From Birds of Prey to Wonder Woman 1984, superhero blockbusters are ditching gloomy realism for gold and neon
A new, more colourful era of comic-book movies beckons this year, with a slate of movies centred on female superheroes and directed by women, including DC’s Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman 1984, and Marvel’s Black Widow and Eternals. But it is not just a change of perspective; things are literally getting more colourful.
Just check out the
trailer for Birds of Prey: compared to its gloom-laden DC predecessors, it is a riot of colour. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn sets the tone, from her pink-and-blue bunches to her neon pink-and-gold wardrobe. And that brightness is carried through to the locations, the accessories, the lighting, the set-pieces (a Gentlemen Prefer Blondes homage). Even the explosions are more colourful. It is ostensibly set in the same shadowy Gotham City that Batman and co skulk through, but visually it is a different universe. It is a reminder that, for all their spectacular success, comic-book movies have often been dull as ditchwater to look at.