What Matt Yglesias said in regards to so-called "second-tier" superheroes. Yglesias' post comes in response to this article by John Anderson in the Washington Post the Iron Man movie. It just so happens that some of the most compelling and identifiable superheroes occupy the "second-tier." These characters, in my opinion, are ripe for hit movies. Superheroes like Ant-Man, Green Lantern, Captain America, and Green Arrow are incredibly human, and fallible characters that would translate well to the big screen if the right people (not Michael Bay/Brett Ratner/McG) got behind the project. A lot of people that would normally not give a superhero movie the time of day were very impressed by Batman Begins and Iron Man. Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark, despite their billionaire status, possess a number of shortcomings and character flaws common to almost all of us, and these limitations manifest themselves as key themes and as a result their respective stories are greatly enhanced. I mean dear God, did you see Batman Begins? Call me pathetic, but I walked out of that movie a slightly different person than I walked in! I'm looking forward to the Wolverine movie that's coming out next year. I wish I could say the same for the Silver Surfer (pictured above) but if it's a spin-off of the atrocious and I mean ATROCIOUS Fantastic Four moives, then it will surely be horrible. The fact remains, as Yglesias pointed out, there are millions of people out there (mostly single, shy, and male) that will gladly shell out the $10 to see movies made about their heroes. One can only hope that the success of (the actually not so obscure) Iron Man on the big screen will lead to more quality movies about focusing on "second-tier" comic characters.
UPDATE: It looks like my hopes have been answered!
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