When the names Batman, Spider-Man, Superman and Wonder Woman come to mind, what is the first thing you think of?
Could you be thinking of Hollywood’s next big movie of the summer, or are you thinking of the comic books these superheroes come from?
To be honest, if you’re thinking of the first one, then you are doing a grave injustice to the comics which these superheroes originate from.
The new fad in Hollywood seems to be buy all the rights to make a comic book movie and make one now. So, is the merger of Hollywood and comics a good idea, or a bad one?
When I say Hollywood, I mean the movie industry in general. To make the argument simple and easy, I’ve taken all the movie studios and bunched them into one term, Hollywood.
Let’s start off by saying the new era of comic book movies started with the 1978 version of Superman. Since then Hollywood has gone through an up-and-down phase with comic book movies.
Recently Hollywood has gone ape with the idea since the release and eventual huge success of Spider-Man. Since then and before, there have been a slew of comic book movies ranging from the best comic book movie ever to down right awful.
Why are some (and some people would say most) comic book movies awful? The answer is simple – Hollywood has to ask itself, how do we make a good movie while doing justice to the comic book series?
The real answer is you can’t. Take the 1989 version of Batman. Yeah, that was the best comic book movie ever, but it had its flaws as far as the comic book goes.
First off, the black Batman suit wasn’t incorporated into the comics until after the Tim Burton movie. The Joker was never Jack Napier – in fact the Joker’s real name has yet to be revealed in the comic book world.
Better yet take both Spider-Man movies – has there ever been a mention of Gwen Stacy? Fans of the movie Spider-Man probably won’t get the chance to even meet Stacy and the relationship she and Peter Parker shared, or the downfall that occured at the hands of the Green Goblin.
The problem is in order to make a good movie you have to do injustice to the comic – whether it’s cutting a character or cutting a storyline from the comic, an injustice is done.
The second problem is the killing of villains. So far, X-Men and Daredevil have been the only comics, recently, to get this right. You don’t kill the villains, especially if they are the main villain of the comic. Batman, Spawn and Spider-Man got that wrong.
Hollywood, when making these movies, has to deal with the fan-boys and girls of comics. These people can and will be the worst critics when comic book movies are made.
Another problem is casting certain actors for the role of a superhero. Superheroes are timeless and ageless.
Most comic book superheroes are at least 50 years old or older, but as comic characters they never age. The actors and actresses have this problem, which in turn is a problem for Hollywood.
Now, I don’t mind using an unknown actor for a superhero, but it’s a problem when the actor looks 16 when the hero is suppose to be 25 or older.
Hollywood has to sign someone to a multi-movie contract because of age.That’s why you’re seeing a Spider-Man movie almost every third year, or an X-Men every other year.
Off topic but still on the point, that’s why the Harry Potter movies are being rushed. Those actors and actresses are growing older and mature. It is weird hearing Harry sound like a 10-year-old in one film and a 20-something-year-old the next.
The bad comic book movies have been down right awful. Catwoman was poorly written had was just horrible compared to the comic. Spawn was down right laughable and messed up everything the comic stood for. Batman and Robin was a joke to everyone associated with the movie and killed Batman movies, up until recently.
Daredevil was one of those comic book movies that was good, just missed.
Then you have your good comic book movies that were not only good movies but were better when compared to the comic. Spider-Man 1 and 2, Batman, X-Men 2, The Crow, Constantine and Superman.
It is so hard to make a good comic book movie that does justice to the comic, that one wonders if it is even worth it.
Hollywood faces many problems when doing a comic book movie. Does it do justice to the comic? Is there anything left out? How true to the comic was the movie? And finally was it even a good movie?
My feeling is that within the next 10 to 20 years we’ll be in a society where kids will know Batman the movies, not the comic book. That if Hollywood had to choose between making a good movie that has facts of the comic or making a good comic book movie that does justice, they’ll go with the first choice.
With Batman getting a new start and Fantastic Four (finally out of “development hell”, as it’s known in Hollywood) getting a chance, one closes their eyes and hopes something good comes out – for the sake of comic books and not for the sake of a good movie.

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