Months ago, people thought this would struggle to outgross Ant-Man and the Wasp. Now it's poised to outgross most of the MCU and the entire DCEU. Wan about to get the Nolan deal at WB: blank check and carte blanche to make whatever he wants.
This movie's success does force some changes in how we talk about superhero movies.
1. Audiences are not harboring some grudge against DC as a brand. People pointed to Justice League as a sign that audiences no longer wanted to show up to DC movies, but that ignored the actual problems with that film. Namely, there was little hype for it prior to release, there was terrible WOM after release, and WB barely marketed it due to them probably realizing it was a mess.
The only people who were holding some kind of grudge against DC were the bitter nerds who follow this stuff. General audiences do not care cause all this superhero stuff is the same shyt to them.
2. The problem with DC thus far was never "DC." It was who they chose to helm the projects. People didn't dislike DC, they disliked Zack Synder's movies. You get him out the director's chair, and things instantly look up. Nothing against the man - I actually think people give him far too much crap - but his films just didn't gel with audiences. Wonder Woman did. Aquaman did. Shazam looks like it will too. In the future, Warner needs to be very particular about who they get to helm these projects.
3. It literally does not matter what character you're making a movie about. This is probably my most hated talking about in superhero movies because at this point, we have more than enough evidence to show that audiences will come out for any superhero movie as long as it's good. People swore up and down Aquaman would be a tough sell because "the character is a joke" (I'll get to that). Yet here we are: Aquaman is box office gold. Why? Because he stars in a crowd pleasing movie. This material isn't as impenetrable as fans want to believe it is.
4. Aquaman isn't a joke anymore. I made this point elsewhere: if you're a kid aged 8-13, where have you seen Aquaman? Cartoons like Young Justice or Brave and the Bold, games like Injustice, or recent books and comics. In other words, media where he's always portrayed as a competent and worthwhile character. Personally, I talk to my students (second grade) about comics pretty regularly. When I bring up Aquaman, they either think he's cool or he's just another hero to them.
As for older people, many didn't have an opinion about this character at all prior to the movie. At this point, I think it's probably fair to say a lot of people seeing this movie were only vaguely aware of who Aquaman is. We think of him as this widespread joke, but truthfully, he's only really a joke to nerds who follow this stuff or people who remember Superfriends. A lot of people are seeing this movie or being exposed to the character without that baggage.
DC won. Their decades long plan to rehabilitate Aquaman worked.
This movie's success does force some changes in how we talk about superhero movies.
1. Audiences are not harboring some grudge against DC as a brand. People pointed to Justice League as a sign that audiences no longer wanted to show up to DC movies, but that ignored the actual problems with that film. Namely, there was little hype for it prior to release, there was terrible WOM after release, and WB barely marketed it due to them probably realizing it was a mess.
The only people who were holding some kind of grudge against DC were the bitter nerds who follow this stuff. General audiences do not care cause all this superhero stuff is the same shyt to them.
2. The problem with DC thus far was never "DC." It was who they chose to helm the projects. People didn't dislike DC, they disliked Zack Synder's movies. You get him out the director's chair, and things instantly look up. Nothing against the man - I actually think people give him far too much crap - but his films just didn't gel with audiences. Wonder Woman did. Aquaman did. Shazam looks like it will too. In the future, Warner needs to be very particular about who they get to helm these projects.
3. It literally does not matter what character you're making a movie about. This is probably my most hated talking about in superhero movies because at this point, we have more than enough evidence to show that audiences will come out for any superhero movie as long as it's good. People swore up and down Aquaman would be a tough sell because "the character is a joke" (I'll get to that). Yet here we are: Aquaman is box office gold. Why? Because he stars in a crowd pleasing movie. This material isn't as impenetrable as fans want to believe it is.
4. Aquaman isn't a joke anymore. I made this point elsewhere: if you're a kid aged 8-13, where have you seen Aquaman? Cartoons like Young Justice or Brave and the Bold, games like Injustice, or recent books and comics. In other words, media where he's always portrayed as a competent and worthwhile character. Personally, I talk to my students (second grade) about comics pretty regularly. When I bring up Aquaman, they either think he's cool or he's just another hero to them.
As for older people, many didn't have an opinion about this character at all prior to the movie. At this point, I think it's probably fair to say a lot of people seeing this movie were only vaguely aware of who Aquaman is. We think of him as this widespread joke, but truthfully, he's only really a joke to nerds who follow this stuff or people who remember Superfriends. A lot of people are seeing this movie or being exposed to the character without that baggage.
DC won. Their decades long plan to rehabilitate Aquaman worked.
I did like how they expanded on Aquaman's character in this beyond the "WAHOO!" and such. They made it clear that he wasn't an idiot cause his dad made sure to teach him things and he could think his way out of a problem. It was more so that he was just a simple guy who preferred things to be uncomplicated. Like he told Mera, he's a blunt force object.
, and you know a Superman vs Darkseid fight scene would've been epic
I don’t double my expectations based on your name or who you are. My expectations are purely based on you being a movie and a story and following the rules of storytelling. If character A is weak just like character B, I don’t give one a pass because they’re more well known. All shyt is equal to me. So while some may say you have to get joker right and they get upset if they don’t, I’m just as miffed if you get the prowler wrong because they serve the same purpose of the story which is to challenge the hero and be a force to reckon with. The better the villain the better the hero