there haven't been more Mutant related announcements, considering all the B and C tier hero stuff we're getting.

I guess the new Deadpool film will have Wolverine coming back for one movie, and here's hoping its good so that they can kickstart a new X-Men related arc of movies.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Fatigue is definitely starting to set in. Superhero movies have been around for decades so they are never going to disappear but their popularity will eventually decline and it's safe to say they have peaked already. Slow decline will likely ensue in the coming years as all movie genres are all susceptible to cycles. It won't be over night as I believe it will be like Westerns where the decline is gradual over decades.

I wonder if feature length movies have much of a future beyond a decade or two. Super Hero movies have kind of suffocated the rest of the box office, and left fewer and fewer non super hero movies that bring in any kind of crowds. Big theater chains are in trouble, and if movie theaters shut down, feature length movies disappear.

The non-super hero talent and resources are going more towards the streaming serial shows that are more compatible for home viewing, and are a much bigger driver for streaming subscriptions.

I enjoy going to movie theaters, but can't even think of an upcoming movie I am anticipating seeing at all.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Fatigue is definitely starting to set in. Superhero movies have been around for decades so they are never going to disappear but their popularity will eventually decline and it's safe to say they have peaked already. Slow decline will likely ensue in the coming years as all movie genres are all susceptible to cycles. It won't be over night as I believe it will be like Westerns where the decline is gradual over decades.

How is it safe to say they’ve peaked?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I wonder if feature length movies have much of a future beyond a decade or two. Super Hero movies have kind of suffocated the rest of the box office, and left fewer and fewer non super hero movies that bring in any kind of crowds. Big theater chains are in trouble, and if movie theaters shut down, feature length movies disappear.

The non-super hero talent and resources are going more towards the streaming serial shows that are more compatible for home viewing, and are a much bigger driver for streaming subscriptions.

I enjoy going to movie theaters, but can't even think of an upcoming movie I am anticipating seeing at all.

People say this all the time but going to the theatre has never been more popular. People love going to the theatre and the death of theatres is regularly exaggerated.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

People say this all the time but going to the theatre has never been more popular. People love going to the theatre and the death of theatres is regularly exaggerated.

There's nothing factual in that first sentence. The annual box office this year is still way down from pre-2020 years.

https://deadline.com/2022/09/regal-c...cy-1235132333/

Theaters are in trouble. A few near me have closed during some weekdays.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

How is it safe to say they’ve peaked?

Very safe.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by pseudoreality

Asking Disney to take a break and rest their Marvel or Star Wars IP is like asking McDonald's to stop selling Big Macs for a while. It's not going to happen. The drives of capitalism will have them monetize, mass-produce, and keep the quality barely acceptable to maximize returns to shareholders. This is the way.

I get what you're saying, and I agree in general.

However how many Star Wars movies are in active production right now?
They moved to the streaming platform with mixed success.
Marvel is doing both streaming and multiple movies in a year. I think they're saturating the market and turning normies off.

[Finger Cookin]

https://www.theatlantic.com/newslett...c-film/671924/

Or take film. As with music, you could certainly make the case that the communications revolution has created an abundance of video content that, in the aggregate, is fantastically diverse. But although the rules for making a viral video, or a critically acclaimed film, are deeply complex, blockbuster movies look a lot like a solved equation. In 2019, the 10 biggest films by domestic box office included two Marvel sequels, two animated-film sequels, a reboot of a ’90s blockbuster, and a Batman spin-off. In 2022, the 10 biggest films by domestic box office included two Marvel sequels, one animated-film sequel, a reboot of a ’90s blockbuster, and a Batman spin-off. Correctly observing that audiences responded predictably to familiar intellectual property, studios invested in a strategy that has squeezed original IP from the top-10 charts. Blockbusters are kinda boring now, not because Hollywood is stupid, but because it got so smart.

Might be a wider trend beyond movies.

[Mr.Coffee]

I think at the end of the day a movie has to have a good story. When you watch the preview for a lot of these marvel movies it’s tough sometimes to even tell what the hell they are even about, and the stories are usually not good.

