Certain genres have come to dominate movies and TV shows in the past 10 years, with one successful property leading to many more. Several of the genres that now dominate pop culture, unfortunately, stem from the overuse of IP; as studios, networks, and streaming services became more competitive than ever, they sifted through the properties they already owned that would allow them to produce more movies and shows faster. This has led to far too many unnecessary sequels and reboots. However, the handful of truly brilliant properties that emerge from this trend prove that certain strains have some value.

Once one title has demonstrated that a certain type of source material or storytelling can lead to massive success, others attempt to replicate it. However, the fraught IP and adaptations situation is not the only cause of several genres spiking in popularity. Other movies and shows have led to the rise of particular tropes and character archetypes that show up in subsequent titles. Real-world events also inspire discourses spreading throughout fiction. What genres are popular in a given decade is a mix of factors, including political circumstances, industry goals, and chance.

8

Video Game Adaptations

Video games serve as source material for many recently popular titles.

Video game adaptations were not unheard of in the early 2010s — the first Super Mario Bros. movie will forever live in cinematic infamy — but it was almost a given that these adaptations would be of shoddy quality. However, as producers racked their stores of IP and other untouched series, the fact that many video games have complex and extensive stories that could be the foundation of a TV show drew attention. In the race to produce the next Game of Thrones, Netflix picked up The Witcher, a book series turned video game, for ready source material.

The Witcher’s relative success showcased a mostly untapped entertainment outlet, inspiring the even better shows that came next. Production on Arcane season 2 and The Last of Us season 2 has been a long process, demonstrating how the showrunners are dedicated to quality. Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures released a surprisingly enjoyable Sonic the Hedgehog movie, while a far superior Super Mario Bros. movie also came out. There will always be mediocre video game adaptations, such as the new Uncharted movie, but the concept has proven to be reliable if the storytelling is consistent with the game’s tone.

7

Eat The Rich

Discourses about the wealth gap appear in acclaimed movies and TV shows.

Bigger discussions about the startling contrast between the lives of the super-rich and a significant part of the rest of the population, and the culture of elitism that comes with it, have permeated both politics and pop culture in recent years. Things really took off in 2019, when Succession’s sophomore season coincided with the release of the future Oscar winner Parasite and the smash hit, subversive whodunit Knives Out. These properties all share a common element of satirizing the upper class with varying levels of absurdity, but generally emphasizing that they have more money than they need or deserve.

As this genre moved forward with its newfound popularity, filmmakers found increasingly distinct ways to capture the fundamental theme. The Menu takes the shape of a strange, contained haunted house storyline, while The White Lotus introduces a new cast of unlikable wealthy hotel guests every season. The COVID-19 pandemic plays a role in the plots of Glass Onion and The Menu, adding a new layer to the social commentary of a genre that got going just before the pandemic started. Overall, audiences seem to enjoy projecting their own frustrations onto the characters of the “Eat the Rich” genre.

6

Superheroes

While some movies came before it, the MCU marked the start of the modern superhero genre.

The pre-21st-century and early 2000s superhero movies were largely disappointing, with some of the most famous superheroes of all time starring in poorly reviewed titles. The DC animated universe was hugely successful in the 1990s, while Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Christoper Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy are the best of the 2000s. However, the superhero genre didn’t really blow up in pop culture until Iron Man kicked off the MCU. This led to an entirely new conception of a superhero-led cinematic universe of big-budget blockbusters that other studios desperately attempted to replicate.

Today, the constant barrage of MCU movies and shows is the biggest cause of superhero fatigue, while the DCEU’s attempts to be a new MCU are generally criticized. Some of the best superhero movies, at least outside the MCU, are the ones that aren’t part of a cinematic universe or can function as standalones. 2017’s Wonder Woman works as its own story and is one of, if not the best DCEU movie. 2015’s Fantastic Four and the Venom movies are laughable, but Fox produced some detached movies including Deadpool and Logan that were well-received.

Meanwhile, a new Batman movie franchise led by Robert Pattinson may come to rival Nolan’s masterpieces. Nowadays, the filmmakers behind superhero movies struggle to make any of their works stand out in an oversaturated market. They are constantly challenged with striking a balance between satisfying popular demand and producing entertainment of artistic value.

5

Post-Apocalypses

The post-apocalyptic genre has grown beyond the Hunger Games legacy.

In the early 2000s, the post-apocalyptic genre was characterized by The Hunger Games and its would-be replacement franchises. These stories are defined by teenage protagonists going up against an evil dictatorship typically set in a world where the apocalypse has left society with a particular, stratified structure. However, while Allegiant’s box office failure ended the YA dystopia craze, the post-apocalyptic drama endured in other forms. The Walking Dead TV franchise began around the same time as The Hunger Games and carried on after it ended. The 100 had a similar trajectory but definitively ended in 2020.

