The superhero movie genre has come a long way since The Adventures of Captain Marvel released in 1941. It is credited by many as being the first comic book-based superhero movie ever made.
Fast forward to 1978, and Superman dropped. Like Star Wars, this movie and its sequels, dominated the box office and the hearts of families, especially children, across the world. And (late) Christopher Reeve is so good as Clark Kent that he’s still the standard alter ego performer in the genre’s history to me.
I remember it as the first time I genuinely got goosebumps going to the theater and watching a popcorn flick with my family. My Marvel and DC movie fandom are directly tied to chasing that goosebump feeling that I experienced as a child.
It also set the template for most successful comic book movies that followed—all-star casting, award-winning special effects, and a lead actor (Christopher Reeve) who humanizes the hero, through his/her fallible and vulnerable alter ego.
I rest my case.
