Topic: Superhero Movie Discussion (spoilers abound)

[Nail_Bombed]

Looking forward to Man Of Steel myself, though am slightly wary of the fairly obvious 'darkness' about the visuals and overall feel of it. As much as I enjoyed the Nolan Batman flicks, there was too much emphasis on the 'gritty, dark, 'realistic' ' production - also not enough time in the suit, making it The Dark Bruce Wayne. Hope that doesn't happen with Supes.

Also looking forward to Kickass 2, Thor: The Dark World and The Wolverine. What I've seen so far with stills and video tidbits looks very exciting. Not Sure how The Wolverine is going to tie-in with X-Men First Class and lead up to Days Of Future Past though.

[son_the_vampire]

If Wolverine should ever make it to the X-men again, he should go to Avalon and fight Magneto. This calls for a good movie because Magneto jacked all that admantium haha

[Pfil]

Looking forward to Man Of Steel myself, though am slightly wary of the fairly obvious 'darkness' about the visuals and overall feel of it. As much as I enjoyed the Nolan Batman flicks, there was too much emphasis on the 'gritty, dark, 'realistic' ' production - also not enough time in the suit, making it The Dark Bruce Wayne. Hope that doesn't happen with Supes.

Also looking forward to Kickass 2, Thor: The Dark World and The Wolverine. What I've seen so far with stills and video tidbits looks very exciting. Not Sure how The Wolverine is going to tie-in with X-Men First Class and lead up to Days Of Future Past though.

I don't have a problem with a dark approach to anything, but I find it annoying that any producer / director involved in anything mentions Nolan.

So that we are on this thread, I'd like to ask: what are everyone's favourite and worst superhero movies?

I guess my favourites must be First Class, and the 1st and 3rd of Nolan's Batman movies (not the 2nd).
And the one I enjoyed the less is Spawn.

[Lashen]

I already made a passing comment elsewhere about how the proposed Iron Fist film adaptation will likely be the death of me.

[Successor The Cruel]

Looking forward to Man Of Steel myself, though am slightly wary of the fairly obvious 'darkness' about the visuals and overall feel of it. As much as I enjoyed the Nolan Batman flicks, there was too much emphasis on the 'gritty, dark, 'realistic' ' production - also not enough time in the suit, making it The Dark Bruce Wayne. Hope that doesn't happen with Supes.

Very wary about that myself, because Superman is one of my favorite characters from anything, and he and his world are not 'dark', 'gritty', or 'realistic'. Just about the opposite, really. I don't turn to Superman for stuff like that, nor do I think that sort of spin is necessary to get him to sell.

Kinda' reminds me of the MercurySteam philosophy. "Oooh, this thing isn't performing like we'd want, so I have an idea. Let's turn it into something it's not~"
Though Man of Steel hasn't gone that far, from what I can tell.
It's not that people don't want to see Superman and what Superman is, they just don't want to see it done with a less than great attempt. Same with Castlevania.

But we'll see about Man of Steel. I am hopeful for it.

[A-Yty]

What can you do? People want to force pretty much all characters into the dark, gritty mold. Superman above all. You'd think that schtick has gotten more boring than the Boy Scout routine, but that doesn't seem to be the case. And the funny thing is it has to be dark. You hardly ever see sunny, optimistic alternate takes that are succesful. I guess there's a built-in appetite in all of us that makes "fall from grace" stories more interesting.

I like it when it's subtler. Like in Batman/Superman, when Superman thinks to himself that Luthor is so small and fragile and that he could kill him so easily as he has him in a chokehold (after he turns on the President Evil mode). Batman even eggs him on, telling they could make it look like an accident. I think that is the reason why Lex is Superman's number one enemy and why they have overused him in the movies; only few can make Superman struggle when it comes to power, but Lex keeps getting under his skin on all other levels while being just a mere man. That is why I find it hard not to root for Luthor.

They can challenge Superman's idealism without making his suit dark or using a gray color filter. Where's the challenge of writing this already very demanding character if you just have him be Batmanish? They turned that "dark" shit to the max in Injustice when

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Superman kills Shazam/Captain Marvel. I mean..come on. I realize that Lois and his child's death made him want to police the world, but if that made him murder a kid in adult form, he couldn't have been that good to begin with. I think that went a bit over the top with that one.

[Pfil]

It would be nice if someone have the guts to make a superhero die some day. That would be dark, grim and original.

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I thought Batman was going to die in TDKR, but no. I loved the movie, but it would have been better, more tragic and poetic if he died; it would have been the most climatic and emotional possible ending for a trilogy.

[A-Yty]

It would be nice if someone have the guts to make a superhero die some day. That would be dark, grim and original.

If we're talking about heroes of recurring / endless continuities, it might be a bit ballsy. But if the character is big enough, he is not going stay dead (even if he dies in his movie continuity, they'll reboot it). If they ever permanently killed a character as big as Spiderman, for example, it would be incredible. But it's never, ever, ever going to happen. If there was someone who created a character, made a successful comic book series and then made a movie where he killed the character, ending all continuities, he would have to be an alien (or Alan Moore). Even if the creator had the will to do it, his creation would likely be hijacked in some way.

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I would have liked it less if Batman actually died. He did the fake death stunt in The Dark Knight Returns, after all. It's just the way Nolan did it that makes it silly.

[Pfil]

Yes, at least that someone makes a superhero die in their own continuity of movies. For example, make him die for his people, his city, on a particular trilogy. Then we'd be still having the new reboot, but that would be original.

[A-Yty]

Well, I don't think the sacrificial hero is that original. It is a trope about as old as dirt. But putting the effort into creating a character, watching it be successful & praised and then killing it - is.

Which is why I laugh joylessly when Nolan is said to have been "visionary" in his decision to end his continuity. People forget that Christopher Nolan did not create Batman. He wasn't even a tingling in his daddy's sacks when Batman was created. In fact, he bent Batman a lot for his own purposes.

Killing your original creation because it's just part of a good story? That takes both creativity and balls. As a shock stunt, cliché or when adapting other people's material? Not so much.

[Pfil]

Sherlock Holmes (not the movies; the books).
Arthur Conan Doyle had to revive his creation because readers were enraged when he died.

[A-Yty]

Yeah. But on a side note, I've got to say that the way Ritchie did the last battle between Moriarty and Holmes was pretty cool. Even though it was already known Holmes didn't really die.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Final Fight Scene HD

I haven't read the books, but this "sacrifice" was well justified. Moriarty was too smart to get caught and too dangerous to be allowed to go free. So Holmes had to do the uncharacteristically dumb thing to subdue him. Moriarty may be kind of original as a nemesis, since he was never meant to return (again, that is what I assume, because I haven't read the books) and he was really meant to be the "ultimate enemy" in the sense that Holmes would have to kill both of them to end his crimes. Compare that to comic book villains, who just keep coming back. In that sense, it's pretty sad that Doyle had to retcon that, because it kind of nullifies Moriarty.

[Pfil]

Actually, Moriarty died and never returned in the books, but Sherlock Holmes really died on one of the later tales.
Then, he had to invent something to resurrect him.

[A-Yty]

Oh, sorry. I was a bit unclear. Yes, I know Moriarty died. What I meant when I said he was nullified was that Holmes later turned up alive.

[crisis]

Superhero Rewind: Most Shafted Characters in Superhero Movies


Agree/disagree?