The penultimate post-apocalypse movie and one of the best action movies of all time came in 2015; Mad Max: Fury Road influenced many subsequent movies, even though its sequels were still years in the future. The Last of Us also improved upon the zombie apocalypse scenario of The Walking Dead, reviving this subgenre. Furthermore, Mad Max and The Last of Us represent and overlap with the rising trends of video game adaptations and legacy sequels. Post-apocalypses are still prevalent in pop culture, but the upcoming Mad Max sequels may inspire even more filmmakers and showrunners.

4

Epic Animation

Serious stories have proliferated in animation in the last 10 years.

Animation’s place in the movie and TV industry has been majorly changing in the last 20 years as it has achieved the status of a serious art form. Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away broke ground in this regard, showing a darker, more mature story told through animation. However, in the last 10 years, Hollywood has produced more animated TV shows specifically for adults. Utilizing both cell and stylized 3D animation, shows including Arcane and Hazbin Hotel showcase adult themes. Netflix, in particular, has produced multiple anime shows, including Castlevania and the upcoming Terminator Zero.

Meanwhile, the boundary between what is “for kids” and what is not in animated cinema is blurrier. Ghibli’s surrealistic The Boy and the Heron recently triumphed over Hollywood’s typical animated features, the studio’s first Oscar win since Spirited Away. However, in a genre that sees significant overlap with the video game and superhero genres, the Spider-Verse franchise especially illustrates animation’s evolution. Movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish are visually stunning enough to draw in viewers of all ages. However, Spider-Verse’s multipart story constitutes an unprecedented animated cinematic event.

3

Legacy Sequels

Not all legacy sequels are good, but a handful are simply stunning.

Legacy sequels represent the best and worst of studios reverting to their old IP, turning out new movies wherever they can. Some movie franchises have become too big for their own good, yet studios continue to produce mediocre at best sequels when all the evidence suggests that they are never going to be good again. However, the best legacy sequels of all time are so amazing, and cinematic history is doubtlessly better with them, that it is impossible to say that legacy sequels are inherently a bad idea.

The Creed movies build upon the themes of the Rocky franchise while telling a new story for a new character. George Miller took advantage of new technology to make the action and setting bigger and better in Mad Max: Fury Road. Even the first Star Wars sequel movie is an organic continuation of the story that mixes nostalgia with new character arcs. Legacy sequels have managed to revive franchises that were declining or surpass the original movies. However, there are still some cases where the filmmakers should know that enough is enough.

2

Anti-Heroes

The anti-hero genre has been expanded significantly in the last 20 years.

To some degree, fiction has always been interested in the moral dilemmas of villains and anti-heroes. It is a universal subject that prompts viewers to think about what it means to be a good person in reality. The Sopranos doubtlessly made an impact on TV with its anti-hero at best protagonist, but Breaking Bad can be credited with completely redefining the genre. Breaking Bad’s anti-heroes didn’t disappear from cultural consciousness in the later 2010s thanks to its spinoff show. Meanwhile, more properties focusing on characters who do bad things for a good reason, or who are just terrible people, started to appear.

The anti-hero protagonist genre sees a lot of overlap with “Eat the Rich” when these characters are usually after political and social power, which is typically inseparable from more money. However, it is less about satirizing wealth than delving into the psychology of a morally corrupt character. Modern people’s lives bear no similarities to the House of the Dragon cast; the series is not about money but how House Targaryen will destroy itself over the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, more heroic characters in The Walking Dead and The Last of Us have arcs about losing their humanity over time in order to survive.

1

Hard Fantasy Adaptations

In the post-Game of Thrones world, producers covet fantasy book series to adapt.

Game of Thrones caused a massive upheaval in the TV industry, with producers willing to invest more money in their shows. This resulted in many more epic fantasy, big-budget series. Most of these shows, like Game of Thrones, are adaptations of critically acclaimed book series that do most of the world-building for the showrunners ahead of time. The fantasy genre has largely (but not entirely) moved past movie adaptations, favoring the TV show format, which allows for more detail and longer stories.

The byproduct of this trend is the TV show reboot of previous fantasy book-to-movie adaptations. Some of these franchises, including Percy Jackson and the Olympians and His Dark Materials, had disastrous movies and generally benefited from the reboot. On the other hand, people have questioned the value of a Twilight or Harry Potter TV show. The proliferation of fantasy TV shows is one genre trend in particular that sometimes results in a clash between what audiences will enjoy and what producers think their consumers want to see.