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> This Superman was pure, doing good in the world for goodness’ sake, not for rewards or recognition. One of the reasons I enjoy reading Superman so much. Ther
by cocacola1 4y ago
> This Superman was pure, doing good in the world for goodness’ sake, not for rewards or recognition.
One of the reasons I enjoy reading Superman so much. There's a place for characters like Batman, the Spectre, and Constantine, but sometimes, I just want the lighter aspect that Superman brings.
- judge2020 4y agoUnfortunately it typically results in a boring story, since you know the all powerful being is going to win and get awarded for saving the city with little personal conflict involved, besides by having to choose between saving the damsel in distress or saving the city (which is nullified when you consider his ability to go super-speed/freeze time). The most that can come from these stories is a villain that has a unique madness, or uses unique methods to achieve their goals.
- cocacola1 4y agoI would disagree on the whole. I assume most stories – film, video games, television, comics, literature, etc. – end with the protagonist victorious in some way. I care more about the journey, and Superman stories take me on enjoyable (and many times, emotional) journey's for the most part.
- FPGAhacker 4y agoAt the risk of my recommendation itself being a spoiler, I can recommend the movie “Fallen” with Denzel Washington.
- User23 4y agoAn excellent film.
- causality0 4y agoThis is why I only read comics or graphic novels with a single story line that ends. Greed renders superhero comics meaningless. Publishers don't want to stop making money from these characters, which means they can't stop telling stories, which means events in the plot sooner or later are undone and have no impact on future events. Why should I give a shit if Robin gets killed by a space alien if he's going to be resurrected, or time travel will undo it, or the comic jumps timelines, or the comic is simply rebooted? It reduces the stakes and the drama to zero. If you were to tell publishers "you've got five years and after that you can never use any of these characters ever again" those would be some incredible comics worth reading!
- fenomas 4y agoI once read an interesting article from a comic book writer arguing that villains are inherently more interesting than heroes - because villains plan, build, and create, and can do so for any of infinite motivations, whereas a hero typically just reacts to things a villain has done, and does so for basically the same reasons as any other hero. I can't find the source or remember the author unfortunately..
- Waterluvian 4y agoI’ve heard many actors say this too. And if you play D&D or various RPGs you might also discover that the “evil” characters have so much more potential for interesting storytelling.
- anonymouskimmer 4y agoSturm Brightblade had a very interesting character arc in the extended Dragonlance Chronicles. It can be done if you really try.
- Keyframe 4y agoIn general, there's a device to sketch out a compelling villain; Take your hero with all its motivations and remove the moral compass.
- bitwize 4y agoI've always defended the much-disliked fake Mandarin character from Iron Man 3, Trevor Slattery, on the basis that he is basically the man Tony Stark would've been were it not for the latter's genius and indomitable will. Both characters share the same vices: women, booze, and a vastly overinflated ego, but Slattery is weak and allows himself to be pushed around by greater, sinister forces. Whereas Stark not only refuses to be pushed around, but he does have that inner moral compass, even if ruthlessly following his own ethics leads to trouble (that whole Ultron initiative, for instance).
- hoseja 4y agoThe "moral compass" usually being "is portrayed favourably" vs "is not portrayed favourably", while doing basically the same actions.