Mark Hamill is part of the biggest movie franchise in the world, but recently superhero movies as a genre have been taking over the industry. What does Luke Skywalker think about that? Overall he thinks that superhero movies are fantastic, but he does worry that the genre may be going overboard, and not focusing on the right things, specifically, story. According to Hamill...
I don't know what's going on with superhero movies. They're fantastic, but I think we're reaching a point of oversaturation. So that's why the story is so important, is that the gimmicks and all that, they can only take you so far. That's what I want, better stories.
Mark Hamill probably echoes the sentiments of many in his comments to USA Today. While superhero movies are generally well-regarded these days, there have been those that feel that the industry is going too far in that particular direction. This year sees three movies from Marvel and two from DC hitting theaters, and while those two are the biggest comic book companies, they are by no means the only ones. Lots of other superhero movies are being planned in addition to the two big cinematic universes.
Having said that, it seems that, for the most part, people are happy with the stories that the superhero movies are telling. While there will always be outliers, both of the last two major comic book movie releases, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Wonder Woman, have been reviewed well by both critics and audiences, and if the stories they were telling were bad, it's unlikely they would get such a positive response.
Of course, there's always room for improvement and Mark Hamill is absolutely correct that gimmick can only take you so far. If the story falters, the audience isn't going to hang around for very long. You might be able to get a strong box office off the spectacle for a while, but that doesn't last forever. It's also true that even if you think the stories that superhero movies are telling are generally good, they're becoming somewhat formulaic and that's another situation that will only last for a limited time before audiences wise up. Comic book movies will need to evolve their storytelling if they're going to continue to be relevant over the long term.
Of course, the question that follows becomes, if the genre can continue to evolve and is successful in telling good stories, is oversaturation still an issue? At the end of the day, if the movies are good, does it really matter how many of them there are? That's an area in which there will clearly be differing opinions. Some will want to make room for more movies with different plots, but others will be more than happy to keep watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe three times a year for decades if the movies are strong enough to support it.
