Ex-Batman Movie Villain Questions Modern Comic Book Film Inspirations
Scarecrow thinks we've exhausted the pot.
If you're looking for a reason as to why modern comic book movies are "failing" - they're not, but some people just won't stop banging that drum - former Batman movie actor Cillian Murphy has a theory. He thinks that the perpetual comic book movie machine is running out of source material to pull from.
He thinks the current state of the genre fails to live up to the movies he was in - I mean, in some respects he has a pretty big case there - but then he would say that, wouldn't he? He said as much to Vulture...
"Have they exhausted every single comic book ever? I don't know where they're coming from anymore. It was a different time back when we made Batman Begins. I think that Chris [Nolan] has to take credit for making that trilogy of films. I think they're so grounded in a relatable reality."
Right, so there are two problems there. Firstly, Batman Begins and the Nolan trilogy were not based on comic books. So his point about the problem being the lack of source material is entirely odd.
And then there's the inherent contradiction of seguing from that into saying Nolan's work was so successful because it was so grounded in relatable reality. Why would a comic book movie that was faithful to the source be grounded? Sure, Nolan made three great Batman movies, but he didn't make any Batman COMIC BOOK movies. He made actioners with a superhero lead. A barely superheroic superhero, in fact.
Cleary, Murphy isn't a fan of less realistic comic book movies. He should probably avoid Doctor Strange then. And Guardians Of The Galaxy 2. Oh and Aquaman. And Wonder Woman. And pretty much everything else, since this is not the neo-realist era for comic book movies any more; that ship has sailed.