I'm not choosing a side in this article, I'm excited for both The Avengers and TDKR for this year, but I think they both pose a problem to us.
Marvel Studios has been building towards their magnum opus,"The Avengers,"
for some time now. Intertwining an overarching story between all of their movies was a success and built up the excitement for the viewers of the years. Nothing of this magnitude has ever been done before and it looks like this movie will be done right. (Unlike the failed JLA movie from a couple of years ago, a movie that would have failed and with its failure would have killed the comic book movie genre for some time.) The Avengers has so much excitement around it because something like this has never happened before. People are excited this time because it is the first time it their favorite characters will be together. After this the excitement for sequels and team movies will begin to dwindle. The other Avengers movies won't do as well and other future team movies won't do as well either.
The Dark Knight Rises is the anticipated conclusion to Nolan's trilogy. This movie will do well in the box office, probably earn nominations at multiple award shows and be an overall success. This is not good. It is a given that Batman will be back in theaters only a few years after this conclusion (whether Batman dies like some people think or not at the climax is unimportant, WB will simply reboot the franchise and smile as the millions roll in). Batman is the cash cow for WB now that the Harry Potter franchise is done. The next Batman movie will be made quickly and cheaply to shove it into the theaters so WB can make money quickly.
The Hobbit, Prometheus, the new Borne movie, and for all you comedy lovers I'm sure the six Judd Appatow movies, will all also be on your movie list this year. I'm rooting for all of these movies, I want them all to be fantastic films and do well in theaters. But I am still worried.
Decent films can lead to fantastic sequels while good films can lead into rubbish.
Ghost Rider was decent, but this new one looks great.
Spiderman 1 was decent, Spiderman 2 was phenomenal while Spiderman 3 was the worst of the series.
Movies learn from their mistakes, but if the movies are already perfect, nothing can get better, nothing can push us next time in the theater. Green Lantern was... well I won't even touch upon what it was, but I know that the sequel will be much better. The writers will learn what works, what doesn't work, and that they need to write a better Hal Jordan.
Fantastic films breed trash, the writers believe they are invincible and can do whatever they wish. I am a huge Nolan fan, but I eagerly await his downfall, years of successful films with basically no restriction will lead to a downfall.
I love good movies, who doesn't? But, a string of good movies in this genre worries me.
The commercial success will lead to more movies being released, good or bad.
When The Avengers are on the screen and a fantastic Batman story is as well, one just has to wonder if the entire genre is on the verge of peaking.