So I Saw the SDCC Trailer for "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice"
(This is an ongoing post, I'll be returning to this one and adding new thoughts to it as I watch this sucker again and again.:) )
[Spoiler (click to open)]
With all the talk about "Meaningless, wanton destruction" in Metropolis in "Man of Steel" and how Marvel films been treating that kind of stuff better, this film's trailer (well, actually just a short sequence within) is already providing more thought on Consequences and Lasting Damage that superhero fights can leave us "Muggles" in (as opposed to one short montage in The Avengers where the people getting Avengers haircuts/tattoos and that excited kid making "Bam! Smash!" noices drown out the people sticking names of lost and missing loved ones on a memorial wall, and then the New York alien invasion was pretty much forgotten in future films except when we see Tony Stark have PTSD, only really coming to play with "Daredevil" -- which, imho, is much better than all the Marvel films sans The Winter Soldier put together):
Bruce Wayne was THERE that fateful day, in Metropolis, dangerously close to the Black Zero's "Dubstep" Ray of Destruction. And the building that got cut in half by Zod trying out his own Heat Vision? Wayne Enterprises, Metropolis Branch. One of the things that go hand in hand with Batman never killing (at least not after the 1940s comics) is that he can't stand the loss of life; part of his mission to protect Gotham City is also to ensure that the tragedy he endured as a child would not happen to anyone else. Not if he had anything to say about it. Which is why we see him give as much attention to stopping individual armed muggers (which ordinary cops can totally handle) as he does to punch out the Joker before the latter could poison the water reservoir and kill everybody.
Which brings me to my next point: there are many merits in the argument that Marvel heroes are more down-to-earth (with them operating in NYC and all) while DC heroes look like gods and operate in a space station. However I would argue that as far as the movies go (putting into account that the DCEU -- DC Comics Extended Universe, for those who don't know -- is just starting to get formed) the DC heroes are actually going to be more down to earth than the Marvel ones. My points may sound a bit plebian, but bear with me for the moment:
The Avengers -- the ones we have on screen so far, anyway -- are all global-threat-countering heroes, as far as I could tell they do not have a relative "day job" where they stay in a certain city and tackle the problems there in a street-level, in between Avengers-worthy missions. (The only heroes so far who are street-level heroes are Daredevil and Spider-man, the former of which might not even be joining the Avengers) Turn our sight to the future Justice League, however, three of the founding members (at the very least) are primarily Guardians of a City when there are no worldwide or intergalletic crises for the League to assemble: Batman has his Gotham to protect, Superman patrols Metropolis as he flies, and The Flash speeds across the streets of Central City (or in some iterations, Keystone City; from what I can tell those two are sister cities, like the RL American cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis), stopping crimes and preventing accidents before people even realize he's there. Now imagine that there are real superheroes (with powers or not) in our world, would you feel more affinity to them if you know they're out there stopping alien invasions (but never seeming to settle in one spot) or if you know they're somewhere in your own city (or a city where loved ones live in), helping the cops stop bank robbers and perhaps even urban terrorists?
.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
With all the talk about "Meaningless, wanton destruction" in Metropolis in "Man of Steel" and how Marvel films been treating that kind of stuff better, this film's trailer (well, actually just a short sequence within) is already providing more thought on Consequences and Lasting Damage that superhero fights can leave us "Muggles" in (as opposed to one short montage in The Avengers where the people getting Avengers haircuts/tattoos and that excited kid making "Bam! Smash!" noices drown out the people sticking names of lost and missing loved ones on a memorial wall, and then the New York alien invasion was pretty much forgotten in future films except when we see Tony Stark have PTSD, only really coming to play with "Daredevil" -- which, imho, is much better than all the Marvel films sans The Winter Soldier put together):
Bruce Wayne was THERE that fateful day, in Metropolis, dangerously close to the Black Zero's "Dubstep" Ray of Destruction. And the building that got cut in half by Zod trying out his own Heat Vision? Wayne Enterprises, Metropolis Branch. One of the things that go hand in hand with Batman never killing (at least not after the 1940s comics) is that he can't stand the loss of life; part of his mission to protect Gotham City is also to ensure that the tragedy he endured as a child would not happen to anyone else. Not if he had anything to say about it. Which is why we see him give as much attention to stopping individual armed muggers (which ordinary cops can totally handle) as he does to punch out the Joker before the latter could poison the water reservoir and kill everybody.
Which brings me to my next point: there are many merits in the argument that Marvel heroes are more down-to-earth (with them operating in NYC and all) while DC heroes look like gods and operate in a space station. However I would argue that as far as the movies go (putting into account that the DCEU -- DC Comics Extended Universe, for those who don't know -- is just starting to get formed) the DC heroes are actually going to be more down to earth than the Marvel ones. My points may sound a bit plebian, but bear with me for the moment:
The Avengers -- the ones we have on screen so far, anyway -- are all global-threat-countering heroes, as far as I could tell they do not have a relative "day job" where they stay in a certain city and tackle the problems there in a street-level, in between Avengers-worthy missions. (The only heroes so far who are street-level heroes are Daredevil and Spider-man, the former of which might not even be joining the Avengers) Turn our sight to the future Justice League, however, three of the founding members (at the very least) are primarily Guardians of a City when there are no worldwide or intergalletic crises for the League to assemble: Batman has his Gotham to protect, Superman patrols Metropolis as he flies, and The Flash speeds across the streets of Central City (or in some iterations, Keystone City; from what I can tell those two are sister cities, like the RL American cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis), stopping crimes and preventing accidents before people even realize he's there. Now imagine that there are real superheroes (with powers or not) in our world, would you feel more affinity to them if you know they're out there stopping alien invasions (but never seeming to settle in one spot) or if you know they're somewhere in your own city (or a city where loved ones live in), helping the cops stop bank robbers and perhaps even urban terrorists?
.