Superhero movie effects on society tv#

Freeze’s repetitive insistence on ice-related puns, and the merchandise-focused action sequences. Batman & Robin is a joy to watch now for all its over-the-top glory.īatman & Robin debuted to horrible reviews and worse word-of-mouth, with particular derision aimed at Uma Thurman’s Mae West-esque take on Poison Ivy, Mr.

Superhero movie effects on society tv#

Batman & Robin did star a relatively cheap Batman-George Clooney, then best known for the TV hit ER-but its budget was far larger than most of its superhero rivals. Superhero franchises are about more than one film, and getting less well-known stars (as Marvel did with actors like Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and others) is a way to plan for the future economically, rather than get tied into giant paychecks right away. Today, any studio would balk at the idea of paying a huge star like Schwarzenegger a massive paycheck (he made $38 million in today’s dollars to play the villainous Mr. Marvel Comics, which in the 1990s was in the midst of serious financial struggles, was a long way away from funding its own movies and steering their production to be more faithful to their works of origin (a highly successful project it began in 2008 with Iron Man). No Batman film really resembles any of the hero’s best-known comic-book works (which Christopher Nolan would later draw from for his Dark Knight trilogy). Superhero movies were not very different from any other action event of the 1990s-they were star-driven exercises first and foremost, made with little fealty to their source material. No studio had ever really considered the idea of a “linked universe” that would eventually become commonplace-the idea of Superman and Batman, brethren in the comics pages, interacting onscreen was not a priority. The producer Jon Peters was trying to get a rebooted Superman film into theaters, with Nicolas Cage going as far as doing costume tests for a film tentatively titled Superman Lives. The phenomenal success of Batman had spawned a new wave of Hollywood superheroes: There were hits like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Crow, bombs like Judge Dredd and The Rocketeer, and cult favorites like Darkman and Tank Girl. Reviews were far less kind, and on-set relationships was somewhat troubled, with Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face) telling Jim Carrey (The Riddler), “ I cannot sanction your buffoonery,” and Schumacher calling Kilmer “ childish and impossible.” That film made a perfectly healthy $184 million in 1995-but that was far less than Batman, which had grossed $250 million six years earlier. The warning signs were already there with Batman Forever, Schumacher’s first go-round with the Caped Crusader, which starred a new actor (Val Kilmer) and embraced a broader, more kid-friendly storytelling approach than Tim Burton’s two attempts. But Batman & Robin’s biggest impact was changing how Hollywood approached superhero movies as a whole-it proved such films couldn’t be assembled with the ease of any other Hollywood action picture, and that the genre was not as “critic-proof” as once thought. For the movie’s 20th anniversary, The Hollywood Reporter has assembled a terrific oral history of its tortured production, including some typically self-effacing quotes from Schumacher (who has never been afraid to acknowledge what went right and wrong with the film).

Many an appreciation of Joel Schumacher’s second Batman film, starring George Clooney, Uma Thurman, 100 metric tons of neon lighting, and 2,000 fog machines, has been written over the years. A spinoff focused on sidekick Robin (Chris O’Donnell) was on the books. A follow-up, Batman Unchained, was already in development.

franchise that had begun in 1989 with Batman, which starred one of the most expensive movie stars alive (Arnold Schwarzenegger, paid a handsome $25 million for his trouble). Batman & Robin was supposed to be one of the biggest tentpoles of the summer: It was the continuation of an enormously successful Warner Bros. This may sound unfathomable to younger moviegoers, but 20 years ago today, the superhero film died a seemingly irreversible death.