Every child fantasizes of attaining supernatural powers, fighting criminals and saving the day. Yet, over the past 10-15 years our infantile idols haven’t been presented to child audiences as much as they have been targeted to adults. The trend of superhero blockbusters have seemed to seize all creativity from filmmakers as it feels like a new superhero themed movie hits the silver screen every few months. Though superheroes have been portrayed on screen since the 1940’s, their beloved comic book origins haven’t exploded onto the big screen until the early 2000’s and frankly, enough is enough.

The first superhero film spike occurred between the late 70’s to the late 90’s. Though this era birthed some of the best interpretations of our adored superheroes, it too is victim to tarnishing sequels and unimaginative recreations of the same stories. In that span there were four Superman films, Supergirl, the obvious derivative of Superman, and Steel, also based off of the Superman series. There were also four Batman films. Early conceptions of Captain America and The Fantastic Four were never released but as we all know would later become blockbuster hits in the 2010’s.

After the success of the 2000 release X-Men, the superhero film infatuation would take off like never before. Since then six other X-Men films have been released and five others have been scheduled for release between 2016 and 2017.

Since the comic-film boom took off in the early 2000’s, audiences have been introduced to other superhero favorites such as: Daredevil, The Incredible Hulk, Catwoman, Hellboy, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, and Batman—just to name a few.

Christopher Nolan’s Batman series proved to be one of the best adaptations of any superhero character ever. His filmmaking expertise and magnificent storytelling almost exempts him from the excruciating and ongoing list of superhero movies. He provides the audience with an effective balance of action and character development, often overlooked in these types of films.

Since the industry of superhero films proved to be such a moneymaker, filmmakers would continue to create them through the 2010’s, and pick up where they left off, many of them making sequels.

The latest superhero film released was Avengers: Age of Ultron, the sequel to the 2012 hit blockbuster The Avengers. Two more sequels have been announced to debut in 2018 and 2019.

Other planned superhero films include Batman Vs. Superman, scheduled to debut in 2016 and Suicide Squad, a film featuring a group of the most infamous super villains, also expected to be released in 2016. Both movies are considered the most anticipated of 2016.

Whether one is a DC fan, a Marvel fan, or both, it is irrefutable that the stories of both iconic comic books and their characters are loved and cherished by fans around the world. Yet, it is a shame that Hollywood has threatened these stories by producing countless sequels of each.

While it is understandable that many adults fell in love with these stories when they were children and are now persuaded to see each movie out of nostalgia, it is disheartening that no new and creative ideas are coming out of Hollywood.

One of the best films of 2014 was Birdman. This film too had superhero characteristics but it was a refreshing and original treat for the audience, there should be more films like this opposed to reimagining someone else’s idea that has been remade numerous times in the past.

Superhero films will continuously be made until every character, hero and villain, have been portrayed on the big screen. Perhaps then the vicious cycle will repeat itself and each one will be remade.

Though these films are already becoming painfully repetitive they unfortunately will not be ending anytime soon. The DC and Marvel films bring in too much money and since there is a smaller demand for comic books than in the past, films have become a more convenient medium for fans to experience their favorite stories.

The amount of superhero movies is becoming an epidemic; it is simply disturbing to acknowledge the lack of creativity in modern filmmaking. Superhero movies are an accessible cop out, there over use of CGI and extended action scenes take away from the stories we all love.