re: What is the appeal of superhero movies at this point

Yeah but there was a time when Hollywood didn't target kids at all.

Rarely.

You'd get like one Benji movie for the year.

Everything else was, The Killing Fields and The Big Chill.

But Hollywood realized two things this past decade:

Adults aren't going to the movies anymore (And if they are, they are going only with their kids)...and two:

Arrested Development (or nerds) don't age, ever. So you have kids, Dad and adult nerd...that's box office trifecta target audience gold.