As more comic book movies come and go, I start to see the landscape of viewers become more critical with both comic fans and movie goers turning into critics. Could the accurate depictions of our favorite comic book icons be blurring our own ability to look from another angle or are directors taking too many liberties in how they change the material?
I want you to think about all the upcoming comic book movies you've seen in trailers. Go on, take a minute. Now be honest, did 20th Century's "Fan4stic" come to mind? For a movie based on one of the most important comic books and science fiction series in history the upcoming film adaption has a lot of us moaning and shrugging. The film is seeming to focus less on the family and light hearted elements of the source and take a more realistic and scientific look at The First Family of Comic Books. Is this a change that garners attention or an excuse to follow a formula, after all it seems after Nolan's Dark Knight series more and more comic book products have been going for a darker tone and it's only because of Marvel Studios that the darker tone is beginning to die down. But maybe Marvel Studios is part of the problem. See Marvel's loyalty to the source material is a top priority with most of their films taking direct visual and character cues from the comics. A few exceptions are with costumes and some story elements, but really the MCU is looking to be a diet sample of the Marvel comic universe that everybody can flock to. With Marvel staying so close, you can start to understand my concern for comic book movies that sway away from loyalty for the sake of the film. If you haven't read anything on Jared Leto's Joker, the shared response by comic fans and movies fans was mostly negative, same goes for Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Will Smith's Deadshot. With a character like The Joker-who got a lot more popularity after Heath Ledger's performance-the expectations by fans exceeds a lot of other characters. Are we truly offended by Leto's Joker because he is covered in tattoos or are we offended because he is different? Does the new Fantastic Four not intrigue us because it looks stale or is it because we haven't seen the real appeal of it? If your mother was a five-star chef who cooked amazing meals for you every day and then suddenly just microwaved a frozen meal for you, odds are you're going to feel negative about it. What I'm saying is that Marvel Studios has spoiled us as comic/movie fans with their authenticity.
Of course by saying this I may come off a bit ungrateful or critical, but really Marvel deserves it's status as the best comic book movie franchise in the business and their unintentional overshadowing of film direction shouldn't hinder our love for their films. If anything, Marvel's success should motivate Fox and Warner Bros to step up their game, but that doesn't essentially mean being as loyal to the source as Marvel. Marvel's character portrayals have been so close that now when Marvel diverts away from the source-like with "Iron Man 3's" Mandarin-they get backlash for breaking their stride. Meanwhile, "The Dark Knight Rises" gives us a less-than-accurate depiction of Bane and the audience sees no problem with it. Why? Because before DKR we had two other Batman movies establishing a different kind of universe for The Dark Knight, we were less against those versions of characters because we knew by then it wasn't a comic book based universe. That's why unlike most people I am excited to see what "Fan4stic" turns out to be, because whether the movie succeeds or flops it will be way for audiences to prove that the perfect design of Marvel movies hasn't tarnished their ability to watch a movie for the movie, instead of what it's based off of.
To be perfectly honest, I used to believe comic book movies were only as good as their loyalty was, but as I grow to be more of a movie dissector than a movie viewer I've begun to see what directors are trying to accomplish with their movies. Yes, sometimes it is just a cash grab at a long-loved series, but other times it is a director altering a franchise to fit a theme. And because these are films first and comic book adaptions second, it is our duty as the audience to focus on enjoying the product before judging it. Jumping to criticism is what made a lot of people judge Heath Ledger before seeing him as The Joker. And we all know how that went. Thanks for reading!
To be perfectly honest, I used to believe comic book movies were only as good as their loyalty was, but as I grow to be more of a movie dissector than a movie viewer I've begun to see what directors are trying to accomplish with their movies. Yes, sometimes it is just a cash grab at a long-loved series, but other times it is a director altering a franchise to fit a theme. And because these are films first and comic book adaptions second, it is our duty as the audience to focus on enjoying the product before judging it. Jumping to criticism is what made a lot of people judge Heath Ledger before seeing him as The Joker. And we all know how that went. Thanks for reading!
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