Comic Book Superheroes Films by the Numbers

Movies based on the superhero universes of DC and Marvel have been a recent trend in Hollywood and with good reason. The story's easy to adapt. The fanbase is already there thanks to comic book fans young and old. It's easy to generate buzz with a couple trips to geek pop culture conventions like Comic Con. And it's generally appealing as a summer blockbuster release where movie audience brains shut down in favor of explosions, popcorn, and air conditioning.

But these comic book films tend to all look the same when flooded with enough men like Iron Man, Batman, Superman, and Spiderman. The reason is quite simple really: They usually are. And here is the process by the numbers

1 Introductory Arc for the Superhero to Be

The first half of the first film for the comic book superhero is meant to introduce the audience to the protagonist destined for comic book greatness. We get to meet his pre-heroic days to learn of his struggle, ambition, and occasionally his tragedy that cause him to become a superhero. This is where you get to connect with the protagonist as we feel him get overwhelmed with his hardship. Then we watch him overcome his hardship either through determination, creativity, or a cosmic MacGuffin that personifies his heroism. When we see the metamorphosis into the superhero, we see ourselves succeeding alongside him in this film.

2nd Act Is a Comic Book

After turning the protagonist into a superhero during the first half of the first film, the second half concludes the film by reminding us that this is a film based on a comic book. The shift between halves is often obvious and feels like you're watching a different film. No matter how realistic the exposition or tone was during the first half, the second half is where the explosions, fistfights, and dastardly plots of the villains feel so unbelievable that they both have to have been ripped off from a comic book. And this is simply because no superhero is ever complete without a villain to test him. Usually the villain for the first film is someone who was close to the protagonist before the superhero transformation. It adds to the internal conflict of being a superhero. Whether the villain creates a situation that threatens society of the superhero's inner circle, the usual conclusion of the second half is that the good guy wins.

But those explosions and fights make for some good footage to throw into the trailer.

3 Obligatory Films

If a superhero's first film succeeds, the most obvious thing for studios to do is make more with him. This is partially to adapt some of the MANY comic books already published about him and partially to milk more money out of the franchise. Villains to antagonize the superhero are numerous and are an easy idea bucket for filmmakers to grab from to use as a plot for their films. The trilogy formula of storytelling works because it hooks audiences to watch three films to see how the arc ends. The first film introduces the superhero. The second film is the darkest film that pits the superhero at his lowest point. And the third film is usually a train wreck where the filmmaker has no idea how to deliver a satisfying conclusion and just throws any comic references and characters hoping to appease fans.

For Goodness Sake, Is There Any Way to Break This Pattern?

This superhero film by the numbers tends to get used often because it works. The storytelling is simple enough to follow whether you're a filmmaker trying adapt a comic book to the big screen or someone who never read the comic book and does not want to get lost when watching a film based on a comic book.

The devil is in the details when separating one superhero film from another. This introductory arc is the best differential. It helps establish the personality of the protagonist whether he's an everyman, a cocky prick who needs to be taken down a peg, or a flashback to simpler times. You just pick which superhero and personality to relate to. The tone of the film is also established by presenting the film as a comedy or grafted in gritty realism. Or if the filmmaker is lazy, he just throws Ryan Reynolds into a remake of "Top Gun" where fighter jets are replaced with men in green costumes.

Or establish a group of individual superheroes each with his own movie and then have them all team up in one ensemble movie. And hope that audiences already watched each superhero movie despite knowing those were just part of something bigger.