The Academy Award-winning star shares his impressions on the superhero genre and why he thinks it may suffer from fatigue with audiences.
While a variety of actors have been involved with them, one name we haven’t seen cross paths with superhero films is Tom Hanks. However, Hanks continues to churn out his brand of dramatic movies that sometimes dip into franchise filmmaking, like the Toy Story series. His latest movie, Here, is a very stripped-down human drama that takes place in one location, but it still features some fantastical elements like time jumping, which would involve Hanks participating in a de-aging process. His fellow co-star in the film, Paul Bettany, isn’t known for action, and yet, he is part of the biggest action universe in films today.
While Hanks himself has not been in any Marvel or DC movies, ComicBookMovie would report that he recently made comments on the Happy Sad Confused podcast about how general audiences can get caught up with that world and why he thinks they may have fatigued with the genre. Hanks explains, “I think there was a period of time, and I felt that way too, where we would see these fantastic movies either DC or MCU in order to see these better versions of ourselves. ‘God, I feel like an X-Man sometimes. I’m as confused as Spider-Man. I’m as angry as Batman is and I love my country as much as Captain America. I would like to emulate all those guys.’ I think we’ve been down that road and had probably 20 years, 15 years, to explore that kind of thing and now I think we’re in an evolutionary place of, ‘And the story is what? And the theme is what? And the point of this movie is what?’”
He continues, “That’s a good challenge for any filmmaker, it might just not land in the roundhouse for the industry. The industry often says, ‘Well, this works and it will work again.’ The audience is far ahead of it. They see the familiar and say, ‘I’ve seen that already. What’s next?’ It’s not just eye-popping stuff, it’s what’s the story? Tell me about myself. We’re in new territory.”
So, the burning question, then, comes to… has Hanks met with Marvel or DC for a possible role? He responds, “No. No, I think it’s because…I’m not in their wheelhouse. I’m not against it, I guess, but at the same time…I will tell you this right now, my combo plate is quite full. I’ve got a lot of stuff that I’m dreaming of and trying to make happen.”
