From Avengers to X-Men: A Brief History of Superhero Movies
When Avengers: Age of Ultron comes out on May 1st, it signals the beginning of a nearly unprecedented era of superhero films: This sequel to 2012 blockbuster is the first of some 29 movies based on either a Marvel or DC property that’s currently scheduled to hit the multiplex between now and 2020. But the superhero movie is nothing new; in fact, men-in-cape flicks have been with us almost since Superman made his debut in the pages of Action Comics way back in in 1938. What started with pulpy serials in the 1940s has evolved over the decades into the current deluge of dark knights, caped crusaders, galactic guardians and all-star team-ups that show’s no sign of slowing down.
So as everything from a brand-new version of Batman to deep-cut superheroes like Black Panther and Deadpool getting their own big-screen outings in the next five years, here’s a look back at where it all started, how it’s changed over the years and when it started to became the dominant form of blockbuster storytelling with audiences worldwide. Let’s turn back the clock…
The Beginning (1941 – 1950)
The first true superhero movie arrived in 1941, in the shape of a 12-chapter serial from Republic Pictures: Adventures of Captain Marvel. Based on a Fawcett Comics hero who later ended up as part of the DC Comics roster, it focused on a young man named Billy Batson (Frank Coghlan, Jr.) who transforms into a godlike good guy (played by Tom Tyler) and battles a supervillain called the Scorpion. This crude attempt to bring comic heroes to the big screen suffers from the usual stop-start cliffhanger-itis of the episodic form, but the foundations of the genre — an origin story, a secret identity, a costume and an arch-nemesis — were all cemented into place.
Next came a 15-chapter Batman serial in 1943, which marked the first filmed appearance of the legendary Caped Crusader (Lewis Wilson) and his sidekick Robin (Douglas Croft), as well as introducing trademarks like the Batcave (called “the Bat’s Cave” here), Wayne Manor and Alfred the butler. The Phantom made his big-screen entrance in 1943 as well, while the first Marvel Comics (then known as Timely Comics) character to make it to the screen, Captain America, showed up in 1944.
It was inevitable that the former Krypton resident who started the men-in-tights craze would turn up at the movies too, and sure enough, Superman got his own multi-chapter saga in 1948, starring Kirk Alyn as the Man of Steel and Noel Neill — who’d later reprise the role on TV — as Lois Lane. But the end of the decade, the entire notion of tune-in-next-week shorts in theaters were quickly becoming outdated; the last of the superhero serials, Batman and Robin (1949) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) closed out the decade.