“Superhero Fatigue”. It’s an oft-cited phrase that comes up any time a new superhero movie is on the horizon. It’s tossed around in discussions, Youtube shows, box office reports and (of course) snarky social media comments. For those who may not know, Superhero Fatigue refers to the idea that the film production companies are pumping out too many superhero films for the public to handle. According to believers of Superhero Fatigue, the constant stream of superhero movies has created a generic and bland meld of weak stories and CGI. Are there examples of this? Yes. Does it define the genre? No.

For proof of this, look no further than the most recent Superhero flick, Marvel’s Black Panther. The long and difficult road that Marvel Studios was forced to take for this film payed off in spectacular fashion. What may have been thought to be just another CGI superhero blockbuster (as fatigue believers might say), has been turned into a cultural phenomenon on a bafflingly large scale. Blowing past the first weekend ticket sales of some of Marvel’s most successful films, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man 3, Black Panther earned over $235 million in its first weekend in North American markets and became the 5th highest grossing opening weekend of all time. People have flocked to the theaters by the thousands to get a chance to see it for themselves. Even days after its release, there were still people showing up to screenings in costumes and makeup representing characters and ideas from the film. Black Panther has become a rallying cry for the strength of people of African descent all over the world. Rather than yet another movie about slavery or the American Civil Rights movement, Black Panther focuses on a remote African Nation that is technologically superior to every other country in the world. It acts as a symbol of African strength and, sadly, a glimpse into what could have been without the meddling of Europeans. In addition to the fans, Black Panther has been resonating with the critics. On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Black Panther holds a 97% approval rating and an average rating of 8.2 out of 10, the highest of all time for a Marvel Cinematic Universe film.
And Black Panther isn’t the only example of this. DC’s Wonder Woman (2017) became another cultural phenomenon as the first Superhero solo film to be headed by a women. The period piece, set in World War I, focuses on a young Princess from the fictional Island of Themyscira (home of the Amazons), who leaves her Island’s safety to help mankind fight World War I.  Gal Gadot, the Israeli, actress, model and Israeli Defense Force veteran, provided an incredible performance as the innocent Princess of the Amazons, Diana (aka Wonder Woman). Resonating with female fans in a similar way to how Black Panther resonated with fans of African decent, Wonder Woman set it’s own slew of records. While not having the incredible opening weekend of Black Panther (most likely due to wariness after DC’s failures in 2016), Wonder Woman quickly caught the attention of the general populous and skyrocketed past the rest of the DC Extended Universe, earning an incredible $412 million, over $80 million more than any previous DCEU film and making less than only two pre-DCEU DC films, the ever popular Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises.

However fatigue believers will still continue to argue that these are anomalies. While cultural wave-makers, such as Black Panther and Wonder Woman, may not be commonplace, it doesn’t mean that good superhero films are rare. Looking at every DC and Marvel film last year, Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man Homecoming and Thor Ragnarok, 20th Century Fox/Marvel’s Logan and DC/Warner brothers’ Wonder Woman and Justice League, only Justice League was not certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes (above a 60% approval rating), and that film was plagued by tragedy, directorial change, studio pressure and an eye catching upper lip (for all of the wrong reasons). When looking at audience perception, marked by box office statistics, the films seem to actually be on an increase! 4 out of 6 Marvel and DC films from 2017 (or 66%) landed in the top 50 opening weekends of all time, except Justice League (most likely for the already stated reasons) and Logan (probably due to its R-rating).

For even more proof of the falsehood of fatigue, ask yourself, who are the fatiguers? The general populous certainly is not in this imaginary group, as they make up the vast majority of the viewing audience, which is increasing. Staunch Marvel and DC fans also aren’t in this group as they will continue to eat up any and all new products. Maybe Parents of kids who drag them to Superhero films all year, every year could have fatigue or people who dislike the films on grounds of them deviating from the comics could present themselves as fatiguers to gain attention. In other words, the pool is small. Even if there are some people who truly have Superhero Fatigue, they make up such a small group of people that it’s like a grain of sand in the entire Sahara. In 2018, it will be interesting to see if Fatigue gains a better foothold. There are currently 7 Superhero films, 8 counting Incredibles 2, on the slate for 2018 and it is most certainly intriguing to see how the box office and critics opinions fair.