Today I would like to talk about the DC universe's latest Superman and Batman and compare the two, both as characters and as general movies stories.
Let us discuss what made the last series of Batman films successful. In the latest Batman movies that have come out, the Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman is given a serious and realistic make over. Instead of having a million gadgets that can do whatever the movie needed we get a Batman that is much more grounded in reality. And the trilogy did so wonderfully. Everything from the villains, to the Bat Mobile, to the Bat Cave are all much more realistic and believable, compared to previous Batman movies and other superheroes in general. This grounding allows the grittyness of the movies to be real and much more believable. On top of that we as an audience can relate to and connect with this Batman over previous Batman and other superheroes much easier. Because, almost, everything that makes this Batman, his training, his gadgets, his friends, are more real and more natural. Even the enemies were believable. The League of Assassins: a group of highly trained killers who follow the word of a mysterious leader without question. Sounds like any number of groups from religious extremists to hardcore military groups. The Joker is a deranged madman who simply wishes to cause chaos. Sounds like an extreme version of hackers, trolls, mischievous people, or an extreme prankster philosopher combination. And Bane is almost a perfect blending of the two. The movies do not create a Batman universe they bring Batman to our world and we eat it up. We love the grittyness and darkness of the film because we see these elements in our own world, at least in part. This combination of realism, gritty/darkness, and classic vigilante justice made these movies a huge success.
The recent Man of Steel Superman movie was a disappointment to me. The movie tried to portray a similar gritty/dark vibe as the Dark Knight series. I believe that DC has decided to take the darker approach to Marvel's light hearted and fun superheroes. Which is good, Marvel is already making a ton of its movies in the exact same style it is nice to have some variety. But Superman makes zero sense to have as a dark/gritty superhero. His whole thing is to be a symbol of hope, a beacon of light, he is an impossible standard of perfection that everyone should try to live up to. So why did they try to make him darker than he should have been? I believe because the Dark Knight showed the Hollywood powers that be that a dark superhero movie can be done really well and make tons of money, which is of course true for Batman not Superman. Let's analyze the differences between those two superheroes and show why it makes no sense.
Origin stories:
Superman's story begins with the destruction of his home world and him being sent to Earth. He is a very young baby and thus has no memory of his home world and he cannot understand the loss right away. So he is an orphan with no idea where he came from who is taken in by a loving family in a small town in Kansas. They love him as their own and raise him to control his powers and do good to others. They would be, in my opinion, considered literally the best parents in the world. Superman who is literally invincible to almost all conventional weapons and is crazy powerful decides to help defend the world rather than try and take it over or abuse his powers in a serious way. Wow did his parents instill the right values in him, could you imagine what most people would do with one of his superpowers? It could be terrible. Superman's origin story is full of hope, doomed planet orphan to loving family, and love. There are obviously struggles, learning to control his powers, being different, not understanding why he is like this, the death of his adopted father Mr. Kent, but a lot of those can be experienced by people without superpowers in a normal way. I am sure many people, without superpowers, have experienced feeling different from everyone, not knowing where they came from, and loss of loved ones. The whole tone of Superman's upbringing is one of hope and love. To try and take that to a dark gritty area really fights the basics of the story and the story suffers because of that.
Hero Tactics:
Superman is a walking unstoppable set of smashing fists that can fly, shoot lasers, and has freeze breath. He is bullet proof, which means most low life thugs or enemies could not hurt him in the slightest. His super strength, speed, vision, and intelligence make him unstoppable and once again impervious to normal criminals. Superman is able to beat and batter literally anything in his way. He is rarely stealthy, he does not need to be super cautious, and if his enemies are trying to hide he is a flying x-ray machine. Trying to make any of this in a movie trying to be real would be ridiculous.
Enemies:
Overall:
A dark gritty Batman works because everything about him is grounded more in reality than other super heroes. This allows the Batman to have a realistic approach and not take away from what Batman is. Batman is a darker hero and has an untrusting nature. His main villains are thugs and crime bosses, this helps show the darker side of humanity, such as extreme greed, desperation, or power hungry, examples we see in the real world. Batman's symbol is synonymous with darkness, stealth, and fear. Everything about Batman plays right into a gritty storyline making sense and feeling natural.
Superman is hope incarnate from the beginning. His birth parents save him from the destruction of their home world and right to another set of loving parents who had not been able to have a child. Superman is raised with god like powers but does not abuse them, showing he has incredible self control. He fights for truth and justice. Even though he is not human he attempts to make himself a symbol of the best humans can aspire to be. His villains desire complete control or complete destruction. Any attempt at realism, something that strongly helps gritty movies become great, is foolish. Attempting to cast Superman in a darker theme fights what the character is. Of course Superman can be serious and even have darker elements but at the end of the day it will be a happy ending. That is what Superman is all about.
Let me know what you guys think about the article in the comments. I'm thinking I'll do another article on why Man of Steel was a disappointment, look for it in the coming weeks.
