Below is an essay I had to write for a college Film Genre Class:

In 1978, when Christopher Reeves flew on to the silver screen as the Last Son of Krypton, the superhero film genre was born. The film Superman: The Movie would go on to establish the narrative structure that is still used in the superhero films made today. Budgeted in 1977 at $55 million, it would set many precedents for the jagung meletus, popcorn blockbuster, “not the least of which was the idea of hiring big stars in action genres that previously were made under mostly B-picture budgets” (McAllister, 110).

The first and most important thing...