DISNEY CONTINUES TO STEP UP ITS SUPERHERO GAME

2017 was officially the best year on record for superhero movies. At least, that's the conclusion Rotten Tomatoes have come up with after updating its rankings based on the best films of all time within the superhero film genre. According to this popular movie themed aggregator, four out of the five greatest ever superhero movies were released in 2017, and they say this despite the fact that 2018 looks set to continue this trend with a wide array of highly anticipated new releases, keeping in mind that your favorite comic book heroes could change in a big way when it comes down to how they're being portrayed.





Disney has recently acquired the film and TV properties of 20th Century Fox, and as a result, they now own a large majority of the most popular comic book characters to date. Not content with a portfolio which contains the rights to Marvel, Lucasfilm, as well as their own signature brand of movies, Disney now owns the rights to X-Men, Fantastic Four, and fan favorite, Deadpool, after the acquisition of Fox.

With Marvel now re-acquiring the rights to the only comic book properties they didn't already own, this could represent a new lease of life for the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises. After all, these two properties surely need a major overhaul when you take into consideration that the X-Men franchise is starting to wain, along with the panning the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot received from both the fans and reviewers alike.

Aside from the positive reviews enjoyed by the large majority of films in 2017, the superhero film genre continues to be one of the most financially lucrative on the market. Along with the six films released, which made a combined total of over $4 billion worldwide, and is said to be the highest combined gross on record for superhero films in a single year, the sale of superhero toys and merchandise continues to rake in the cash with hardcore fans. In addition to this, the gaming industry has also profited massively from the development of bestselling superhero-themed video games, such as Batman: Arkham City, and the more recent slot game, Ragnarok: Fall of Odin, from Bitcasino, which is loosely based on the latest movie in the Thor film franchise and is available to play if you visit the casino page. As in cinema, super hero titles have long been a huge success in the gaming industry, and that shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.

A post shared by Batman Arkham City (@batmanarkhamcity) on Jun 27, 2012 at 3:59pm PDT

Whilst it's not entirely clear what the future will hold now that Disney has acquired 21st Century Fox, it's fair to say that this bit of business opens up an entirely new range of possibilities and directions for superhero movie franchises. One of the biggest challenges facing Disney centers around how the brand will handle the more edgy and bold X-Men universe that Fox has been steadily creating over the years.

Disney's CEO has recently confirmed that Marvel will now consider the option of producing R-Rated content so as not to alienate the fans who prefer the more grown-up movies. However, there are fears that consolidating everything under one studio will stifle creativity and effectively make the MCU brand monotone and obsolete, with unique creations such as Logan and Deadpool falling by the wayside. That said, though, only time will tell whether this proves to be the case.