While studios keep reimagining the same comic book characters and storylines year after year, horror movies rarely get the same successful treatment. Since 2002, there have been three different versions of Spider-Man, three different Batman actors, three Hulks, and two different versions of Superman. And that is not all. With a reshuffle at DC Studios that brought James Gunn And Peter Safran as co-chairs and CEOs of the DCU, we already know that new reboots are inevitable.

Naturally, fans have their own opinions on all of this, and comic book movie casting is the sort of game that combines popularity with prediction. As a result, the reboot has become a model for comics in its own right. Horror film? Not so much. One attempt at rebooting the horror franchise placed the actor Jackie Earle Haley as the darker, more frightening Freddy Krueger in the new A Nightmare on Elm Street, and while it was admittedly lucrative, it was almost forgotten by now, another incomplete reboot. So why doesn’t this sort of thing work with horror movies?

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Horror films strengthen bonds with their audience

Tim Curry as Pennywise in It
Image via ABC

Before diving into the specifics of rebooting any genre, it’s important to note the general differences between genres. By and large, comic book movies are a big, pompous spectacle. Yes, they have their poignant moments - only the most cold-blooded moviegoers didn’t shed a tear when (SPOILER) Tony StarkRobert Downey Jr.) died at the end Avengers: Endgame - both heroes and villains are much more difficult than in the days of BAM, SING! in the 1966s Batman: The Movie. However, it’s the comic book movies that deliver the thrill, the adrenaline-pumping action scenes that make the genre popular.

Horror films, on the other hand, forgo the spectacle and tap into the viewer’s deeper emotions. They play on the fears of the audience or inspire new ones - ThisPennywise (Bill Skarsgard or Tim Curry) is one of the few factors in the disappearance of clowns from the public. They play fast and loose with emotional extremes, from the relief of knowing a character is safe to the momentary, heartbreaking horror when they aren’t. Also, the comic book movies are obviously made up: no one leaves the theater and runs into Superman. But in horror movies, as ridiculous as they are, there is always a hint that they can happen in real life, and that feeling stays with you for a while.

Comic book movie reboots are more successful at reimagining their characters

Mark Ruffalo as Hulk in The Avengers
Image via Marvel Studios

One of the reasons reboots work for comic book movies is because reboots usually bring something new to the character, so fans have anticipation. Sometimes it’s the best CGI effects, like the increasingly realistic Hulk. With each reboot, the green giant has become more realistic since 2003. Hulk, To The incredible Hulk 2008, in the MCU’s Hulk Avengers. Sometimes it’s the promise of more comical costumes like Hugh Jackman teasing Wolverine’s classic blue and yellow mask next to Deadpool’s. And in other cases, it is a change of actors and / or directors, for example, a reaction to the fact that Batman fell into the hands of Joel Schumacher And George Clooney To Christopher Nolan And Christian Bale.

On the other hand, horror movies usually don’t change these elementary components, so a reboot doesn’t have the same meaning. 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre I saw LeatherfaceGunnar Hansen) hack and hack. The 2003 reboot featured Leatherface (Andrew Briniarsky) hack and hack. Reboot Friday the 13th the 2009 franchise reimagined Jason (Derek Mears), but it’s the same, a hockey-masked serial killer doing the same types of murders that have been part of the franchise since the 1980s. To clarify, this does not mean that How the murders are the same; the progressive films in the franchise are constantly thinking of new and diabolical ways to end their lives, a la Saw (Tobin Bell) eternally creative death traps.

Fans treat horror movies differently

Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel
Image via Warner Bros.

As mentioned above, the cast change is an expected part of the reboot of the comic book film franchise, which brings out an exciting difference between genres: a fan of comic book films is likely to focus on WHO playing a character where a horror movie fan would likely only focus on the character. I think about it. It’s never “I liked Superman in Man of Steel more than Superman Superman Returns.” You will most likely hear “I like Henry Cavill like superman more than Brandon RuthSuperman”.

The comic book fan’s association is not with the character, but with the actor’s take on that character, so the reboot becomes a success (or outright bomb) depending on viewers’ stance on the matter. Alternatively, the horror movie fan is more interested in knowing that the character they invested in is still the same old homicidal maniac they fell in love with. Only the most ardent fans can have an opinion on whether Kane HodderJason Voorhees is better or worse than Ted WhiteWith. 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-intentioned return to Wes Cravenoriginal vision didn’t work), the reboot appears to be controversial.

Rebooting Horror Movies Can Work… But Not Often

It’s not that a horror movie reboot can’t work. 2018 halloween succeeded because Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) was returned as “Form”, a seamless transition from the original film with no changes to it other than its age. But even that ended in spectacular failure when the next two films, halloween kills And Halloween endscastrated Myers, for lack of a better word, and created a “new” Michael Myers.

So the truth can be summarized as follows: comic book movie reboots work when changes are made, but horror movie reboots succeed when they don’t. And by the way, Ted White is the best Jason Voorhees.