Is Lazy Storytelling to Blame for Superhero Fatigue? Fans and 'Batman 2' Writer Weigh In
Superhero stories are losing their magic fast.
Superhero fatigue has been the talk of the town lately. Why are audiences starting to lose interest in superhero movies and shows? Mattson Tomlin, co-writer of The Batman 2, recently shared his thoughts, and honestly, I couldn’t agree more.
Tomlin pointed out that the problem isn’t just about too many superhero movies flooding the market.
He said, "The truth is not every character needs a movie." Beyond that, he reminded us that films today are competing with video games, TikTok, YouTube — the entire internet. "A film needs to justify its existence, superhero or not" he added.
One fan under his tweet nailed it:
"Or is the fatigue not about the superhero but audience fatigue on lazy creative bankruptcy? Name me one industry that keeps on overspending on staff and its product when its customer base has halved in the past 20 years."
I really felt this comment because it points to a deeper issue. It’s not the superheroes themselves — it’s the tired, uninspired storytelling that’s burning audiences out.
Another user wrote,
"Super well said. I feel like any character deserves a movie as long as the story is written strongly enough. If it can find a valuable reason to exist besides money, I think it’s a success." That hits the mark too. Quality matters way more than quantity.
And let’s not forget the looming challenge of AI. As one commenter warned that sadly, AI is the next battle and will be ten times worse than even the internet, signaling serious obstacles ahead for the entertainment industry.
In my opinion, to beat superhero fatigue, studios need to focus less on flooding the market and more on crafting fresh, meaningful stories. It’s not the genre’s fault; it’s the creative laziness. If movies bring us something new and worthwhile, audiences will come back — cape or no cape.
