Paul Dano Talks About Superhero Fatigue and How He Thinks This Is an Opportunity to Breathe New Life Into Comic Book Movies

Paul Dano has been the kind of actor that you can tell has carefully crafted his career, making artistic and deliberate choices that have led to award-worthy performances with talented co-stars and filmmakers. He has been in quirky comedies, heavy dramas, indies, and even a superhero movie. This seems like an unusual choice for this type of actor, but Dano explained in a recent interview with The Independent that a Matt Reeves superhero movie is in a league all its own, while also commenting on the idea of “superhero fatigue,” and how it has led us to an opportunity to breathe new life into the genre.

Dano explained:

"It's an interesting moment where everybody has to go like, 'OK — what now?' Hopefully from that, somebody either breathes new life into [comic book movies], or something else blossoms which is not superheroes. I'm sure there will still be some good ones yet to come, but I think it's kind of a welcome moment."

The actor added:

"It's a larger thing, too. As soon as the word 'content' came into what we do — meaning making movies or TV — it meant quantity over quality, which I think was a big misstep. And I certainly don't need that as a viewer or as an artist."

Dano went on to praise Matt Reeves, and note the difference between his film and other movies in the genre.

"There are enough comic book movies where you just know what you're gonna get. Reading the script for The Batman, you knew it was a real film. Every sentence… that's just Matt Reeves."

You can see Dano’s performance as The Riddler in The Batman, now streaming on Max. The Batman: Part II will be released on October 3, 2025.