How Dark Gritty Reboots Gave Way to Lighter Escapism
Video essayist Pyramid Peak insightfully explained how the dark and gritty reboots of the early 2000s have given way to lighter escapism in 2025 due to changing audience tastes.
He further notes that after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, US audiences found comfort in darker themes. Christopher Nolans 2005 Batman Begins trilogy transformed the franchise from campy to serious. Other movies, particularly reboots, followed suit.
You can imagine just how incredible it was to see this in 2005 for the first time audiences saw a Batman who looked like he belonged in our world and faced dangers that felt almost too real. Needless to say Batman Begins was a massive success to critics and general audiences the movie's dark and gritty tone felt like a breath of fresh air.
A lot has changed since 2005 and dark and gritty isn't as relevant as it was 20 years ago.
20 years later the reboot doesn't pack the same punch. So what happened to the dark and gritty era? Right now we're living in a world of constant noise a million channels of conflicting information are all shouting at once. ...That overwhelm might inspire stories where the hero is someone who cuts through the chaos sees the bigger picture and finds a clean focused solution a narrative where all the threats are secretly connected and one brave person untangles them giving us the simple clarity we crave.
Current events inspire relevant themes of the current day. In the past, the villains were more abstract. Audiences always want movies that reflect what they are feeling and the fight becomes more realistic.
If another global recession makes wealth inequality the popular issue of the day, the real enemies might be the rich, the powerful the out of touch elite. We could see a resurgence of stories about the common person rising up against unchecked greed and corruption and a generation dealing with the housing crisis and endless inflation would connect with the hero who's dealt a crappy hand but make something of it.
via The Awesomer
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