What constitutes a 'super hero' movie?

[Sunwolf007]

After hearing a discussion on my morning radio show [Freebeer and Hotwings] I began wondering about the actual definition of a 'super hero' movie. Is it because the main character has powers? If so that would exclude comic book movies like The Punisher, V for Vendetta and Batman (all three are usually considered super heroes). Is it required to be based off a comic book? If so then that would exclude the Percy Jackson movie series or the Matrix (both of which have protagonists with super hero like powers). So I was wondering, what do you think makes a 'super hero' movie?

[Gadreille]

I always assumed it was comic based. For example, Push would not, in my mind, be a super hero film because it was not based off of a comic, as far as I know.

[Sunwolf007]

Push is a good example of what I am talking about. The main characters had powers, an origin story of sorts & was advertised like a super hero movie. If you take a strict comic book only approach then that would have to mean that 300 was a super hero movie, which it really wasn't. Another example would be the movie Serenity. Although not technically based on a comic book there is comic book continuity that takes place between the Firefly series and the Serenity movie.

I think that super hero films are a style of story telling that was constructed in comic books and can translate well into a film but are not required to be based on a comic book.

Comic book only approach brings up a new question though, would anime movies be super hero movies? Manga's are pretty much like comics so, going from a comic book only viewpoint, are anime movies super hero films?

[Guest]

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[Sunwolf007]

I think that viewpoint is pretty prevalent, but people forget that would exclude things like V for Vendetta, Watchmen and 300 (although I think that was a DC publication.) and also everyone's favorite TV show Walking Dead. I think it's getting to the point that it is taking on a different life. Kind of like how Sherlock Holmes made detective stories popular. It went from being a short story to being something else entirely. Maybe it's time to look for a different definition? Have they become that popular?

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