8 Reasons Why Fans And Critics Can’t Agree On Superhero Films

OK, here's the biggie. The closest this article will have to a twist. I've spent a lot of time looking at how the fan side of the divide works, but it's not a singularly caused phenomenon.

Critics don't watch a movie in isolation. They talk amongst themselves. They go out for drinks after screenings or text their friends to find out what they thought of the embargoed film they last saw. And they are susceptible to peer pressure. If a film is going to be universally panned, then do you want to be the one to say it's OK? Or the only one who didn't get a masterpiece? This is where some of that trepidation around previous superhero films will have come and is felt even heavier today where your critic community isn't just those at papers in your city, but every reviewer in the entire world.

You see it all the time - a movie comes out and for no clear reason gets five stars across the board, then later assessments shift it downwards. Just look at Spectre, a film where I was told repeatedly that my three-star review had got it wrong because other people called it the "Best Bond ever" before people actually got to see the thing. And this is definitely true of negativity too. I'm not saying conformity it's conscious or that everyone does it, but it is there.