Picture this: It’s 1999, I’m 6 years old and it’s Saturday morning. You know what that means. It’s time for cartoons and cereal that never really fills you up, and leaves you starving 2 hours later. It means watching Batman and Superman kick some ass across the small screen and save the world like we all expect them to do. This was the golden age of superhero cartoons and boy was it fun. Batman was a little grumpy for sure, but Superman was always there to help him out, and things turned out ok. It was fun, and it felt good to watch.
Let’s fast-forward a few years, some time a little closer to the present. I don’t know about you guys, but I was psyched when I found out that DC Comics was doing something similar to Marvel and creating a shared universe for their greatest characters. It’s every nerd’s dream and we’ve all discussed it many times around the lunch tables throughout high school. The world was ready for this, and we believed in the DC and Hollywood to do right by us all. They were going to make the Justice League movie we deserved and needed. The Nolan Batman trilogy had killed at the box office in recent years and we all believed that this type of vision would carry over to this newest effort and wow audiences all over again. I mean, come on. If they can do it once, they can do it again easily. It’s not that hard. Right?
Ugh.
The Man of Steel was one massive disappointment. Instead of the less is more approach of Christopher Nolan, they opted to go for an over the top slugfest. Whole cities were leveled in this moody, overly long and complicated re-imagining where characters took a backseat to spectacle. However, in my opinion, the biggest tragedy of this movie was the death of Superman. Not literally, of course. They do that in Batman vs. Superman, the next movie, for some reason… No what I’m talking about is the death of Superman as a character that we all know and love.
Superman is supposed to the the All-American boy. He’s the guy that we all love, and he loves us. He’s supposed to believe in us when even we don’t believe in us. He’s trusting to a fault, kind, and always ready to lend a hand. He’s a way better hero and person than any of us could dream of being, and that’s what makes him the savior that we need in a world populated by other heroes like Batman, who is suspicious and angry towards everyone.
Instead, what we get is a mopey, suspicious, one-dimensional hero that spends a majority of his screen time being darker and moodier than even the most tortured Dark Knight. I mean, for Christ’s sake, there should never be a universe, alternate or not, where Batman is more lovable or caring than Superman. Yet, here we are. Here we are.
Broodingman should be his name. Calm down dude. (Batman vs Superman)
Superman should be the heart and soul of this new cinematic universe, but instead he’s the dark, enigmatic god his critics fear he would be. This is where DC made their critical mistake. Every new franchise needs their flagship character. Whether it’s movies, comics or video games. For Marvel it was Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr. played the character with so much charisma and joy that we all couldn’t help but fall in love and this momentum is what carried the franchise forward into the absolute juggernaut it’s become.
Superman needed to be DC’s Iron Man. He needed to make America fall in love with a guy in a weird suit again. Let’s just say… that isn’t quite what happened. There’s still hope, however. With his literal death at the end of Batman vs. Superman, DC has a chance to rewrite the character. Death can cause some serious self-analysis, I’ve been told. Who knows? Maybe this reborn Clark Kent will have a different outlook on life. Maybe he’ll come out of the whole ordeal as the Man of Steel we always knew he could be. He certainly needs to be. Otherwise, I fear that DC will continue to churn out subpar movies, all flash and no heart, until they run out of money and fans; and let’s face it, nobody wants that. Shape up, DC. Have a word with yourself. Sincerely, all the fans you still have left.
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