Why a Superman/Batman Team-Up Movie Could Be Destined to Fail
Grab your seats, class is in session.
Today we have a little different offering than what I would normally give. No review, just a thought.
So I realize the headline alone already has people up in arms and ready to blast away. Opinions other than your own always bother you; it’s just the nature of most people (particularly those online). With that said, go with me here and see if this just maybe makes some sense to you.
Batman and Superman could arguably be the most iconic comic book characters in existence, DC world and Marvel world combined. When the Batman reboot with Bale and Nolan was announced, people went crazy. They couldn’t wait to see it. When the Superman “Man of Steel” reboot was announced, people went even crazier. Could this mean what we think it means? Could this finally be the launching pads to a Justice League of America movie? Enter the announcement of a Batman/Superman combo movie. It’s pretty safe to say that when this announcement was made, people’s heads exploded with excitement and anticipation.
Why can’t it be 2015 right now?? I HAVE to see this movie!
Not uncommon sentiment. All you have to do is read through Twitter or even Facebook, and you can see thoughts like this everywhere. Even people who aren’t really into the comic book genre want to see this movie. It could very well already be the most anticipated comic movie ever.
And that’s why it could fail epically.
There is already such a hype machine behind this movie and we barely know anything about it. We know it will be inspired by Miller’s Dark Knight Returns. How much inspiration will it take? We can’t know for sure, but I would have to imagine not a whole lot. Anything close to a direct adaptation would be too dark for anyone other than the hardcore fans. Look what happened to Man of Steel. Most of the people who didn’t like it did not like the darker take on it. They more than likely would dislike this movie even more. You need to create a new story in hopes of pleasing the hard cores and bringing in the casual fans at the same time. To do that, you will have to create a near perfect movie. By the time 2015 hits and the weeks turn to days before the release, that same hype machine will be an unstoppable force. People will absolutely be calling this movie “the greatest movie of all time” without seeing more than a trailer or commercial. People will be expecting these two powerhouse comic icons to deliver what no other comic movie has delivered before – cinematic perfection. The problem is that nobody has gotten there yet and history has shown with movies like this: the bigger the hype, the bigger the fall if you can’t deliver.
I don’t doubt that this movie could end up being worse than Catwoman and that people will still call it the best movie ever. There are those that will stick up for these characters no matter how hard they are let down, but if this one doesn’t deliver to the majority, the future for DC movies is in a lot of trouble. No one else in the DC Universe has the same fan power that Batman and Superman have, so if they can’t do it together, what hope do the rest really have?
Until next time…Class dismissed.
