Too Many Super Heroes?

So what is it with all these super heroes nowadays?

We see them everywhere: Huge groups of powerful men and women in outlandish outfits — usually accentuating the chests of both genders — zipping through the air and zapping super villains and other baddies.

(Going into my Old Man mode:) “Back in MY day, there was only one super hero and that was Superman.”

The year was 1952 when “The Adventures of Superman” debuted on still-new TV with George Reeves donning the tights and cape. Though he played the un-killable Man of Steel for six years on TV, Reeves came to an unfortunate end — but that’s another story…

Suffice it to say that — as a child of the 50s and early 60s — Reeves for me and many others in my age group personified the super hero. And I remember hearing stories of kids — after getting worked up by Superman's exploits and wrapping a towel/cape around their necks — trying to fly by jumping off garage roofs.

(How that ended depended mostly on how high the garage roof was and/or what you landed on — your feet or your head.)

Anyway, I admit I was fascinated by the super heroes of my time: Superman, Batman, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, The Greatest American Hero, etc.

But fast forward to today: Now we have super heroes coming out of our ears!

There are AT LEAST 45 super heroes appearing in movies these days, and more are coming along all the time. Most recently, it is Shang Chi, the first Asian-descent super hero to star in an American-made film, being added to the list.

The avalanche of super hero movies in recent years began in the early 2000s -- right after 9-1-1 -- as fan interest in super heroes exploded with movies like “Spider Man,” "Fantastic Four” and “The Dark Knight.”

Soon, Marvel and DC Comics began to crank out a series of super successful super hero movies with their own “universes” of super hero characters, including X-Men, Hellboy, Iron Man, Wolverine and so many more.

Now, I don’t want to get too far down in the weeds here about which super heroes are really cool and which are totally lame. Because I don't see enough of their movies to really know.

But my gut feeling is there might now be too many super heroes to keep track of and to really care about -- unless you're a dedicated, hard-core fan.

People love super heroes for many reasons. Most say they enjoy watching a super guy or gal do the seemingly impossible by using their special super powers. And they like the fact that the basic message with the most popular supers is simply to fight evil and protect society.

That definitely resonates today in a very uncertain time in history.

And — undoubtedly — the constant re-perfecting of the digital screen image every year has also contributed to the popularity of super heroes, who can now do virtually ANYTHING through incredible computerized digital effects -- and make it seem believable.

Look, I really have no big problem with super hero movies and TV shows. I just think maybe we are rapidly approaching super hero saturation.

But only the movie-going public will ultimately dictate how many super heroes we need to keep us safe from all the badness in the world.

Would that they actually could...