While studios keep reimagining the same comic book characters and storylines year after year, Horror movies rarely get the same treatment, successfully. Since 2002, there have been three different iterations of Spider-Man, three different Batman actors, three Hulks, and two different versions of Superman. And that’s not all. With the shakeup atDC Studios that broughtJames GunnandPeter Safranin as co-Chairmen and CEOs of the DCU, we already knowmore reboots are imminent.
Naturally, fans have their opinions on all of this, with casting for comic book films a game of sorts, one that combines popularity with prognostication. As a result, the reboot has become a comic book film trope unto itself. The horror film? Not so much. One attempted reboot of a horror franchise placed actorJackie Earle Haleyin the role of a darker, more frighteningFreddy Krueger in a newA Nightmare on Elm Street, and while it admittedly was profitable, it’s already largely forgotten, another one-and-done reboot. So why doesn’t this sort of thing work well with Horror films?
Horror Movies Forge Stronger Bonds With Their Audiences
Before diving into the specifics of rebooting either genre, it’s important to note the inherent differences between the genres overall. By and large, comic book movies are big, bombastic spectacle. Yes, they have their poignant moments - only the most cold-hearted of moviegoers didn’t shed a tear or two when (SPOILER) Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) died at the end ofAvengers: Endgame- and both the heroes and villains are far more complex than the days ofBAM, POW!in 1966’sBatman: The Movie. Yet it’s the comic book films that deliver the thrills, the action scenes that raise the adrenaline through the roof, that drive the popularity of the genre.
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Horror movies, on the other hand, forego spectacle and reach the deeper emotions of the viewer. They play on the fears of the audience, or instill new ones –It’s Pennywise (Bill SkarsgårdorTim Curry) is one of a few factors in the disappearance of clowns from public. They play fast and loose with emotional extremes, from the relief of knowing a character is safe to the instantaneous, heart-racing horror when they aren’t. Additionally, comic book movies are clearly fictional: no one is leaving the theater and running into Superman. But horror films, regardless of how preposterous they may be, always have a hint that they could happen in real life, and that’s a feeling that stays with you for some time.
Comic Book Movie Reboots Reimagine Their Characters More Successfully
One reason why reboots work for comic book movies is because a reboot usually brings something different to the character, so there’s an anticipation in the fan base. Sometimes it’s better CGI effects, like the increasingly more realistic Hulk. Every reboot has seen the green giant become more realistic, from 2003’sHulk,toThe Incredible Hulkof 2008, to the MCU Hulk inThe Avengers. Sometimes it’s the promise of more comic-accurate costumes, like theHugh Jackmanteasing Wolverine’s classic blue and yellow mask beside a Deadpool mask. And other times it’s a change in casting and/or directors, like the reaction of Batman being in the hands ofJoel SchumacherandGeorge ClooneytoChristopher NolanandChristian Bale.
Horror movies, on the other hand, don’t generally change these elemental components, so a reboot doesn’t have the same relevance. The 1974The Texas Chainsaw Massacresaw Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) hacking and slashing. The 2003 reboot sawLeatherface (Andrew Bryniarski) hacking and slashing. A reboot of theFriday the 13thfranchise in 2009 re-imagined Jason’s (Derek Mears) origin, but it’s the same, hockey-mask wearing serial killer making the same types of killings that have been a part of the franchise since the 1980s. To clarify, that doesn’t mean thehowof the killings are the same; progressive films in a franchise are consistently thinking of new and diabolical ways to end lives, a-la Jigsaw’s (Tobin Bell) ever-creative death traps.
Fans Connect With Horror Movies Differently
As mentioned above, a change in casting is an anticipated part of the reboot of a comic book movie franchise, which brings a fascinating difference between the genres into focus: a comic-book movie fan is more likely to focus onwhois playing the character, where a horror movie fan is more likely to focus on the character alone. Think about it. It’s never “I liked the Superman inMan of Steelmore than the Superman inSuperman Returns.” You’re more likely to hear “I likeHenry Cavillas Superman more thanBrandon Routh’s Superman.”
The association the comic-book movie fan has is not with the character, but the actor’s take on that character, so a reboot becomes a success (or an outright bomb) based on the viewing public’s stance of that take. Alternatively, a horror movie fan is more interested in knowing the character they’ve become invested in is still the same old homicidal maniac they’ve grown to love. Only the most ardent of fans are likely to have an opinion on ifKane Hodder’s Jason Voorhees is better or worse thanTed White’s. As a result, unless there is a radically different approach to the character and/or franchise (and as we learned from Haley’s Freddy Krueger, even a well-meaning return toWes Craven’s original vision didn’t fare well), a reboot is rendered moot.
Horror Movie Reboots Can Work… But Not Often
It isn’t that the reboot of a horror movie can’t work. 2018’sHalloweensucceeded because Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) was brought back as “The Shape”, a seamless transition from the original film without changing anything about him apart from his age. But even that ended up failing spectacularly when the two following films,Halloween KillsandHalloween Ends, neutered Myers, for lack of a better word, and set up a “new” Michael Myers.
The truth, then, can be summed up as this: comic-book movie reboots work when changes are made, while horror-movie reboots succeed when they don’t. And, for the record, Ted White is the best Jason Voorhees.
