Supergirl bombs at box office — can superhero movies survive audience fatigue?

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Cinematic universes rely on audiences investing in minor characters – but as that interest wanes, it may be up to the big guns to keep the genre afloat

It’s sometimes hard to believe that modern Superman movies existed for nearly four decades before the Man of Steel met Batman on the big screen. Since 2008, when Iron Man first clanged into life, we’ve become used to superhero cinema as one giant, interlocking machine: capes, gods, aliens and magic rocks all rattling around the same cosmic pinball table. There have been dozens of these comic book films, often built around characters once little known to the average cinemagoer: Rocket Raccoon, Ant-Man, Blue Beetle.

Until recently, audiences lapped up each new arrival like an all-you-can-eat superhero buffet. It felt as if there would always be another dusty helmet, glowing cube or giant talking tree waiting in the great comic book attic to be transformed into a billion-dollar proposition. Nobody expected the well to run dry this soon. Which brings us somewhat awkwardly to Supergirl ’s disastrous box office.

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