For years, being a comic-book fan meant enduring a steady stream of rumors about possible comic-book movies, only to discover that the ones that actually got made were worthless. There were a few exceptions: Richard Donner's 1978 Superman with Christopher Reeve is considered by many to be the greatest superhero film of all time, and Tim Burton's 1989 art deco-influenced Batman is my pick for the title. Both were marred by subpar sequels, and are notable exceptions to a rule that is more likely to include such bombs as the 1989 version of The Punisher starring Dolph Lundgren, 1991's Captain America that went straight to video, and worst of all, the legendary 1994 unreleased Roger Corman-produced Fantastic Four, which is a popular attraction at comic-book conventions but is by no accounts a good movie.
All of that unexpectedly changed in 1998 with the release of Blade, based on a relatively obscure Marvel Comics vampire-fighting character. Marvel executives Stan Lee and Avi Arad produced the film, and for once, took a hand in how the final product turned out. By actually caring about finding the right writer, director and actors for the project, Lee and Arad proved you could make a successful movie out of a comic book property. Blade wasn't even a great film, but it worked as a stylish action picture, and more importantly, became a huge hit, grossing more than $70 million at the U.S. box office alone.
Suddenly, Marvel opened its eyes to the possibilities of Hollywood success. Its next two projects, X-Men in 2000 and Spider-Man in 2002, built on the Blade formula, bringing in high-quality writers, directors and actors to shepherd the important properties to the screen, and affording them the budgets they deserved. Both were even bigger hits than Blade. At that point, it wasn't only Marvel that saw success in comic books; studios started snapping up every property available, including plenty without potential for compelling filmmaking.
Although Marvel led the charge, other comics companies have gotten in on the act as well. At first, this seemed like a boon for the ailing comics industry, whose relative turnaround in the last five years has been at least partly attributed to the success of comic-book movies. If people see a quality film like X-Men or Spider-Man, they'll be able to see that comics aren't as silly and childish as they once thought; they might even go down to their local comic-book store to pick up an X-Men or Spider-Man comic.
The world of comics beyond superheroes got some attention, too, with critically acclaimed films based on serious comics like Ghost World and Road to Perdition. For comics fans who endured years of Dolph Lundgren and Roger Corman, this was heaven. But like all trends in Hollywood, it soon got out of hand. Marvel's movie slate right now is full to bursting, and I have to wonder if Arad is taking the same care in picking writers, directors and stars as he did in the early days. This summer will see the release of a non-Corman Fantastic Four, helmed by Barbershop and Taxi director Tim Story, a far cry from X-Men's Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) and Spider-Man's Sam Raimi (A Simple Plan). Writer-director Mark Steven Johnson, who made the mediocre Daredevil, is back with a cinematic version of Ghost Rider starring Nicolas Cage. The Internet Movie Database lists eight more Marvel projects in various stages of development, not including planned sequels to already released films.
DC Comics, Marvel's biggest competitor, is finally getting in on the action with this week's Constantine, a tossed-off adaptation helmed by a music video director. Two other DC projects in the works, this summer's Batman Begins and a new Superman film from X-Men director Singer, have more promise, but are likely to suffer from comparisons to their past incarnations, and to the endless stream of superhero films released since 1998.
The list of bad comics adaptations in recent years includes not only Marvel duds Daredevil, The Punisher and Elektra, but also screen versions of Bulletproof Monk, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell. What was once a blessing for comics fans has become a curse; people walking out of theaters after seeing Constantine or this week's other comics movie, Son of the Mask, aren't likely to rush down to their local comic-book store. They're more likely to think that comics are silly and/or childish, and the glut of upcoming adaptations, governed by the law of diminishing returns, is only going to reinforce that idea.
It's sad that the comics industry is so fragile that a few bad movies can do such great damage. After all, no one comes out of a bad movie based on a novel or play with the notion that novels or plays in general must be low quality to inspire such shoddy movies. But comics don't yet have the respect of other media, and are still largely judged on the movies they inspire, which is the only public face they have to the average American.
In order to save comic books, it may be necessary to stop making comic-book movies, or at least greatly taper off. Not every upcoming comics film is likely to suck; for every Fantastic Four, there is a Sin City, Robert Rodriguez's version of the Frank Miller classic that has Miller himself as co-director. But audiences aren't likely to make such fine distinctions, and the movie-related greed of comics companies like Marvel is going to end up hurting the medium in the long run. Comics shouldn't need movies to survive, but the sad fact is they do. Given the shaky symbiotic relationship, it's tempting fate to toss off comics films without giving them the care and craft they need.
Comic-book fans everywhere hope the medium they love will be judged by movies like X-Men, Spider-Man and Ghost World, or, better yet, by actual X-Men, Spider-Man and Ghost World comics. If you think comic-book movies are interesting, and you're thinking of seeing Constantine or Son of the Mask this week, or renting The Punisher or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, do a struggling industry (and yourself) a favor: Go buy a comic book.