The Avengers Could this be the Star Wars of comic movies?

[Hordakfan]

I think so as i thought to myself "that movie was definitely the Star Wars of comic based movies".

 

[Thundercrack85]

Meaning?

And no, it's definitely not Star Wars. Star Wars was a low budget movie, nobody cared about that started a multi-billion dollar franchise.

The Avengers is a massive budget, highly anticipated film, based on a popular, long-running preexisting franchise.

 

[Liam_H]

Yea, I'm wondering what exactly that means.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

Well if it means that it's the defining pop-cultural film of our generation... then... well I dunno, maybe? I mean, I don't want to start another flame war here and I'm a big fan of both films but... I'm gonna have to say that The Dark Knight pretty much set a very strong reputation for itself back in 2008 as THE comic-book film to be, add that with Heath Ledger's popularity and all it's still pretty much a strong contender to beat. I think we have yet to see the echoes of TA on the general public to see if it's as influential as Star Wars was.

But is it STAR WARS THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK? In terms of anticipation and delivery, I'll say yeah. It started on a high note and ended on a higher note. I'd say it pretty much is. The Avengers, as the first-ever superhero crossover film, is perhaps the height of the superhero film genre that goes all the way back to Richard Donner's Superman. NO one ever dreamed of making a movie that not only stays in continuity with pre-existing superhero films but also brings them together for one massive, all-time hulk-out blockbuster. That's unprecedented. Under those terms it exceeds the original Star Wars trilogy and manages to do what the prequel trilogy couldn't: recapture the magic.

 

[yads]

Nothing will ever be as big as Star Wars.

But I guess the OP refers to how the general audience has taken to TA, and responded to the sense of fun and adventure, which makes it kinda comparable to Star Wars. So I get why the comparison would be made.

Although personally I see TA more like Raiders of the Lost Ark. The box office mirrors Raiders way more closely than Star Wars, plus the old-fashioned heroics and deft juggling of humor and drama.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

^^ i agree...and this is coming from a non- star wars fan.

One of the major thing that made star wars such a pop culture phenomenon is the cross over appeal. it's accesible to both adults and childrens. TDK, while an important movie for sure, lacks that one factor. Other than comic fans and geeks alike,i doubt that the it has the same impact with the general movie audience.

And the other important thing is the merchandise. It's what really puts star wars on the map as a cultural pop - icon.

And yeah...considering the first factor, The Avengers got something in common with Satr wars, moreso than TDK. It's a huge succesfull movie with big cross over appeal...but unless there's going to be a HUGE merchandise succces to match the movie success, it's not going to be as big as star wars.

In my opinion, nothing will ever beat star wars in that department. Not LOTR, not Transformers, not twilight...nothing.

 

[thalidomide]

A lot of people are comparing the Chitauris as the Stormtroopers of the Avengers

 

[Dark Raven]

What I want to know is why the original Star Wars movies feel longer than the Avengers? Slower pace? More action set pieces spread throughout the film? Or is the Avengers such a rollercoaster ride that you whizz through it so quickly? The Avengers doesn't feel like a 2 hr 20 min movie. Actually, even the original Indiana Jones movies feel longer too, and I'm not saying this in a bad way.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

^^ it's because the pacing of the movie is great.

Not just direction-wise, but also storywise, that even during the slowparts, there's always something interesting happening.

 

[metaphysician]

I think the real question is "will Avengers have the kind of influence on pop culture that Star Wars did?"

The answer is "who knows? Ask again in ten years." Only the test of time will say whether it has that kind of lasting influence.

( that said, I think its more likely to achieve such than the Nolan Bat trilogy. They were notable and successful, but Batman was already a strong part of pop culture, I don't think they have significantly increased that. )

 

[Dwarf Slayer]

Not really. Star Wars is a pop culture phenomenon that changed how movies were made (SFX-wise) and marketed. The Avengers is just another dime-a-dozen blockbuster IMO. Breaking a billion isn't that big of deal anymore. At least one movie does it every year now. You can't replicate the success of Star Wars. Just like you can't replicate the success of The Simpsons or Harry Potter. They're products of their time.

I'm not trying to take anything away from The Avengers. Obviously its been very successful and has wide acclaim from both critics and audiences.

 

[Xeno]

Only time will tell what the ultimate culture impact of The Avengers will be. The film has only been in theaters for a month. Thus far we know it's a cultural phenomenon, with the audience flocking to see it in record numbers and enjoying it as a communal experience. Although I would be willing to bet that The Avengers will come to be seen as a classic of the genre, and perhaps a classic film, period, it will take time for there to be a consensus on that.


