The Future of Superhero movies?

Updated on July 27, 2010 By Ken Begg 18 Comments

This is actually a game trailer, but it really reinforces a question I’ve been wondering about for a long time now: Why hasn’t anyone made a big budget all CGI superhero movie?  It’s only a matter of time, right?  This trailer would certainly indicate that this is so.  I would unsurprisingly love to see Marvel do something like this.

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  • John Campbell

    I would have to agree.

    With the level of sophistication in the graphics they achieved in Avatar, I don’t wee why they can’t.

    What are some you’d like to see that haven’t made it to the big or little screen yet? Or were done so horribly they haven’t been revisited.

    I’d love to see Lobo (yeah I know anti-hero), Sgt. Rock, Atom, Judge Dredd, Groo (I know, I know but I love Groo!)

  • Hmmm… Does The Incredibles count?

    Yeah, it’s cartoony, and not perhaps in the more “Avatar” realm of things that you’re probably expecting… but to be perfectly honest, I think that movie got to the heart of what we love about superheroes better than a lot more “realistic” movies out there.

  • John — The obvious answer is the original Galactus story, which Sony TOTALLY SCREWED in Fantastic Four II. (Man, those movies are so lame it’s like they don’t even register as actually existing. They’re the kind of thing you see on a video store shelf and are like, “Oh, yeah.”) As long as Sony keeps the FF rights, though, you’re not going to get that; Sony might reboot the series to keep the rights, but they aren’t going to lose face by redoing a story they already botched once.

  • Just one more reason games are better than movies.

    Another reason – generally, game sequels are BETTER than the originals, in stark contrast to movies.

  • BeckoningChasm

    I imagine that pretty much all animation done in the last five years is probably CGI, despite the fact that it looks like cel.

    Really, though, the Bruce Timm stuff is about the best I could ever imagine for DC’s heroes. (The closest Marvel ever got was Larry Houston, but I’m not sure what he’s been up to lately.) The half-hour format works splendidly without padding. I don’t really need to see it on the big screen.

  • Sandy: Yes, but games can’t be art.

  • Rock Baker

    Hmmm. That’s bad when you see a clip made for a video game that makes you wish it were a movie. I’d swing my support behind a movie like this, if for no other reason than they kept Kevin Conroy on as the voice of Batman (and if that’s not him, they sure found a good substitute).

    To echo El Santo, The Incredibles already gave us about all that we could possibly hope for from a CGI-Superhero-Feature. I’d love to see them make more, natch, and a DC movie would be right at the top of the list (and I’ll have to admit, this would also be a good avenue for AC). I could also see a new Rocketeer flick done like this. The problem is, if you go too photorealistic, you sort of undermine the CG approach completely. The Incredibles was super-stylized, and that’s one of the things that gave it that timeless, classic quality. Who knows, if the technology has come to a point where its cheaper to animated people rather than film them, this may very well be the future of superhero movies.

  • Rock: Not only Kevin Conroy, but Mark Hamill. I actually find the DC DTV movies jarring, because they recast all the voices for each new one.

  • Rock Baker

    The DTV movies from DC can go either way. I want to see the ‘Public Enemies’ one mostly because they brought back Kevin Conroy AND Tim Daly! Oh, and for obvious reasons I want to see the new Justice League feature that’s set back in the 60s.

  • Rock Baker

    And yes, Hamill being on board is yet another plus! It sort of makes me wish I played video games.

  • BeckoningChasm

    Ken – Yeah, I liked “Superman: Doomsday” but I would have liked it a lot more had they kept Clancy Brown. I’m not sure who’s responsible for the original voice casting but they NAILED those characters in the Batman, Superman and Justice League series.

  • Rock Baker

    Superman Doomsday may have more justification for recasting the parts than other projects might. Similar territory had already been covered (much better, in my opinion) on an episode of Justice League, and the DTV feature Braniac Attacks! (That film also shows badly the lack of Clancy Brown, Cory Burton too, but at least they got most of the other cast members to return from the series.) The thinking behind recasting ‘Doomsday’ was not to have the original cast members show up and reread the same lines they’d said before. At least in that instance, they did have a valid excuse.

  • BeckoningChasm

    Rock, yeah, they made have had an excuse or a need, but that doesn’t really make the Declancyfication any easier to listen to.

    And taking out Corey Burton? That’s a bad idea. He made Brainiac terrifying.

  • Petoht

    I could also see a new Rocketeer flick done like this. The problem is, if you go too photorealistic, you sort of undermine the CG approach completely.

    Honestly, taking a cue from Sky Captain would probably make for an amazing Rocketeer remake. It didn’t do well in the theaters (sadly), but he nailed the feel perfectly. Rcoketeer has a similar Golden Age feel that Sky Captain was going for.

    Also, I agree with John: I’d love to see a Groo movie.

  • BC–Andrea Romano casts pretty much everything, from the connected series of Batman: The Animated Series on, to the movies. I think they want to emphasize that the movies aren’t in continuity, and that’s why they keep switching actors. Also, they want ‘names’ to put on the cover, which is probably why they might go for actors at least somewhat better known by the public at large.

  • John Campbell

    Game trailers always make me drool for a movie version. Just look at the trailer for Starcraft 2.

    Ye gods that looks fabulous!

    Petoht – Groo needs no help. Groo is beyond aid!

  • Rock Baker

    Sky Captian was pretty slick, and I’d love to see a Rocketeer sequel set during the war. They’d need to have lusher colors though. Sky Captain was made to look like a lobby card (and pretty much done the same way), a Rocketeer movie needs to be more like Indiana Jones and have a very lush, almost Technicolor sheen.

    And, yes, I think Corey Burton’s absense from Braniac Attacks was the worst part. Burton sounded like the Control Voice from The Outer Limits, having menace and a robotic lack of emotion. In Braniac Attacks, he just sounds too human. But it seems like he was voiced by Lance Henrickson, so the performance was still a good one, technically speaking.

  • Marsden

    I want Rufferto!