In the next six years, we are facing down nearly 40 superhero films, according to announcements from the major studios. That is, to put it mildly, a lot of superhero movies. But the superhero takeover is not just on the big screen; this season, five regular shows revolving around comic book adaptations are debuting, two more are well-established, and even more are coming down the pipeline.
In US media and entertainment, there’s clearly a call for comic adaptations, but might we be on the verge of a glut?
First, the new and nearly-new. Gotham and Constantine both debuted this season, with one being an early narrative of the Batman universe focusing on Commissioner James Gordon’s early years. It is an origin story, one where viewers have a chance to see the prototypes of familiar characters, and it becomes almost a game to track each character and see, as well as imagine, who that character will turn into. Gotham is also messy and in keeping with the current trend for ‘grimdark’ in US entertainment — it’s violent, dark, and attempting to be edgy.
On Constantine, Matt Ryan stars as John Constantine in a Hellblazer adaptation. For those who miss the days of Buffy and some good old-fashioned demon hunting, Constantine features its fair share of characters with visions, stabbing, and more. Yet, like Gotham, it’s a fundamentally dark show and it lacks the lighthearted spirit of Buffy; an attempt to be a sober adaptation, or just a reflection of our troubled times?
Meanwhile, the CW debuted The Flash, based on the comic of the same name. If the idea of a superhero able to move at obscene speeds going on a crimefighting sprees appeals, this offering from the CW will no doubt appeal — but it does seem like a bit of a stretch in terms of comic adaptations, given the rich and storied catalog of comics to draw upon. In short: Really? The Flash?
Also debuting this year (earlier this summer, and already picked up for a second season) is The Strain, which, while not a superhero narrative, is based on a comic which was based on a novel (if your head is spinning, I don’t blame you). This entry in the list is even darker and grimmer than the others, revolving around a bloody, disgusting, and bizarre virus that turns people into vampires. The Strain managed to ride the vampire wave but it neatly straddled the divide into zombies and darkness, too, allowing it to coast along when other vampire franchises were staked and put to rest.
Meanwhile, Marvel’s Agent Carter and iZombie don’t have official air dates, but are scheduled to be picked up later this season, and other comic book adaptations are projected into the near future. Even Netflix is getting in on the action with The Defenders, which is actually five separate series featuring various Marvel characters. And, of course, The Walking Dead, The Arrow, and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. remain on the air. It would be difficult to shake a stick without running into a comic book adaptation — it’s starting to feel like they are the new reality TV, and for once, a single genre is outnumbering Shonda Rhimes series.
The sheer number of comic adaptations on TV, though, could spell doom for these shows individually. A number of networks are running multiple comic adaptations at once, and inevitably, many of these are competing against rival networks as well as each other, which pushes the stakes quite high for those that want to capture the attention of an audience that can easily flip the channel to something it finds more interesting.
In an era of DVRs and time-shifted viewing, of course, one could argue that direct competition during prime time is not as significant a concern as it once was. However, this ignores the fact that individual viewers may have a personal tolerance, or time budget, for comic adaptations. Committing to watching multiple shows over the course of a season is hard work, especially when they’re along similar themes; it seems unlikely that someone is going to watch all five new comics shows, for example, even with options like time-shifting to pick them up later. That would be rather a lot of viewing, especially when added to existing television commitments.
There’s a growing volume of television on primetime, but also on providers like Netflix and Hulu, and it’s changing the way viewers interact with television. With the networks as well as providers like Netflix both racing to cash in on the comic adaptation bandwagon, everyone may lose out as viewers just get saturated and overwhelmed by the whole thing. Television audiences are fickle and impatient, with short attention spans. While comic films have done well in recent years, they too are facing a viewer overload, and they at least are available in compact, digestible bites.
How many viewers are going to stick through an entire season of a television series, and come back for more? Networks may be about to find out, and they could get burned big time as they find out exactly how far they can push the trend.
The situation is a reminder of the fact that many networks don’t seem to understand that simply aping a trend that seems to be doing well isn’t the best approach to developing, promoting, and creating content. It takes time and energy to produce a series, and by the time it’s done, viewers may already be moving on to something else they find more interesting. Networks need to be thinking ahead, not looking into the past or sticking with what’s happening at the time.
Maybe comic-based television series were innovative three years ago. Now, with such a surge of them, they just feel like old news.