Which Superhero films belong in the National Film Registry?

[Dark Raven]

So, Superman The Movie and The Dark Knight have been added. Maybe they will also add Wonder Woman and Joker to it, sometime in future.

So nothing Marvel?

 

[Micromind]

So nothing Marvel?

Spider-man 2 should've been added long ago.

 

[Dede]

Wonder Woman and black panther I think are locks to get in. On the bubble is avengers Batman begins dark knight rises Ironman joker and 89 Batman at least I think. Maybe guardians of the galaxy as well

 

[The Joker]

Congrats TDK. Well deserved.

 

[Dark Raven]

Wonder Woman and black panther I think are locks to get in. On the bubble is avengers Batman begins dark knight rises Ironman joker and 89 Batman at least I think. Maybe guardians of the galaxy as well

Why should GOTG be in there at all? What historical or cultural significance does it have?

Also, since they've already skipped straight to TDK, that makes it almost a given that they're not going to admit Batman Begins into it.

 

[The Batman]

Even in the early posts of this thread, there's been some arbitrary idea that only one film per franchise should or does get inducted.

There's two Star Wars films, two Godfather films, two Zorro movies, and three Frankenstein films in the NFR. There is a good chance another Batman film ends up there. There's a very good chance at least 2 MCU films make it in once they hit the 10 year mark.

And just because TDK made it in before BB doesn't mean it won't make it in. The 1940 version of Mark of Zorro was inducted in the NFR before the 1920 one was.

 

[Dede]

Why should GOTG be in there at all? What historical or cultural significance does it have?

Also, since they've already skipped straight to TDK, that makes it almost a given that they're not going to admit Batman Begins into it.

Guardians is one of the more memorable mcu movies. But Yeah it probably doesn’t have the significance

 

[Drizzle]

So nothing Marvel?

I could see the following Marvel films all being inducted to the NFR at some point in the future:

Spider-Man 2 (and/or the first Spider-Man)
Iron Man
The Avengers
Logan
Black Panther
Into the Spider-Verse
maybe Endgame just because of its status as highest grossing film of all time, which would make it a more likely entry than Infinity War

 

[The Caped Knight]

1. The Avengers series (1-4)
2. The Dark Knight Trilogy
3. Captain America: The Winter Solider
4. Spider-Man 2
5. Wonder Woman
6. Black Panther
7. Iron Man
8. Logan
9. Superman: The Movie
10: Guardians of The Galaxy

 

[Dede]

So I thought this might be interesting these are the comic book movies that were picked by AFI as top ten of there respective years

Spider-Man 2
Iron man
The dark knight
The dark knight rises
Wonder Woman
Black panther
Joker

So they might be nothing but this could be a indicator of what CBMs could be put it in

 

[Herofan]

I think Spider-Man 2 deserves to be in it (a lot more than the first) and sure hope it doesn't end up being too forgotten or overlooked for too long.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Logan’s probably a safe bet some time in the future.

 

[Batmannerism]

At this point I'm very "who cares?" With out popular culture but anyway...here's my top 5 or 6.

1. Superman the Movie
2. The Dark Knight
3. Black Panther - overrated but culturally significant
4. Wonder Woman
5. Logan
6. Iron Man
7. Captain America : The Winter Soldier
8. Endgame.... because for me it's pretty much the end of my interest in the MCU, and features pretty much every MCU character of note.

 

[Breogan]

.... just added to the NFR: 2017 National Film Registry ...
As of DECEMBER 13, 2017
Superman (1978)
So as of yesterday there are now 2 Superhero characters (Zorro and Superman with movies in NFR.
(yeah I count the proto-Superhero Zorro )

The Mark of Zorro 1920 added 2015

Superman 1978 added 2017

And now The Dark Knight 2008 added 2020

'Dark Knight,'.......Added to Film Registry - Variety

The Dark Knight was added to the National Film Registry.
National Film Registry Spotlights Diverse Filmmakers in New Selections

And now we're up to three; the granddaddy and the first two he influenced.