One thing I will say with conviction is that The Avengers is going to be a game changer in terms of what the audience expects and will accept from a superhero/action film. The bar has been raised and the ante upped. In the future, superhero films that are short on action and solid dialogue are going to be judged much more harshly. The makers of the X-Men films in particular will need to up their game in terms of action. Fox does love to keep the characters' use of their powers to a bare minimum in order to keep down costs for CGI, but I can imagine the audience reacting badly to it. No more second-rate CGI, no more lax characterization, no more scripts that seem embarrassed to embrace the characters' comic book roots. Now that the audience has seen a superhero film that embraced its origins and delivered action on par with the comic books, they are going to expect that from all films in the genre, and rightfully so.

 

[bullets]

The Avengers might be a game changer but not in the category of Star Wars. The latter is a cultural phenomenon that just celebrated it's 35 year anniversary. I don't think Avengers will have the same impact becuase we've seen other franchises try to follow in SW's footsteps. However The Avengers raised the bar in such a way that it might be difficult for other franchises to follow.

 

[KangConquers]

It's kind of like saying an album is a game changer the way Nirvana's Nevermind was in the 1990s, or The Beatles Sgt Pepper was in the 1960s. It's getting harder and harder to make a real game changer in the arts, and film is no exception. It's the basic post-modern conundrum.

I'm going to say "no", even though I feel that Avengers is every bit as high quality of a film as Star Wars (if not more.)

 

[TomPiltoff]

Could this be the Star Wars of comic movies? I think so as i thought to myself "that movie was definitely the Star Wars of comic based movies".

Well that's an airtight argument you've got there.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

^^ i agree...and this is coming from a non- star wars fan.

One of the major thing that made star wars such a pop culture phenomenon is the cross over appeal. it's accesible to both adults and childrens. TDK, while an important movie for sure, lacks that one factor. Other than comic fans and geeks alike,i doubt that the it has the same impact with the general movie audience.

And the other important thing is the merchandise. It's what really puts star wars on the map as a cultural pop - icon.

And yeah...considering the first factor, The Avengers got something in common with Satr wars, moreso than TDK. It's a huge succesfull movie with big cross over appeal...but unless there's going to be a HUGE merchandise succces to match the movie success, it's not going to be as big as star wars.

In my opinion, nothing will ever beat star wars in that department. Not LOTR, not Transformers, not twilight...nothing.

I disagree on TDK's mass-appeal; people in general, and especially non-comic and superhero fans had embraced the Joker (why so serious, one-liners, et al.) and it had a huge popularity. If TA can do that still remains to be seen.

I agree, however, that nothing will ever beat Star Wars in its role as a franchise-starter. For one thing, these and the franchises you mentioned are adaptations, SW wasn't.

I think the real question is "will Avengers have the kind of influence on pop culture that Star Wars did?"

The answer is "who knows? Ask again in ten years." Only the test of time will say whether it has that kind of lasting influence.

( that said, I think its more likely to achieve such than the Nolan Bat trilogy. They were notable and successful, but Batman was already a strong part of pop culture, I don't think they have significantly increased that. )

THIS. On the head. Nailed. They did manage to change the general assumption of Batman as something ridiculous and funny -- he's "cool" again when the general public is concerned (more people are willing to "Admit" their love of superheroes and Batman post-NOlan than they were pre-Nolan). The same can be said of CAFA and IM.

Question i'd ask is ... can you ever go bigger than Thor and create your own mythology alright unfair and detracting question.

 

[Thundercrack85]

There's a reason there will never be another Star Wars.

Entertainment saturation.

Remember the late 70's? I don't. But from what I heard, all they had was a few TV channels, the movies, radio, and a few records. That was it. If a big film came out, it was all they had to talk about.

Nowadays? Let's see, we have the internet. That alone changed everything. We have a billion channels, geared to every stupid thing imaginable. We have one channel dedicated to nothing but Hitler (the History Channel). We have movies with huge budgets coming out every week. We can watch movies at home, even in the back of SUVs. We have thousands of video games, computer games. We have podcasts, Youtube, more devices than what we know what to do with...

That's why there will never be another Star Wars

 

[TomPiltoff]

We have one channel dedicated to nothing but Hitler (the History Channel).

If by Hitler you mean UFO's, then yes.

 

[C. Lee]

To me...when someone says or asks if this is the STAR WARS of comic book movies....I don't think they actually mean will it to have the exact gigantic effect on history that STAR WARS did....but more will it have the effect on kids today that STAR WARS did on kids back in the 70's.

So to me, if you take it like that....I still have to say yes and no.

I was here when STAR WARS was first released. It absolutely blew me and everyone else away because we had seen nothing even remotely like it before. It may have been culled from every genre, style, decade, and literary or visual source possible....but it was brand new to everyone. People today have either grown up for decades with the legacy of fantastic special effects from it...or are at the very least have been exposed to that level of special effects and storytelling sometime in the last few years (this excludes actual babies and kids up to around age 6). So it's extremely hard to say that the average person will get the same effect today that STAR WARS had on people back in the 70's.

