Superhero films have been quite successful recently here in China.

 

　　And it's now being said that this could lead to films with a more Chinese focus.

 

　　Marc Cavigli has more.

 

　　The prevalence and popularity of superheroes in today's culture has grown to an overwhelming degree.

 

　　One needs to just look at the top ten highest grossing superhero films of all time, which all appeared in the last ten years and so far have grossed over 8.5-billion US dollars worldwide.

 

　　Joe Ferrara is a superhero expert and comic book storeowner in Santa Cruz, California.

 

　　He explains why audiences find superheroes so fascinating.

 

　　"It crosses every demographic. The superhero genre is the epitome of the best in us and who set the tone for our morals and inspire us to be greater than we are."

 

　　As time goes on, China continues to prove to be a major contributing force to the success of superhero films.

 

　　Hollywood studios have taken note and have started catering to Chinese audiences.

 

　　The Chinese version of Iron Man 3 featured several additional minutes with Chinese actors Fan Bingbing and Wang Xueqi.

 

　　US director Michael Bay recently revealed the upcoming Transformers 4 will have a heavy Chinese element and feature Chinese actors.

 

　　American superheroes have struck a chord with Chinese audiences though some wonder why.

 

　　Ferrara offers insight into why superheroes are successful despite different cultures.

 

　　"The main reason why heroes are needed in any culture to give everyone something to aspire to and today's choice of hero is primarily the superhero."

 

　　Comic book guru Stan Lee, the man partly responsible for superheroes such as the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, and the X-Men is developing a new Chinese superhero called The Annihilator.

 

　　His character is a young Chinese man named Ming who undergoes a series of experimental procedures that grant him extraordinary powers.

 

　　The character is being taken quite seriously as it will be the focus of a feature length film.

 

　　The Chinese state-run National Film Capital will co-produce the film with Lee to bring the Annihilator to theaters worldwide.

 

　　The big question on everyone's mind is whether The Annihilator will find international success, especially at the US box office.

 

　　Ferrara points out if it is a success we may begin to see more Asian influenced stories.

 

　　"Any artistic endeavor is going to fail or succeed on its own merits. Whose to say we're not going to have another whole mythos that comes out of a universe of heroes that come from an Asian influence?"

 

　　The Annihilator is only the beginning though as the National Film Capital plans to partly fund several more joint projects."

 

　　The relationship could be a big boon for Chinese-US entertainment ties and herald in a new era of creative international cooperation.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Marc Cavigli.