Tom Hanks Says ‘We’ve Had 20 Years’ of Comic Book Spectacle but Now Moviegoers Are Asking: ‘The Story Is What? The Point of This Movie Is What?’

Tom Hanks said on the latest episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that he’s never had a meeting with Kevin Feige about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nor has he broken bread with James Gunn to talk about the new DC Universe. With that said, Hanks has never had any issues with comic book movies over the years. Although he is noticing now that audiences seem to be moving on from VFX-enhanced comic book spectacle in favor of genuine storytelling.

“Remember in the 1970s and ’80s they tried to do TV version of Captain America and Spider Man? Even Batman, the Adam West one. The technology did not exist to make it look like it did in the comic books and now it does,” Hanks said. “You can do anything at all. You can probably say Christopher Reeve’s Superman was the first one that came close because of the cutting edge of the technology to allow for wire removal. We all believed [a man could fly] when we saw it. It was quite extraordinary.

We are now enjoying the luxury of riches and because you can make anything happen on screen now, we are being brought back to the concept of, ‘OK that’s true but what is the story?’” Hanks continued. “You can dream Lake Michigan and fill it with cuckoo clocks that form a three-headed dragon that breathes fire and destroys Chicago. You can do that. But to what purpose? What is the story and what is it going to be saying about us? There was a period of time, and I felt this way too, where we would see DC and MCU movies in order to see these better versions of ourselves. God, I feel like an X-Men sometime. I am as confused as Spider-Man. I am as angry as Batman is. I love my country as much as Captain America. We’ve been down that road. We’ve had 20 years to explore that kind of thing, and now we’re in an evolution and place where it’s: And the story is what? The theme is what? The point of this movie is what?”

The comic book genre has been on rockier ground at the box office in recent years, with 2023 tentpoles like “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels” all flopping at the box office. This year has seen the likes of “Madame Web” and “Joker: Folie a Deux” flop. “Vemon: The Last Dance” just opened to the trilogy’s lowest numbers. And yet, Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” is the second highest-grossing film of 2024 and the biggest R-rated release in history with $1.3 billion. As Hanks sees it, moviegoers are no longer just interested in VFX spectacle.