BUT......the AVENGERS still can have a STAR WARS like experience on people. It did on me. I was 20 years old when I first saw STAR WARS. As I said, it blew me away. I had been waiting for 15 years for a movie to be made that was like the SF novels I had been reading. It delivered. I was 54 years old when I saw the AVENGERS...and it was the comic book movie I had been waiting 50 years to see. Ever since I was a kid and read Marvel's comics with larger than life heroes working together as a team in epic fights against aliens or super villians....I had been waiting for a movie to be made that reproduced that. It did.

So in my opinion....The AVENGERS will not give the world a STAR WARS effect.....but it will give individual people the STAR WARS effect of wowing them and giving them the thing they have dreamed years for.

 

[Infinity9999x]

I agree more or less with what C. Lee said. I mean, Star Wars changed the way movies were made. It also re-defined science fiction for movies. SciFi movies weren't like Star Wars before that.

Avengers and TDK are both ingrained in the public conciousness to be sure. Just as Avatar was. You don't have movies that make that much money without that happening. They're huge movies that will always be remembered. But I don't think any of them are "game changers" in the sense that star wars was. TDK and Avengers didn't do anything that would really redefine film making. Avengers did change how companies might approach franchises, but in terms of film making, the only "new" thing it did was make one movie that had more then one established popular fictional character.

TDK and TA are pop culture events to be sure. But they're not on the level of star wars.

 

[Paladin-Hoss]

I disagree on TDK's mass-appeal; people in general, and especially non-comic and superhero fans had embraced the Joker (why so serious, one-liners, et al.) and it had a huge popularity. If TA can do that still remains to be seen.

I agree, however, that nothing will ever beat Star Wars in its role as a franchise-starter. For one thing, these and the franchises you mentioned are adaptations, SW wasn't.

Ok..first of all, in my opinion there's a big difference in being a huge, succesfull movie and actually being a massive cultural phenomenon.

Having popular one liners from the movie doesn't really means anything these days. Like the other poster said, with the internet, these kind of thing happens all the time, and often coming from most unlikely source too. The 'arrow on the knee' from Skyrim is the most recent one i could think of.

As popular as Heath's Joker is, i don't think he's a match for Darth vader...who's name more or less become synonimous with 'bad guy'

I really don't think that anything will match Star Wars impact on pop culture....adaptations or otherwise.

And the reason i said that Avengers comes closer than TDK...has been said by C.Lee in a better way than i could.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Ok..first of all, in my opinion there's a big difference in being a huge, succesfull movie and actually being a massive cultural phenomenon.

Having popular one liners from the movie doesn't really means anything these days. Like the other poster said, with the internet, these kind of thing happens all the time, and often coming from most unlikely source too. The 'arrow on the knee' from Skyrim is the most recent one i could think of.

As popular as Heath's Joker is, i don't think he's a match for Darth vader...who's name more or less become synonimous with 'bad guy'

I really don't think that anything will match Star Wars impact on pop culture....adaptations or otherwise.

And the reason i said that Avengers comes closer than TDK...has been said by C.Lee in a better way than i could.

Eh, I think it's pretty safe to call TDK and TA cultural phenoms. They're both two of five movies that have made over 500million EVER. Which means that both of them HAD to be accessible to a large group of people. There's no way TA or TDK could have made that much if they hadn't.

I think TA will be a pop culture legend for different reasons then TDK. It was just incredibly fun. Old-school fun. The same way you felt when watching Indiana Jones for the first time.

TDK was a pop culture hit because it had a performance that people will remember for years. Ledger's Joker is listed up there with performances like Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. Not only that, but the tragic circumstance surrounding his death also made sure that TDK was a film to be remembered. And then the fact that it's just a very, very, very good film that audiences connected with garunteed that it would never be forgotten.

 

[Golgo-13]

Avengers accomplished what i hoped Transformers could have/should have. A big budget sci-fi movie with multiple lead characters, that awed the audience and made even the oldest audience members feel like kids again......

 

[The Ironstar]

Yes,it's becoming that on the internet,but I haven't see much talk about them on TV media.(This movie made over 1B,but y wouldn't know that by watching TV )

To me comic book movies should always be bigger than SW & ST,but they were never done in a complete satisfying way since the Avengers (TDK). If continue to be done well like TDK/Avengers.It will blow SW/ST out of the water.

 

[Dark Raven]

Iron Man = Han Solo/ C3P0
Cap = Luke Skywalker
Thor = ?
Hulk = Chewbacca
Black Widow = Princess Leia
Hawkeye = ?
Chitauri = Stormtroopers