Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse broke awards with its recent release and became the highest-rated animated movie on IMDb. On the other hand, The Flash, which is now referred to as an “overhyped film” managed to score average ratings.
In an interview, screenwriters Phil Lord and Christopher Miller talked about how superhero movies rely more on easter eggs and cameos rather than the storyline and a unique idea. Refusing to believe in “superhero fatigue”, the writers believed that there is something beautiful about being unique and creative.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Writers Talk About “Superhero Fatigue”
With the phenomenal success of the 2023 movie, screenwriters Phil Lord and Christopher Miller received fame for their unique ideas and storylines. The duo sat down for an interview with Rolling Stone and talked about the reason behind the movie’s success.
When the interviewer asked them about the “superhero fatigue” that has been going on which makes the big-budget movies lose money, the writers refused to believe that to be the reason. Stating that the audience craves something unique and creative, Miller stated that most of the movies follow the same story tone and structure which makes them boring to watch.
“I don’t believe it’s superhero fatigue, I believe it’s “a movie that feels like a movie I’ve seen a dozen times before” fatigue. If you’re using the same story structure and the same style and the same tone and the same vibe as movies and shows that have come before, it doesn’t matter what genre it is. It’s going to be boring to people.”
Phil Lord joined in on the conversation by stating that the people do not care about all the easter eggs and reveal. While almost hinting at the MCU and the DCU, Lord told that the audience also does not care about the multiversal stakes at hand.
“And the audience in the theater cannot be sustained on Easter eggs and reveals. Or even these big, crazy multiverse stakes. They only care about, like, the relationship between Rocket Raccoon and Groot. And so this story is just so rooted in parents and kids. And Miles and his family. With the last movie we showed it to some friends early on, and they were like, “You have to get to like all these multiple Spider-People as quickly as possible. That’s the exciting thing.” And we were like, we don’t think so.”
He further continued that the true sense of Across the Spider-Verse was felt during the quieter scenes where there wasn’t too much chaos around.
“Because the thing that everybody seems to enjoy is the quieter scenes with Miles and his mom and dad. They can’t get enough of it. And I’m so glad we stayed true to what the audience was telling us.”
The talk didn’t end there since the interviewer asked them about the genre of multiversal movies while namedropping the MCU, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and even the recently released The Flash. Both the writers had a pretty clear answer that the multiverse in itself…is pretty boring.
Phil Lord And Christopher Miller Consider The Multiverse As Boring
Related: Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Breaks Rare Record DC and Marvel Can Only Dream of
During their conversation, the interviewer asked the duo since the multiverse was a pretty big thing and known to everybody now, what makes their film different from the rest? The Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse writers answered that only the multiverse is not enough to get people hooked.
“Well, you can’t rely on like, “Wow, multiverse, neat.” That’s not interesting to people at this point. First of all, it’s a bunch of window dressing, ultimately, to tell an intimate, emotional story where what really matters is relationships. So that really focuses you even more: “Nobody’s going to care that there are multiple worlds. So we need to make this about something that is real and human.”
There were subtle digs at the MCU and The Flash with the latter movie having plenty of cameos and throwbacks to the past DCEU and the current DCU. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, on the other hand, has greatly received the love of the people and is currently screening in theaters across the world.
Source: Rolling Stone
