Good morning! Spielberg predicts the death of superhero movies

Steven Spielberg knows a thing or two about blockbuster movies, which is why - when the director predicted a Hollywood 'implosion' a couple of years ago -everybody listened. Well, those same ears will be pricking up once more, because Spielberg has been talking to the Associated Press about superhero movies, and has predicted a bleak future for the genre…

“I still feel that way,” says Spielberg, when reminded of his comments about the spiralling budgets of the modern blockbuster. “We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. It doesn’t mean there won’t be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns.”

“Of course, right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I’m only saying that these cycles have a finite time in popular culture. There will come a day when the mythological stories are supplanted by some other genre that possibly some young filmmaker is just thinking about discovering for all of us.”

It’s probably not that controversial an opinion to express, given that there must surely be a superhero saturation point somewhere on the horizon, although at present, that point still seems some way away. In the meantime we can look forward to Spielberg’s next project, Bridge Of Spies, which arrives later this year.

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George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.