Heroes in battle to stay popular

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are among a raft of superheroes returning to the big screen. Photo / AP

Warner Bros gambling comic book genre will last as it plans glut of films in effort to dethrone Marvel.

Decades from now, cinephiles will look back on the early 2000s as the Superhero Era - and they'll be able to pinpoint the moment when the bubble burst. As with all trends, it's only a matter of time. It happened with film noir and then Westerns, it happened to the spy movies of the 1960s, and then to the gritty crime dramas of the 1970s.

And that's why Warner Bros' plan to produce 10 DC Comics movies between 2016 to 2020 seems so short-sighted. The company is so focused on dethroning Marvel as the reigning box office champ that it's missing the big picture: superheroes may be invincible on screen, but their popularity won't last forever. And the upcoming glut of movies might just speed their demise.

The saturation is no joke. Studios have already slated 22 titles over the next five years, not including the handful Marvel has promised with release dates but without any details.

That also doesn't count second cousins like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel and The Lego Batman Movie in 2017. The spandex industry must be thrilled.

While Marvel has enjoyed hit after hit, from Iron Man to Guardians of the Galaxy, Warner Bros has had a spotty past with its DC Comics adaptations. Batman and Superman can deliver predictably big box-office numbers, but beyond those guys, all bets are off. Remember the Catwoman catastrophe of 2004? Not to mention the two consecutive bombs Jonah Hex, in 2010, and The Green Lantern the following year.

Watch: Trailer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Warner Bros is doubling down on its golden boys: In addition to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne, Warner plans to release two other Justice League movies. The directive is clear: Replicate the success of Marvel's Avengers franchise, and pray that Affleck doesn't pull a Clooney.

Here's the problem: The great assets of Marvel's movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man and Captain America is their sense of humour. Warner's superheroes lean much more sombre. And the fact that David Ayer, the man behind dark action films like Fury and Training Day, is set to direct Suicide Squad doesn't suggest a fun romp.

Marvel's casting has also been exceptional. Warner Bros, meanwhile, is betting big on newcomers. First there's Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman - and, credit where it's due, good for them for finally making a female superhero movie. Also noteworthy: Warner has hired openly gay actor Ezra Miller to star in The Flash (to be released in 2018). Few multiplex-goers know who he is. In other news, Warner will reboot Green Lantern, in 2020, not even a decade after the Ryan Reynolds incarnation bombed. If at first you don't succeed ...

Of course, the superhero genre might hang on for another decade. Westerns delighted audiences for ages. But box office numbers overall are down for the year. Guardians of the Galaxy is the No1 movie so far, but with a little more than US$326 million ($419 million), that's not as impressive as last year's top superhero movie, Iron Man 3 (US$409 million). It looks like Warner Bros is running hard to catch up when it might be smarter to focus on the next big thing.

- Washington Post