Have we reached peak superhero yet? After spending the winter months watching ¡°Jessica Jones¡± and ¡°Daredevil¡± on Netflix, viewers can now subject themselves to a barrage of comic-book spectacle at their local multiplex. Following last month¡¯s clattering, messy ¡°Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice¡± comes ¡°Captain America: Civil War,¡± an even more elaborately conceived clash between costumed ubermenschen.
As if that wasn¡¯t enough, ¡°X-Men: Apocalypse¡± is due for international release in just a few weeks¡¯ time ¡ª well, everywhere except for Japan, which doesn¡¯t get the film until August. On reflection, that might not be such a bad thing. A little of this stuff goes a long way.
Sitting through the wearying ¡°Avengers: Age of Ultron¡± last year, it wasn¡¯t hard to envisage the current crop of superhero franchises reaching a stalemate, where the interests of hardcore fans and casual viewers became impossible to reconcile. You shouldn¡¯t need to do homework to enjoy a popcorn flick, but that¡¯s what the Marvel cinematic universe ¡ª which includes the ¡°Avengers¡± and ¡°Captain America¡± movies ¡ª increasingly requires.
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