4 Minutes
Is Hollywood quietly trading capes for controllers? Mattson Tomlin — the screenwriter behind The Batman Part 2, Project Power, and the BRZRKR adaptation — sparked that exact question in a short exchange on X when a fan asked about the fate of his Mega Man script.
Tomlin didn’t mince words. He suggested that studios are increasingly hungry for video-game adaptations and less inclined to greenlight the kind of big-ticket superhero pictures that once felt bulletproof. It’s not simply about which titles hit or miss; it’s about how studio executives are reading the market and reshuffling risk accordingly.
Think about it. A few recent comic-book films fell short of expectations, and the noise around those misses has been louder than usual. Box-office flops and critical stumbles can accelerate a rethink. But at the same time, a handful of lower-budget films adapted from digital or indie playgrounds have managed surprising returns. Iron Lung — shepherded into production by YouTuber Mark Fischbach — and Kane Parsons’ Backrooms both arrived with modest budgets and passionate fan interest, and both punched well above their weight in audience response.
That contrast is seductive for executives. Less money on the line. A built-in, obsessed fanbase. The promise of strong word-of-mouth. Naturally, some projects rise because their makers understand the source material on a granular level; the filmmakers behind Iron Lung and Backrooms were already steeped in those worlds. That closeness can translate into a tighter film that doesn’t need a billion-dollar marketing blitz to be noticed.
Still, it’s not as if superhero films are dead. Far from it. Studios still plant their flags with franchise tentpoles and expect major returns from marquee IPs. But the aura of invincibility that once surrounded the genre has faded. Audiences are pickier, and the cost of building a massive cultural moment feels riskier when reactions can swing so quickly.
What Tomlin’s comment highlights is less a categorical end to superhero cinema and more a strategic pivot: Hollywood wants safer, more measurable bets—and video-game adaptations often fit that bill better right now.
There are caveats. Not every game-to-film experiment lands. Big-name attempts like Borderlands drew heavy criticism, and other adaptations have failed to capture viewers’ imaginations. Likewise, some comic-book properties continue to thrive, proving that quality and cultural timing still matter above all. The market is messy. Trends shift. Tastes change.
But for creators and fans watching development slates, the message is clear: the cultural center of gravity for geek-media investment may be tilting. Studios are testing smaller scales, leaning on creators who know fandom languages, and chasing returns that arrive from clever targeting rather than blanket saturation advertising.
That leaves room for interesting outcomes. We might see more intimate, faithful adaptations of cult games that surprise at the box office. Or we might watch a recalibrated superhero model emerge—one that pares back spectacle in favor of tighter storytelling and smarter budgets. Either way, the safest bet is that the next few years won’t look like the last decade.
Curious which franchises will adapt best to that new calculus? So am I.
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