And that’s the worry: what to do after you’ve old the origin story. Iron Man 2 has already demonstrated that, beyond the compelling origin story, they have nothing to say. Where do they go next? Superman: The Movie began as an unbelievably sober and grown-up science fiction film and then, finger-snap, became ridiculous once Clark moved to Metropolis. Once they got there, into the camp silliness, the film and the franchise to follow never recovered. The worry is that America will quickly grow tired of the diet and, as fast as super-hero flicks exploded as a phenom, they will implode from over-exposure and under-development. We’re still lining up, but in order to keep those lines forming, the producers will have to do better.
They can get away with this thin material because the origin story is always a solid bit of storytelling. But, after that, they’ll need to actually have something to say.
I read an article somewhere in which one of the head guys at Disney stated that people don’t care about a story, they care about the special effects. Superhero movies are nothing more than overpriced, poorly written comic books. A reflection of the originals.
I’m afraid that can become very true. So far, though, the writing has been very strong with the rebooted Batman franchise and, at least with Iron Man. I liked Spider-Man 1 but hated the Goblin mask. I liked X-Men 1, which I forgot to include in my summary. But I do belueve that, as the machine cranks up, more pressure will be applied to make opening dates and scripts will begin to suffer.
You are right about how some of the first films usually work, but the sequels become weaker and the more sequels the weaker the films.