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Superhero Comics : The Age Of Marvel Essay

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Superhero movies have become increasingly popular over the past two decades. From the success of comic book adaption movies such as Batman in 1989, the 21st century could arguably be called the age of superhero movies. Nowadays, comic book companies such as Marvel and DC Comics are making much more money from motion pictures than from actual comic books. As University of Calgary professor Bart Beaty (2016) states, “… it has become clear that [superhero comic books] are no longer a significant popular cultural phenomenon in their own right; rather, superhero comic books have become the source material for more lucrative media forms ranging from movies and television, to video games and licensed properties like toys and t-shirts” (p. 318). In fact, three of the top ten highest grossing movies of all time (Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and The Avengers) are based on superheroes (All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses). Ever since the inception of superhero movies in the nineties, film companies saw the potential to making a lot of money by capitalizing on bringing the many stories of various superheroes to the big screen. However, with film companies so focused on financial gain, it is easy to unintentionally disregard context and deep characterization in favour of big action set pieces. While the superhero genre brings fresh and creative ideas to the cinemas, since they are initially created due to profitability, most comic book adaption movies are poorly-written and

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