You'd think that superhero fatigue would be setting in by now, but money raked in by films such as Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home says that the genre is alive and well. And while the quality of superhero films varies from movie to movie, different people resonate with so many different heroes that the genre will always have something for everyone. Horror icon Bruce Campbell (of The Evil Dead fame) is of a different mind. He's one of many Hollywood figures to question superhero films and voice the belief that they don't really offer anything special or new.
During an interview with io9 at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, he contrasted the invulnerability of superheroes with normal people struggling to survive in an adverse situation, against stacked odds. To him, that's infinitely more interesting than whether or not Thor would beat Captain Marvel in a fight. He thinks vulnerability and mortality are necessary because they put normal people in real danger. Bruce Campbell thinks that superheroes aren't interesting because there's nothing that can truly beat them. Heck, even if they “die,” they're not really gone. And he doesn't like that.
So that’s all you need. To a character [like] Ash from Evil Dead, he can be killed at any time. Car crash. He’s dead. But these guys who have this special superhero power, to me that’s Snoresville. If you don’t have kryptonite, then — Batman v Superman. Stupid, stupid, stupid concept. Never should’ve been made. Superman who can like, make the world go backwards with centrifugal force. Batman can’t do that. Superman can frickin’ fly. He’s the man of steel. All he has — one hand on Batman’s esophagus, the story is over. So they spent a lot of money kidding themselves.
The fanboy in me wants to scream out in protest, but I honestly think the guy has a point. Do I agree with said point? Maybe in the case of Batman V. Superman (which was abysmal and riddled with plot holes), but I think plenty of superhero films do a phenomenal job of making us care despite the fact that, yes, these larger-than-life beings are nearly impossible to kill.
I get where Campbell is coming from. I do. But he's talking about Batman V. Superman like it's every superhero film. Marvel consistently does a great job with its heroes and its stories, and DC has a handful of winners, too (Wonder Woman being my favorite by far). You've got to examine these movies individually.
You can catch Bruce Campbell in Ash Vs. the Evil Dead, which has since been cancelled (only three seasons in, too) but can still be found on Netflix, Amazon, and home video.