Superman:

Jerry Siegel - "I loved The Mark of Zorro, and I'm sure that had some influence on me." ..."When writing the script, I had Douglass Fairbanks very much in mind in the athletic stunts that he did too, so the influence of Douglass Fairbanks was not only in the art but in the visual action."​

Joe Shuster - "I was a great fan of Douglas Fairbanks, and so was Jerry and I tried to use his stance, the way Douglass Fairbanks looked, ...with his hands on his hips, in Robin Hood and Mark of Zorro, in all those he had those marvelous attitude..." " [His costume] was inspired by the costume pictures that Fairbanks did: they greatly influenced us. He did The Mark of Zorro, and Robin Hood, and a marvelous one called The Black Pirate - Fairbanks would swing on ropes very much like Superman flying... the feeling of action as he was flying or jumping or leaping - a flowing cape would give it movement.​

Batman:

Bill Finger - "Batman was a combination of Douglas Fairbanks [who played Zorro] and Sherlock Holmes."​

​

Bill Finger- "My idea was to have Batman be a combination of Douglas Fairbanks [Zorro], Sherlock Holmes, The Shadow, and Doc Savage as well."​

​

Bob Kane -"Zorro’s use of a mask to conceal his identity as Don Diego gave me the idea of giving Batman a secret identity…Bruce Wayne would be a man of means who put on a façade of being effete. Zorro rode a black horse called Tornado and would enter a cave and exit from a grandfather clock in the living room. The bat-cave was inspired by this cave in Zorro. I didn't want Batman to be a Superhero with superpowers…So I made Batman an ordinary human being; he is just an athlete who has the physical prowess of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who was my all-time favorite hero in the movies.”​

​

--------
If they are still taking nomination for 2021

Following that pattern, In that influential spirit I'd next induct one of the *first (proto-superheroine) lead female-action-hero films.

And the one that "soon" (near 70 years later) followed ....

(*Nyoka notwithstanding)

 

[metaphysician]

NONE. Comic Book Movies DON'T BELONG in the list of some of the GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME.

*citation needed*

 

[Monte Cristo]

*citation needed*

Indeed. Anything high quality that's put to film is part of the conversation. Performances, cultural impact, set design and soundtrack don't all of a sudden become irrelevant just because the story comes from a comic book.

 

[metaphysician]

Indeed. Anything high quality that's put to film is part of the conversation. Performances, cultural impact, set design and soundtrack don't all of a sudden become irrelevant just because the story comes from a comic book.

And indeed, how many of the big "culturally important" movies are, themselves, adaptations or homages to something else? Great Cinema doesn't emerge from some virgin creative font.

 

[Mister J]

From the more recent outings, I could see Wonder Woman, Black Panther and Joker getting the nod.

Possibly, Endgame as well. Given the ambition, execution, popularity and commercial/critical success of the MCU, representation would make sense. I'd cite Endgame because it serves as a somewhat of an ending point and encapsulates the totality of that glorious monster, though I believe there are 'better' movies in that catalog.

 

[The Batman]

"The Avengers" turns 10 years old this year. I think it's only a matter of time before it's added. It'll likely be the first MCU film put in the registry.

 

[Drizzle]

"The Avengers" turns 10 years old this year. I think it's only a matter of time before it's added. It'll likely be the first MCU film put in the registry.

They may get Iron Man in there first just because it kickstarted everything but The Avengers will definitely be added as well. Black Panther will probably be a candidate as well once it's eligible.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Still can't believe Batman 89 isn't in the registry. Of any of the Bat films, that should've been the first one inducted.

 

[The Batman]

Meh. TDK was iconic and influential in its own right. It's also a better film than B89. With both those factors in mind, it's neither surprising nor unjust that TDK was put in the registry before B89. B89 isn't entitled to first dibs.

Also, this isn't even the first time something like that has happened. As I mentioned in this thread before, the 1940 remake of "Mark of Zorro" was put in the registry before the 1920 original.

They may get Iron Man in there first just because it kickstarted everything but The Avengers will definitely be added as well. Black Panther will probably be a candidate as well once it's eligible.

I don't necessarily see Iron Man getting in there first. Iron Man may have kicked things off, but in truth, Avengers is when most people really started paying attention to the MCU as a whole.

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Bayne]

Black Panther is a shoe-in. Avengers seems a logical possibility, but I could see it perhaps not getting in on the logic that Endgame was the same thing but even bigger so they could just wait for that.

I don't know that 'laying the groundwork for the MCU' by itself is really enough to actually get Iron Man a spot at all. It's an influential movie, but not entirely through the specifics of the movie itself. Most of its influence worked through Marvel Studios becoming successful at all on the one hand and through its far more influential successors, the Avengers movies, on the other hand.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Meh. TDK was iconic and influential in its own right. It's also a better film than B89. With both those factors in mind, it's neither surprising nor unjust that TDK was put in the registry before B89. B89 isn't entitled to first dibs.

That opinion is up for debate. But considering the criteria for films to join the Registry, B89 checks off all the boxes. Not only was it a critical and box office hit, it was the harbinger for that breed of CBM where they could adapt darker and stylized comics for the masses.

TDK definitely deserves its spot, but B89 paved the way and should be recognized.