The internet equivalent of crazy homeless men with sandwich boards saying 'The End Is Nigh' have been predicting the implosion of the comic book movie sub-genre since Sam Raimi was still making Spider-Man movies. Even Steven Spielberg recently compared the genre to the Western, which suffered from over-saturation and a gradual lack of relevance. It's not like it's a crazy idea that mass audiences will grow tired of superhero movies; between now and 2021, DC and Marvel combined have a planned 21 superhero films, and that's not even including Fox and their current slate of four mutant-related titles. What Deadpool might do, however, is reinvigorate the general public's interest (if their interest was, in fact, waning at all - let's not forget that Avengers: Age Of Ultron is still the #7 box office earner of all time) in the genre. If it was diminishing, Deadpool may just be the antidote to that, and the box office takings so far look to be reflecting that.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
