Tom Hanks Says Superhero Movies Need More of This

Tom Hanks has recently shared his thoughts on the state of superhero movies. He believes the genre’s current reliance on spectacle may be hindering its storytelling potential.

That is a sentiment that’s hard to argue with. Hanks says that the familiarity of superhero characters has diminished their impact on audiences. While acknowledging the technological advancements that have let directors create visually stunning superhero movies, he stressed the need for compelling narratives and stories. He said that audiences now demand more than action-packed sequences and seek deeper meaning and thematic exploration.

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Here is his whole quote, courtesy of CBM:

“The thing is, it’s actually meeting up right with the state of the art. Never mind the commerce. The state of the industry right now. The great thing that happened was…remember in the 1970s and 80s, they tried to do TV versions of Captain America and Spider-Man and even Batman. The Adam West Batman. The technology did not exist to make it look like it did in the comic books. Now it does. You can do anything at all. You could probably say the Christopher Reeve Superman was the first one that came close because the cutting edge of the technology right there allowed for wire removal. ‘You will believe a man can fly’ and, you know what, we all did when we saw. It was quite extraordinary.”

“I think we are now enjoying the luxury of riches because you can make anything happen on screen. We are being brought back to the concept, ‘Okay, that’s true, but what is the story.’ Without a doubt now, I’ve used this analogy before so I apologise, you can drain Lake Michigan and fill it with cuckoo clocks and form a three-headed dragon that breathes fire and destroys the city of Chicago. You can do that but to what purpose is the end of the day? What’s the story and what’s it going to be saying about us?”

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“I think there was a period of time, and I felt that way too, where we would see these fantastic movies either DC or MCU in order to see these better versions of ourselves. ‘God, I feel like an X-Man sometimes. I’m as confused as Spider-Man. I’m as angry as Batman is and I love my country as much as Captain America. I would like to emulate all those guys.’ I think we’ve been down that road and had probably 20 years, 15 years, to explore that kind of thing and now I think we’re in an evolutionary place of, ‘And the story is what? And the theme is what? And the point of this movie is what?'”

“That’s a good challenge for any filmmaker, it might just not land in the roundhouse for the industry. The industry often says, ‘Well, this works and it will work again.’ The audience is far ahead of it. They see the familiar and say, ‘I’ve seen that already. What’s next?’ It’s not just eye-popping stuff, it’s what’s the story? Tell me about myself. We’re in new territory.”

Hanks apparently has not met with executives from Marvel Studios or DC Films, stating that he doesn’t believe he fits their wheelhouse. He said that it wouldn’t matter anyway because he has a full schedule of projects and is focused on pursuing his own creative projects.