Infinite Narratives on Infinite Earths. The Evolution of Modern Superhero Films
Infinite Narratives on Infinite Earths. The Evolution of Modern Superhero Films
Author(s): Tomasz ŻaglewskiSubject(s): Visual Arts, Aesthetics, Film / Cinema / Cinematography, History of Art
Published by: Uniwersytet Gdański
Keywords: Cinematography; superhero films; comic-based films; evolution of superhero films; comics and cinema;
Summary/Abstract: After almost 20 years of a succesful run of superhero films it seems that we are now entering into the fully-developed format of this kind of cinema. Through films like “Avengers: Infinity War”, “Logan” or “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse” the general audience all over the world is becoming familiar with strictly comics-based forms and ideas like retcon, crossover or the multiverse paradigm (that serves as a model for ‘infinite’ superhero narratives and limitless iterations of characters). Despite the fact that popular cinema had already introduced some of these elements before – like the crossover aesthetic in Universal Studios’ horrors from the 1930s and 1940s – modern superhero cinematic universes can be seen as much more demanding productions for the viewers in terms of following strongly comic books-based modes of the ‘multiverse-centric’ perception. As a result we can right now observe an emerging process of turning even the non-superheroic popular cinematic features into very ‘comic book-y’ narrative patterns. In this article I’m interested in analyzing the most recent cases of superhero cinema by looking at some specific titles as a way of introducing the narrative systems and tools from superhero comics into cinema.
Journal: Panoptikum
- Issue Year: 2019
- Issue No: 22 (29)
- Page Range: 158-172
- Page Count: 15
- Language: English