In recent years, science fiction, fantasy, and superhero movies seem to have shifted definitively from nerd fare that spawns the occasional blockbuster to Hollywood’s big-budget bread and butter. Before our current Age of the Geek, A-list productions in speculative genres were relatively few and far between. “Back in my day” my friends and I jumped up and down in anticipation of Tim Burton’s Batman movie, but even half-goofy fare like George Lucas’s Willow or Sam Raimi’s Darkman represented a rare enough scratching of an itch that we swallowed it uncritically, grateful for almost any swords, spaceships or supers that showed up in theaters.

Obviously, things have changed. Every summer more and more Marvel and DC properties come to life in multiplexes across the country. Massively popular young adult novels starring vampires and sorcerers spawn immensely successful film franchises. And franchises get rebooted and rebooted. By some estimations (including, to a degree, my own) this has led to a glut. Read the comments thread of any given sequel/reboot announcement and you’ll find geeks bemoaning the loss of a chimerical “originality.”

[Whither the new stuff…?]