"Black Panther" was pretty fantastic. The hype is to be believed. Marvel hit it out of the park with this one - they gave us a movie starring a character that no one outside of a pulpy comic book store knew of five years ago, made it well, and, of course, made oodles of dollars in the process. Applause all around. And most everyone agrees that "Panther" is fantastic, which leaves the idea of doing a movie review that will essentially boil down to 'yes this is good' basically moot. So I'd rather talk about something that's been on my mind before and after watching the movie - the future of superhero films. Very important, I know.

I love comic books, superheroes, cackling madmen...the whole nine yards. The idea of seeing these semi-goofy characters brought to life on the silver screen still sends me shuffling into the theaters like a good little mouse-ear-wearer. And it's in no way an original thought to ask 'how long will this movie trend last? When will the bubble burst?' But I can't help but think to myself 'maybe never.'

The evolution of these kinds of movies is interesting. Cause really, we've had superhero movies since 98s "Blade." And "Blade" set the stage for much of the movies that followed: the piss poor Marvel stuff ("Daredevil," "Elektra," "Ghost Rider"), the inconsistent but usually pretty good movies from Sony and Fox ("Spider-Man" and "X-Men" respectively), and even the revered "Batman" movies from Christopher Nolan. Aside from "X-Men," these were films focused on a solo hero character, and the interesting world and supporting characters surrounding them.

And yes, some of them had sequels, but the 'shared universe' wasn't quite a thing, the 'multiple costumed weirdos rubbing elbows' didn't exist. And it wasn't until Marvel's "Avengers" that things began to shift.

Because "Avengers" begat the rest of the Marvel universe ("Age of Ultron," "Infinity War" and its sequel) the shared universes following "Man of Steel" (which of course lead to the stillbirth "Justice League"), "Amazing Spider-Man" and its planned sequels and spin-offs, the later year "X-Men" movies, even "Guardians of the Galaxy." And some of those ended up pretty good, but the pattern they've created is sort of obvious once you look at the diminishing returns, both in box-office and critical reception - they're all trying to chase that first "Avengers" high. And they're just not reaching it, with "Justice League" being the most obvious example. Even "Avengers'" sequel failed to live up to its predecessor, and we will see if the upcoming "Avengers" sequel will do the same.

But if you look at some of the most recent superhero movie successes, you'll notice another trend popping up - the return of the solo-movie.

The pendulum seems to be swinging away from the big, superhero team books, and back to the focused, single hero movies. We've seen crazy amounts of success from "Logan," "Wonder Woman," "Thor: Ragnarok," and "Black Panther," from critics and fans alike. And what all of these movies have in common (except "Thor," kinda) is that they are all free of baggage. Yes, "Black Panther" is another cog in the great Marvel-movie machine, but aside from a few choice moments, "Black Panther" works entirely on its own.

It feels fresh because it is fresh, because it is new and different.

And based on the success we saw with "Black Panther," I think the trajectory of future superhero movies will be back to the way it used to be, but maybe with the lessons learned from "Avengers."

And that's great in a way, but also sort of nightmarish too - the future of superhero movies could be a never-ending string of well-made movies about the next 'who?' character from comic books. And then maybe the trend will change again - maybe we'll get another string of superhero team-up movies in the future, and then maybe the pendulum will swing back again.

So maybe it's less of the bubble 'popping' - maybe the superhero bubble will stretch and morph and transform for decades to come. Maybe every movie will be a superhero movie. At least I'm sure that's what the big wigs at Marvel are crossing their fingers about.