Since the arrival of televisions in our homes we’ve shown an endless desire to celebrate all things superhero. This trend has shown no sign of slowing down in the 21st century with an endless parade of superheroes in our cinematic blockbusters and online games.
2016 is certainly looking to fulfil its superhero quota with many familiar faces flooding our screens. Despite the mixed reviews that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film has received, it’s evident that love it or hate it, movie audiences can’t get enough of muscular characters in capes.
Much of the superhero phenomenon lies with pioneering work of Marvel and DC Comics who’ve brought us no end of colourful characters ranging from the iconic likes of Superman to the downright weird – Swamp Thing anyone?
One of the most enduring heroes is undoubtedly Batman who’s successfully made the jump from comic books to being a slightly naff TV star, to being the focus of the impressive PS4 game Arkham Knight and making an appearance at hands down the best online casino Betway’s Batman-themed slots games.
The gaming arena has also brought varying degrees of success for other superheroes such as Batman and Spiderman, but few could have seen how the likes of X-Men and The Avengers would dominate our cinema screens since the turn of the century.
With The Avengers movies boasting no less than two positions in the top ten biggest-grossing movies of all-time, there’s a great deal of speculation about how this year’s filming of Avengers: Infinity War will progress.
Although the movie won’t be released for a couple of years, there’s no slowing down in the superhero action this summer with the likes of Captain America: Civil War, X-Men: Apocalypse and Suicide Squad all hitting our multiplexes.
However, there’s always room for more superheroes as this November will see Benedict Cumberbatch making his debut as the Marvel superhero Dr Strange, and next year will see Wonder Woman attempting to redress balance in the somewhat male-dominated superhero scene.
The sheer volume of characters in the superhero universe means that it’s become natural for comic fans to want to emulate their favourite characters as part of the burgeoning cosplay circuit that invariably brings some weird and wonderful costumes to the endless range of superhero conventions.
And with many more characters waiting their turn to make the jump from comic books to our cinema screens and online games, it looks like we’ll be seeing many more superheroes in the near future.