Warner Bros. were so certain they were onto a sure thing with Batman And Robin that a sequel, Batman Triumphant, was already in production before the fourth film in the series premiered. That plan was quickly scrapped when Joel Schumacher's film, his second Batman, ended up being one of the most widely derided movies in cinema history. On a basic level Batman And Robin failed because its heart was in completely the wrong place. Treating the comics as an optional piece of the mythology, the main motivation behind production was creating as many toys as possible; everything was designed with marketability in mind. At this point superheroes were little more than a subset of sci-fi/fantasy, but with the likes of Steel also getting their own movies it was clear studios were keen to expand. But when audiences' favourite hero can fail so drastically the whole thing was questioned. At this point both Superman and Batman had ended up ruined in four films apiece, making the prospects of any more superhero movies getting green-lit increasingly unlikely. What saved it: A complete restart. Instead of being bloated and over-the-top, the genre returned small with Blade, then slowly grew with X-Men and Spider-Man. Batman eventually made it back to our screens, but only after a complete revamp by Christopher Nolan. How long do you think the superhero genre will last? Which upcoming movie could be the last straw? Let is know in the comments will last.
