As not to derail the other thread, how do you feel about different tones for the various heroes?
I don't mind a change in tone when it's done well as natural outgrowth of the character.
It’s tough. On one hand, I feel like Superman needs to be about hope and an ideal. It needs to invoke a sense of wonder in the audience.
On the other hand....that’s really tough to pull off in this day and age.
I’m all for different takes on super heroes. I think the concept has a lot to offer and the genre can be mashed up with others to great effect.
But I think certain specific characters work best in very specific ways. Superman should not be dark and grim. Which is Snyder’s only mode, it seems. I just think it requires tools that he doesn’t quite have.
I’d say the same of the Fantastic Four at Marvel. You need to be able to do optimistic and awe-inspiring without being cheesy.
I think that in this day and age, ESPECIALLY in this day and age we need some actual HOPE and WONDER.
I'm also for different takes on Superheroes but as long as you can still recognize them AS those heroes.
So we're in agreement here, especially on Superman.
I'm not a fan of and have NEVER been a fan of MURDERBATMAN. If have a Batman who casually kills, you basically have a better financed Frank Castle. I'm not a fan of that particular iteration of Batman at all.
My favorite Batman is from the DCAU. From Batman: The Animated Series right up through JLU. The pilot episode of Batman Beyond epitomizes why I love that particular version. When he picks up that handgun and aims it at that bad guy? His hands shaking and realizing that he got to a point where he picked up a gun and aimed it at someone? He realized that he couldn't BE Batman anymore. For ME, a Batman who KILLS isn't Batman. And for everyone who trots out the whole "well that's not realistic" I don't watch or read superheroes for realism. If you can believe that Bruce Wayne can do all of that training and but on a Batsuit and run out and fight crime and NOT at some point be killed, have his secret id exposed or anything like that? You can believe that Bats can find a way NOT to kill his opponents.
With comic books fans and superhero fans in particular there's a blood lust and need for darkness that's a little disturbing. When those stories are told in isolation like in a WATCHMEN or THE DARK KNIGHT REURNS that makes the tone something special. Especially when it has something to say about the characters themselves. But when it ALL has to play as dark? It's just Nihilism for Nihilism's sake and there's way too much of that in the real world...