of Ultron” was released. While it was by no means a flop, the Disney-owned company was rumored to be just slightly underwhelmed with the domestic box office. “Ultron” made $459 million compared to the first movie’s $623 million. In addition, critics and fans liked but didn’t love the film. The bar was set high, so you can’t fault the second film for not measuring up. Still, it was alarming. There are other examples. “Iron Man 2” and “Thor: The Dark World” are also considered inferior to the first film. There are exceptions, which we will get to later, but it’s an interesting argument to think about. Reboots that don’t excite This is tricky. Franchises get long in the tooth, actors and directors want to try new things, and studios want a fresh take on the same character. It worked like a charm with Batman; however, others have struggled. Since Christopher Reeve’s amazing interpretation of Superman, DC and Warner Brothers have struggled getting the man of steel to be beloved in the cinema. In 2006, director Bryan Singer, who directed terrific “X-Men” films, tried his hand with “Superman Returns.” It paid homage to the original Supes films, but didn’t tread any new ground and fell flat. A sequel wasn’t made. It took seven years to bring him back to the cinema with “Man of Steel.” This movie was slightly more successful with the box office, but still received mixed reviews, with many leaving saying, “That’s not my Superman,” or, “There’s too much action.” Spider-Man also fell prey to fatigue. After the disappointing “Spider-Man 3” that ended the Maguire trilogy directed by Sam Raimi, Sony decided to cancel a planned fourth entry likely due to budget concerns and a script that wasn’t very good; a reboot was in order. Then came “The Amazing-Spider-Man” directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The film wasn’t bad by any means. This writer enjoyed it a lot. But audiences felt that it revisited the same ground as the first trilogy with Peter’s origin story. It also suffered from an identity crisis, trying to be more like “Batman Begins” to create a grounded, gritty Spidey. It made enough money to justify a sequel, which is where things fell apart. Despite great actors and special effects, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” made $200 million domestically on a budget that was likely much more than that. It’s unclear why audiences disliked it so much. It didn’t recreate the magic and tried to copy the success of “The Avengers” by creating an expanded universe for spinoffs, but perhaps it wasn’t enough. The third film was scrapped and the web-head made his way in a joint effort with Marvel Studios. I would elaborate on the “Fantastic Four” reboot, but I’ll save you the time. Failed expanded universes DC Comics, which has created some of the most iconic heroes and villains in the industry, is trying to take a page from Marvel’s book and create a cohesive story where all its superheroes, including Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash and Superman, are connected. It’s a no-brainer, but the execution has been greatly lacking. It has seemed far too reactionary to Marvel, and rushed. “Batman V Superman” was supposed to be the movie event that could possibly match or top “The Avengers.” It had an extremely strong opening weekend; however, the majority of audiences disliked it. Couple that with the 27 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the DC universe got off to a discouraging start. It made its money, but with several other films in the pipeline, the studio didn’t have time to modify the complaints of BvS, so when “Suicide Squad” came out, its fate was identical. Good box office numbers, terrible fanfare. With “Wonder Woman” and “Justice League” due in 2017, Warner has to hope that it hasn’t lost all of the good will and excitement generated in 2016. QNS.com 28 WINTER 2016
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