The goal of this blog is that I want to watch and review at least 100 superhero movies this year. But that leads to the question, what defines a superhero movie. On the tab up top for “The List” of movies that I’m watching this year there’s a brief description, but it doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter. Does a superhero have to be in comic books? Were the Incredibles a comic book before they were a movie? I don’t think so, and yet they are a classic example of a superhero team. Does a superhero have to have powers? That’s pretty much thrown out when it comes to one of the most popular superheroes of all time, Batman, and yet no one would hesitate to call him a superhero. Does a superhero have to be human? One of the other most popular superheroes of all time, Superman, is technically not a human even though he looks exactly like one. One of the more popular non-human superheroes that easily comes to mind and doesn’t look human is the Martian Manhunter. Do they have to wear a costume? X-Men origins: Wolverine is a recent movie featuring a bunch of well known superheroes, and yet not a single one of them wears a costume the entire movie. Does it have to take place during the modern day? The new Captain America almost entirely takes place in the 40’s, and Judge Dredd takes place in the future.

Read the rest of this entry →