That said, I think you’re missing something crucial here, Tony. The comic book audience and the comic book movie audience aren’t one and the same by a long shot.

The original mistake people made back in the 70s and 80s when developing comic book movies and tv shows was the assumption that their demographic would never really scale outside the niche culture it began in.

But a rocket-powered shot’em up thrill staring Robert Downey Junior as Iron Man isn’t significantly different from a Nazi-infested terrorist bomb throwing bonanza staring Bruce Willis as John McClane. Likewise, you didn’t have to be a giant geek to appreciate Pan’s Labyrinth. And, low and behold, who do they pick to direct the new Hellboy movie?

Infusing quality into a classic comic book story more or less guarantees a base of fans, but the simple fact that it is a quality movie will expand your range of viewers exponentially. People will show up just to see quality acting, a well-written script, and high production values whether the movie is about a New York mobster syndicate, a French romance, an Ashton Kucher comedy, or an action epic staring Edward Norton as a 1500 lb CGI’s green-skinned monster.

It’s not the fear of nerd reprisal, but the allure of greater reward that has seen an emphasis on quality emerge in the last ten or fifteen years of comic book movie making.