Is Superhero Movie Fatigue Real? Or Is There More To The Story?

We are approaching the end of another Hollywood blockbuster summer. And with that comes the usual analysis of box office earnings and journalistic opinions regarding the success of movies. Comic book films in particular. So what's one more piece analysing the situation from someone with no professional journalism experience?

The term "superhero movie fatigue" gets thrown around a fair bit these days. Especially when recent Marvel films Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* are unable to break even at the box office. Many things I see online will use the words "superhero fatigue" with other negatives such as "flop" or "unsuccessful." I get confused when I see them when a movie like last year's Deadpool & Wolverine makes over a billion dollars. So I decided to look into it to see if it is actually a thing or just a phrase podcasters and YouTubers are throwing out there for engagement.

2008 saw the release of two significant movies based on comic books from DC and Marvel. Christopher Nolans's sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight was a critical and financial success, grossing over a billion dollars world wide and giving us an Academy Award winning performance of The Joker by the late Heath Ledger. Globally, it grossed just over a billion dollars at the box office. Today it is still the highest earning film based on a DC Comics property.

That same year also saw the release of Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr. It made $585 million worldwide and revitalized the career of RDJ. It also spawned a billion dollar shared universe of interconnected films for Marvel. It also leaned heavily into the trope of using post credit scenes to tease what was to come in future movies.

I was in my early 20s during the rise of the MCU. It was around this time where, as mentioned in my previous post, I dived head first into comic books. Reading pretty much anything with Batman in it while also exploring stories in Marvel comics universe. The MCU movies introduced me to another world of characters and interesting stories. I would have frequent discussions with my friends who had read their fair share of comics, speculating on future stories and suggesting books I should check out. We became part of a dedicated fanbase that would see these movies opening weekend to avoid spoilers and to then try to figure out what the post credit scene was building to. This fanbase would lead to Marvel's financial peak when in 2019, Avengers: Endgame dominated the cinemas and made over $2 BILLION at the box office.

Meanwhile DC and Warner Bros were playing catch up. The Dark Knight series of Batman films were not part of a bigger shared universe and Warner clearly wanted a loyal fanbase as strong as Marvel's. 2011's Green Lantern was originally going to be the launch of their shared universe of films. But let's just say it didn't do so well critically and financially. So in 2013, a year after The Dark Knight Rises concluded Nolan's trilogy, we saw the release of Man of Steel. A new Superman movie with Henry Cavil donning the red cape. It made around $670 million worldwide and was received favourably. Man of Steel director Zack Snyder was given the task of establishing his Justice League to take on Marvel's Avengers in the box office.

My same friendship group still went out to see all the Warner/DC movies just as we did with the Disney/Marvel ones. We would have the same speculation and discussions about future movies, but there was definitely the occasional talking point about what we considered "odd choices" for films and characters. Our general consensus was DC were trying to establish themselves as the dark and edgy alternative to Marvel's fun and entertaining series of films. I can appreciate that they had a different look and feel, hell I really enjoyed Ben Affleck as Batman and would've loved to see the movie he was originally planning to write, direct and star in. Although I still wish Cavil's Superman could've felt more like the Superman from the comics.

Fast forward to now. The 2025 summer movie season saw the release of two films featuring big names from DC and Marvel comics.

DC/Warner Bros released the much anticipated Superman directed by James Gunn. This film serves as a new era of DC super hero films after 10 years of films in the mixed bag that will forever be known as the "Snyderverse."

As of this date, the box office for Superman (2025) is $586 million worldwide and I have to say it is probably my favourite live action version of the character. I'm really excited for the future of this new DCU under Gunn's supervision.

Meanwhile Marvel/Disney have given us Fantastic Four: First Steps that is the closest version we have had of the group to the comics ever (Fan4stic might have been, I wouldn't know. The most I've ever seen of it is that bit at the end with Miles Teller saying "say that again" that's been meme'd to death.) It currently sits at $435 million worldwide after coming out a week after Superman. I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to see where this group fits in the bigger MCU. But it does highlight an ongoing issue with Marvel's films which has led to my conclusion on the "superhero fatigue problem."

I think it's really more of a "Marvel saturation problem." We're now 37 films in, not including the TV shows on Disney+. This franchise has now been running for 17 years. I was in my early 20s when the MCU was taking shape. What was once a small hill you could casually stroll up has now become an Everest size task. I imagine many people around that demographic today look at that list of films and says "ain't nobody got time for that."

Meanwhile, the movie and television landscape has changed. While we were working our way through Iron Man, Captain America and Thor movies, streaming services came along and gave viewers access to a cornucopia of options to watch. This has led to pop culture in general expanding in popularity. The 20 something's of today aren't necessarily watching Marvel movies. They could be watching the latest Demon Slayer movie or another popular anime that's coming out at the moment.

I also believe that as the cost of living has consistently gone up for one reason or another that people are becoming more selective with what movies they will see in a cinema. They'll come out for a special event like Deadpool & Wolverine or the Robert Pattinson Batman movies but might wait for Thunderbolts* to come to Disney+. Which will be why Disney is hoping that the upcoming Avengers movies featuring a returning RDJ as the villain will put butts in the seats.

But once that's done and the double shot of Doomsday and Secret Wars make their respective billions, maybe Marvel/Disney should to take a page out of the comic book industry and try the same technique publishers do whenever they feel the jumping on point for new readers is getting to small due to the mountain of issues to catch up on. Reboot the universe and start all over again?

What do you guys think about "superhero movie fatigue?" Let me know in the comments.