INVINCIBLE Creator Robert Kirkman Challenges the Idea of Superhero Fatigue
Superhero fatigue is a term that’s been thrown around a lot lately, usually when discussing the recent struggles of big-budget comic book films at the box office. But according to Robert Kirkman, the creator of Invincible and The Walking Dead, the issue isn’t fatigue, it’s evolution.
He recently said in an interview with Variety: “I don’t think superhero fatigue is a real thing, but I do think that the genre of superhero storytelling has become so ubiquitous that it’s gotten to a point where it’s not fresh and it’s not new.
“You can’t just be a superhero show and not have anything special about you anymore because I think the novelty has worn off. But that’s really exciting to me, because now it means that everyone is so familiar with superheroes that you can push things in interesting directions.”
It’s an interesting take, and it makes sense. Superheroes aren’t going anywhere, but the way audiences engage with them is changing. The days of a film being successful just because it’s a superhero story are over there has to be something more to grab audiences.
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who helped shape the Marvel Cinematic Universe with films like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, share a similar sentiment. They don’t believe in superhero fatigue either. For them, the conversation is bigger than just one genre.
Joe believes it’s more about the way audiences consume content in today’s fast-paced, digital-heavy landscape.
“I think it's a reflection of the current state of everything. It's difficult right now, it's an interesting time. I think we're in a transitional period and people don't know quite yet how they're going to receive stories moving forward, or what kinds of stories they're going to want.”
He added: “There's a big generational divide about how you consume media. There's a generation that's used to appointment viewing and going to a theater on a certain date to see something, but it's aging out.”
Meanwhile, younger audiences have a different relationship with media: “I want it now, I want to process it now,” then move on to the next thing while doing two other things at the same time. It’s a shift that’s affecting everything, not just superhero films.
The problem, according to Joe, extends beyond movies. “We have never collectively, globally, processed our conversation so intimately and quickly as we do now. I think that creates problems, where we over-process and don't care about context anymore.
“We communicate through memes and headlines, with nobody reading past two sentences, so everything's 100 characters or less—or 10-second videos on social media you swipe through.”
That shift in attention spans is part of why storytelling is in flux. “The two-hour format, the structure that goes into making a movie, it’s over a century old now and everything always transitions.
“So, there is something happening again and that form is repetitive. But it's hard to reinvent that form, and I think this next generation is looking for ways to tell their own stories that service their own sort of collective ADHD.”
Anthony, on the other hand, sees these concerns as nothing new, saying: “I think it’s fatigue in general. The superhero fatigue question was around long before the work we were doing.
“So, it's sort of an eternal complaint. People used to complain about westerns in the same way, but they lasted for decades and decades and decades. They were continually reinvented and brought to new heights as they went on.”
Superhero movies aren’t going anywhere, but filmmakers and studios can’t coast on the big-budget spectacle of them alone. They need to dig deeper, find fresh angles, and tell compelling stories that resonate with audiences.
The question isn’t whether superheroes are tired, it’s whether the industry is willing to evolve with its audience.