You can have all the marvel studio budget in all the land but if the story sucks, you’re gonna be making a bad movie. Marvel is into shark jumping territory now and should invest in good writers with creative stories. But that’s hard, and doesn’t sometimes meet the timelines they have to work with from the demands of tall foreheads in boardrooms.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

mcu needs to bring a fresh approach to its tried and true but now stale formula if it wants to fill cinemas in its next phase

their moving to shows with fan favorite supporting characters has paid off on streaming services but the movies could use a new poster boy who can hold a flame to rdj or an intriguing "main villain" plot line . feels like a collection of forgettable side quests lately

[Nadal Fan]

Yesterday I was able to get tickets for a showing today. With No Way Home or End Game that wouldn't have been possible. This will still make a ton of money just not as much as the first IMO

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

mcu needs to bring a fresh approach to its tried and true but now stale formula if it wants to fill cinemas in its next phase

their moving to shows with fan favorite supporting characters has paid off on streaming services but the movies could use a new poster boy who can hold a flame to rdj or an intriguing "main villain" plot line . feels like a collection of forgettable side quests lately

A multi-movie plot building to a "main villain" is just retreading worn out ground with Thanos, it's part of the stale formula. But I understand what you're getting at.

As a comics fan, I don't mind the decentralized stories. A lot of the best stuff in comics takes place in between all of the catastrophic events and team-ups. I'm sure the movies will cook up something with stakes rivalling the build up to Endgame before too long.

[Shazam]

They need more MCU musicals.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

Yesterday I was able to get tickets for a showing today. With No Way Home or End Game that wouldn't have been possible. This will still make a ton of money just not as much as the first IMO

??

I got End Game tickets 25 minutes before the showing on the opening Friday.

With reserved seating and online bookings, things changed a lot for theaters from the 2000's era where you needed to go in person 2 weeks before to buy tickets, and wait in line for 3 hours to get good seats together. They progressively add showings until they hit relatively equilibrium between demand and getting people to buy up some of the crappier seats.

Certainly these movies aren't preforming like Civil War - Ragnarock - Infinity - End Game, nor are they as good. But they were way way up the mountain, on a path that will need to be cyclical if they are going to sustain it. It's OK if for the next 3 or 4 years these movies are good but not great, sell well but aren't events. Even if they can't build Kangs story up to the level of Thanos's that is still probably just fine for them, they will get more shots with Glacatus or whoever the Xmens big big bad ends up being and others. And it's OK if only 10% of people are excited to rush out and see these that would still be several hundred $M in ticket sales for North America and the studio will survive. As long as they don't panic at start forcing ham fisted stories with poor art direction like the other guys did when they were trying to catch up, they'll by able to keep going for a long time.

[Nadal Fan]

I really liked it, by far my favorite MCU film of the year. Very very emotional especially in the beginning, I miss Chadwick Boseman so much. I thought Namor was good as well. I won't post any spoilers yet but I would recommend it.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Good but not great. 2nd best comic book movie of the year, behind only The Batman. It really could have been an 8 or 8.5 out of 10 but ultimately it got a bit messy. Not terrible though. I'll give it a 7/10.

Would have been great if not for a few warts. Big, ugly warts.

Some thoughts:

- The scientist student character was horrendous. Unspeakably bad. Without question the worst MCU character ever and one of the worst characters in an action movie since Jar Jar Binks. Both the character and the actress were terrible. Every time she was on screen I was praying Namor would jump out of the water and cut her head off. She served no purpose at all to the plot and every scene she was in should have been cut from the movie. She was awful. Singlehandedly lowered this from an 8/10 to a 7/10.

- Everything to do with flying suits for both the Dora Milaje and for the above mentioned MIT girl were so friggin dumb. Reeks of studio interference to sell toys.

- Angela Bassett was excellent. A tour de force. She had such gravitas in every scene she was in. Lititia Wright is serviceable but really got overshadowed by Bassett.

- M'Baku was great. That is all.

- They totally and completely butchered Namor compared to his comic book counterpart. This Namor has basically nothing in common with the comic version except he lives in water, has wings on his feet and hates surface dwellers. His personality was basically totally wrong and he had none of the arrogance and stubbornness that defines the character.

- That being said, I really liked him, his back story and the whole Mayan thing. They made it work. He also seemed kinda badass despite having nothing in common with comic book namor. More of a quiet power and motivation as opposed to tantrum comic book namor.

- Why was Julia Louise Dryfus in this movie? Seriously? She served no purpose.

- The entire battle on the ship idea was poorly done and made little sense for the plot. Similar to the first movie, they kind of dropped the ball for the final battle.

- but I did like the whole Shuri/Namor battle, albeit a little short, and I, for the most part, liked Shuri's character arc with revenge and loss. I actually feel like they could have done more with it. I wanted to see her go off the rails a bit. But as it is, it was reasonably well done.

- It felt like the Dora Milaje storylines didn't go anywhere. Especially when Okoye got kicked out and then it was never mentioned again. There was also a bit of an idiot plot there considering Shuri asked to go to Atlantis (or whatever they called it).

- Loved the N'Jadaka cameo. I was hoping we'd get to see Bast a la Ta Nehisi Coates' BP run.