It has become a cliché to criticise the Hollywood studios for their lack of originality. First came the sequel, then the prequel, then the remake, then the big screen adaptation of a much-loved TV series … no one can accuse these environmentally conscious Californians of failing to recycle. It seems the only time studio executives are capable of being creative is when it comes to dreaming up new ways to avoid being creative.

The latest method of avoidance is so uninspired that, as far as I know, the entertainment industry has been too ashamed to give it a name. I’m thinking of films like Batman Begins, Superman Returns and The Incredible Hulk. What are they, exactly? Take The Incredible Hulk. Is it a big-screen adaptation of the original TV series? A sequel to the 2003 film starring Eric Banna? Or an attempt to re-launch the Hulk franchise after the box-office failure of the previous effort?

What these movies have in common -- and I would add Casino Royale and Star Trek -- is that the filmmakers have been granted an artistic license to ignore what has happened in previous episodes of the long-running sagas. In the case of Batman Begins, the franchise was at such a low ebb that the filmmakers more or less pretended that this was the first time a character called “Batman” had ever appeared on screen.

Presumably, the thinking behind these movies is that the existing fans of the franchises will come and see them willy-nilly, but a new audience will also turn up, labouring under the impression that these superheroes have never been seen in cinemas before. It probably helps the studios attract A-list talent, too. If they can convince top directors and big movie stars that they won’t simply be making a sequel, but will be “re-imagining” the whole saga, they’re more likely to get on board.

One of the many irritating thing about these non-sequel sequels is their cavalier attitude to the loyal followers of the stories in question. As someone who loved the original Superman, and slavishly watched all three sequels, I was a bit put out to discover in Superman Returns that Lois Lane and Clark Kent had had a son. How, exactly, did they overcome the difficulty that Superman tried (and failed) to address in the first sequel when he returned to the Fortress of Solitude to divest himself of his super powers so he could make love to his girlfriend without killing her? Had the Man of Steel discovered some Supercondom? But if so, how did he and Lois conceive a child? Was it a defective Supercondom? It didn’t make any sense.

The truly alarming thing about these new hybrid blockbusters is that it means the Star Wars saga may not be at an end. Any day now I expect George Lucas to announce he is intending to “re-boot” the story in an “all-new” Star Wars film.