Is "superhero film" a genre?

[Inarius]

Is "superhero film" a genre? 'cuz I didn't get the answer to it. If my story is a mix of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and it has people with specific superpowers, how should I identify the genre?

 

[Birdman]

There are superpowers, and there are guys who should control it.

...I think Joseph Stalin felt the same way as you?

-Birdman

P.S. Republics can also control Superpowers.

 

[Inarius]

...I think Joseph Stalin felt the same way as you?

-Birdman

P.S. Republics can also control Superpowers.

Ironic! This is nearly the same what's in my story. The organization has no superpowers - they have money and influence. There are only 3 people in the world who work WITH the organization (with, not for it... there is a reason for that), which are allowed to have powers. Just like Stalin's KGB (CSS) agents had the rights to violate laws if needed.

 

[maz]

I think some cliche are good to use. Powerful organizations are like police in our real world. Do you imagine a world without police?

Well, it can be without police (organization), but that will be a Post-Apocalyptic movie. My story is not about that. There are superpowers, and there are guys who should control it. Otherwise people will do whatever they want.

Yes, cliches are cliches for a reason. But they also stifle originality. If I ever see a movie/TV listing stating "X is not like other teenagers. He has a power to XYZ", then I know that towards the end of the first/start of the second act, we will be introduced to a shadowy mysterious organisation of unimaginable power and wealth who are after the character, either the cause or the enemy of the power. And, every single time, it turns out to be a correct assumption (with the one exception I stated earlier).

This is boring. There is no need for a shadowy organisation. A story about people with superpowers does not need a shadowy organisation. It's just writing in cliched shorthand and lazy plotting, as far as I'm concerned...."Everyone knows X-Men, let's just take something off the peg from there..."

 

[Inarius]

Yes, cliches are cliches for a reason. But they also stifle originality. If I ever see a movie/TV listing stating "X is not like other teenagers. He has a power to XYZ", then I know that towards the end of the first/start of the second act, we will be introduced to a shadowy mysterious organisation of unimaginable power and wealth who are after the character, either the cause or the enemy of the power. And, every single time, it turns out to be a correct assumption (with the one exception I stated earlier).

This is boring. There is no need for a shadowy organisation. A story about people with superpowers does not need a shadowy organisation. It's just writing in cliched shorthand and lazy plotting, as far as I'm concerned...."Everyone knows X-Men, let's just take something off the peg from there..."

But what if you turn this cliche upside down? What if after a long fighting against the organization, the hero eventually understands, that he should support this shadowy organization, not fight it, because he is wrong, and they are right? And what if this organization is not as strong as it seems?

My story is about a very rebellious person, who eventually turns to work along with the system. And the antagonist, who is not a rebellious type, turns a rebel. The point is, that at the beginning, protagonist and antagonist work together, trying to overthrow the organization. But later, the protagonist betrays the antagonist (for a good reason), and helps the organization to stop him.

There is a dilemma. The antagonists fights for his freedom, and the protagonist helps him at first. Later, the protagonists understands, that his friend's (the antagonist's) freedom, comes in a price of millions of deaths. So he must choose the lesser of two evils - sacrifice his friend's freedom for the sake of many people, or sacrifice many people's lives to help his friend be a free man. A difficult choice.