What are you doing, DC? That might as well be the whole
review, and you might as well stop reading now. Just what the heck are you
DOING? Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself, so I’ll calm down and start again.
When Christopher Nolan reinvigorated Batman as a cinematic
experience in 2005 with Batman Begins
(after the dismal, dreadful death-knoll that was 1997’s Batman & Robin), he set a new standard for superhero films.
Like it or not, Nolan’s “Dark Knight Trilogy” (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) changed the
way that the public viewed superheroes, which had long since begun to seem
stale, predictable and just plain silly, thanks in no small part to campy,
ridiculously-written bombs such as the aforementioned Batman & Robin, Superman
IV: The Quest for Peace, and (lest I come across as too harsh on DC) Daredevil. Nolan helped to make Joe
Average take superheroes seriously again. No longer was Batman a rubber-nippled,
grinning George Clooney cracking Adam West-style puns and saving the day by ice
skating. The new Batman, played by Christian Bale, was a deadly serious, grim
vigilante caught up in stories involving mob bosses, political corruption and
gritty violence. Oh, and death. Lots and lots of death. The colours were muted,
and Batman’s suit was now more a suit of armour than anything else. Yes, there
was some-seemingly-ludicrous casting in the form of Heath Ledger’s Joker (and,
one might argue, Christian Bale’s Batman), but it paid off, and the films were
hugely successful. But what price have we paid for that success?
Nowadays, you can’t move for superhero films and television
shows. There’s the new Amazing Spider-Man
series, the Avengers and its
related films, Snyder’s retelling of Superman in The Man of Steel, and the continuing X-Men spin-offs and instalments, and many more. Across most of
these releases, however, there is a very clear trend, one kick-started by
Nolan’s success with Batman. Superheroes in the modern era are dark, brooding
loners with muted and streamlined costumes. Even usually-colourful and cheerful
heroes like Spider-Man are now the misunderstood, tragic outsiders, often
directly or indirectly causing death on a huge scale. Nowhere is this more
obvious than with Zack Snyder’s Man of
Steel.
Superman has always been a bright, colourful, extroverted
optimist, a shining, easily-visible beacon of hope to contrast with Batman’s
dark, silent image of fear and vengeance. He dealt with death, yes, but he
rarely, if ever, directly caused it, and he always put the safety of Metropolis
(and Earth) first. Not so in Man of Steel.
Henry Cavill’s Superman is a grim figure, swamped with troubling flashbacks and
insecurities, and sporting an extremely dark costume, with the signature red
and blue barely visible. Now, these traits are fine for Batman, as they suit
his character, not to mention, bats in general. This is barely recognisable as
Superman, if not for the coiffed hair and costume details. In fact, I’d go as
far as to say that Nolan’s Batman and Snyder’s Superman are almost
interchangeable (Nostalgia Critic brilliantly pointed out all the similarities
in the beginning of his Man of Steel
review). And it’s getting worse.
Like most of us, you probably have seen and read all the
news about the upcoming sequel to Man of
Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, rushed by DC to compete with The Avengers. To the sound of barely
concealed disbelief around the world, Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman, Gal
Gadot as Wonder Woman, and (sigh..) Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. We’ve even
been treated to photos of Affleck and Gadot in costume. Now, while I'm
personally optimistic about Affleck and the new Batman, I immediately took a
disliking to the new Wonder Woman costume.
Notice something familiar? Once
clearly-identifiable colours and patterns have been replaced by dark, extremely
muted tones and a generic “gritty” appearance. In fact, Gadot is barely
recognisable as Wonder Woman, and bears more of a resemblance to Xena, Warrior
Princess (as many fans have pointed out). You can also bet that she too will be
a dark, serious and brooding character, eliminating all individuality that
Wonder Woman had, and making her another analogue of Bale’s Batman. This trend
of superhero homogenisation is clear, and I for one wish it would stop.
Zack Snyder has developed a clear strategy to distract the
viewing public from the ever-increasing blandness of these reinvented
characters, and one that is again inspired by Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy – the
power of ridiculous casting. As I mentioned earlier, few people (no matter what
they say now) first approved of the unusual casting of Heath Ledger, chiselled,
foppish star of films such as Brokeback
Mountain as the Joker, but to everyone’s surprise, the gambit paid off, and
Ledger posthumously became one of the most successful iterations of the
character (my personal opinion on it aside). By casting Jesse Eisenberg, Gal
Gadot and Ben Affleck (three of the last actors you would think of for the
roles in question), Zack Snyder clearly hopes to replicate that success story,
that lightning in a bottle chance. In my view, it’s also an obvious ploy to
garner attention for the film, generate discussion and distract from the
potential shallowness of the content.
So, what’s the solution? Well, for good examples of how to
get it right (Snyder, I hope you’re reading this!), I would submit the CW
television series Arrow, the recent Avengers
film, and the first two Batman Arkham games.
All of these managed to successfully walk the mid-ground between staying true
to the comic origins and essence of the characters while still keeping enough
of the grit, darkness and realism to avoid campy excess. It comes down to this
– when I look at Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow, or Kevin Conroy’s Batman, I see
those characters, sprung to life from the comics I adore, with some slight
differences. When I look at Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, I see Gadot in a bad
cosplay outfit. Not all superheroes have to be dark and brooding, because
that’s not their characters and variety is the spice of life. Case closed.
