Superhero Fatigue Is a Myth — And I’m Tired of Pretending It’s Real
If I had a dollar for every time a headline screamed “Is Superhero Fatigue Killing Hollywood?” I’d have enough to fund my own cinematic universe.
The “superhero fatigue” narrative isn’t just tired … oh no.. it’s become the journalistic equivalent of yelling “fire” in a crowded theater every time a Marvel or DC movie opens softer than Endgame. And I’m here to say… enough is enough already.
Let’s get real.
Every few months, a think piece pops up declaring the death of superhero movies like it’s some grand revelation. The formula’s always the same… pick a comic book movie that underperforms, slap on a headline about the genre dying, and act like you’ve cracked the code of Hollywood’s inevitable collapse.
Funny how these articles conveniently pop up right after a movie like The Marvels stumbles but mysteriously vanish when Spider-Man: No Way Home makes nearly $2 billion or when Superman (2025) storms the box office.
What these “fatigue” preachers never seem to get is that no genre is bulletproof. But superhero films aren’t some special case study in audience burnout either.
Westerns faded because they stopped evolving.
Rom-coms flatlined when studios went straight to streaming.
Superhero movies? They’ve been reinventing themselves every few years… sometimes clumsily, sometimes brilliantly and looking at that you can see the numbers back it up.
Think about it. Since 2019, we've had multiversal mind-benders like Doctor Strange 2, grounded epics like The Batman, family comedies like Shazam, and hard-R rated gut punches like Joker.
Are they all billion dollar hits? No. Nor should they be. But the diversity inside the genre speaks louder than any headline about "audience exhaustion."
And let’s not ignore the obvious: audiences aren't fatigued… they’re just smarter. They’re not showing up for bland, half-baked corporate content anymore. They’re showing up for movies with vision, character, and yes, spectacle. The problem isn’t superheroes. It’s studios treating billion dollar IPs like assembly line filler.
The real “fatigue” here?
Lazy journalism…. Yea… come at me!
The kind that chases cheap clicks by parroting the same tired talking points every time a cape movie doesn’t shatter records. Instead of analyzing audience trends, franchise quality, or the evolving blockbuster market, they fall back on the same dead horse. And when the next big superhero movie inevitably blows up, they pivot. “Superhero Cinema Makes a Comeback!” like they weren’t just doomsaying three months ago.
Let’s talk about fatigue that actually exists:
I’m fatigued by surface level box office takes that ignore global trends.
I’m fatigued by critics acting shocked that franchise entries don’t all make Endgame money.
I’m fatigued by the assumption that if one movie fails, the genre must be dead.
Newsflash! Genres don’t die. They evolve. And superhero films are still figuring out their next evolution. Just so happens the fans are along for the ride.
James Gunn’s DCU reboot isn’t the end of the genre… it’s the next chapter.
The MCU’s street level focus? Another pivot. Heck, even the rise of superhero horror (you heard it here) is waiting in the wings.
So no, I’m not buying the superhero fatigue argument. And if you’re reading this, I’m betting you aren’t either. Are we tired of bad movies? Absolutely. But that’s been true since the dawn of cinema.
We don’t need to bury the superhero genre. We need to demand better from it and better from the people writing about it.
Because if there’s anything I’m genuinely fatigued by… it’s lazy clickbait journalism pretending like it cracked the Da Vinci Code every time a cape movie doesn’t triple its budget in a weekend.
Stay sharp, stay critical, and maybe save the obituary until the genre’s actually six feet under.
