Comments on: Warner Bros. CEO Teases “Tired And Weary” Batman For ‘Superman Vs. Batman’

By: Anand Holtham-Keathley

Anand Holtham-Keathley — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:02:07 +0000

It's just a movie so am I probably wasting my time. But for what it's worth, here is my two cents. References to Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns," (TDKR) leads me to several feelings and thoughts. First, the whole antihero genre embodied by TDKR and Alan Moore's "Watchmen", I feel needs to be handled more delicately than I have seen done with superheroes even Miller and Moore. Certainly adding complexity to the superhero genre is a positive thing in general. But in particular TDKR seems to me to simply ignore important parts of established character developement in order to establish tension which, to my mind, feel artificial. It embodies an alternative universe where Ronald Reagan is still president and acting very war-like, with Superman being his hitman. Yah, that's not happening. Clark may be all Mom and apple pie, but no matter how many flags are being waved in his face he is not going to lend himself to that kind of manipulation. He is too responsible for that. But here is my key complaint; in the original cannon Clark, being aware of his potential for doing harm especially if someone controlled his mind, gave the one person he trusted the way to control him and if needed, to kill him. And who did he trust that much? Bruce Wayne. So, back to TDKR where the story has been so twisted that Clark and Bruce no longer trust each other; Clark is sent by Reagan to stop Bruce and Bruce uses Kryptonite on Clark. As you can see from what I wrote previously, I have two problems with this; Clark would not have followed the order, and Bruce would have not attacked Clark even if Clark was confronting him. Just would not happen. So, you can imagine my concern when the movie, "Batman vs. Superman," (BvS) is introduced with Bruce saying to Clark, "I want you to remember, Clark, in all the years to come, in all your most private moments, I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you." Clark KNOWS Bruce can beat him. Clark gave him the tool to do it. The whole antihero concept just does not work with these characters. That is why when Moore wrote Watchmen he used whole new characters; the ones that already existed just did not fit. Moore has said that he is concerned that his example, which he had thought was at the furthest end of the spectrum, has simply become a jumping off point for even nastier stories. Moore has expressed dismay that "[t]he gritty, deconstructivist postmodern superhero comic, as exemplified by Watchmen … became a genre". He said in 2003 that "to some degree there has been, in the 15 years since Watchmen, an awful lot of the comics field devoted to these grim, pessimistic, nasty, violent stories which kind of use Watchmen to validate what are, in effect, often just some very nasty stories that don't have a lot to recommend them." (Wikipedia) My final point is I strongly disagree with how the BvS movie was introduced and I hope they do not follow up with that point of view. Bruce older, tired, weary; sure. Human. Got that. But Bruce and Clark actually attacking each other? Really, they are just both too smart for that. You under rate their characters by being too cynical. Yes, they are complex, but they are not stupid. There, my 2 cents. Peace.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:02:07 +0000

Another Batman movie . . . "tired and weary"?

Yeah, sounds about right.

By: bsisbs

bsisbs — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:02:07 +0000

Thrown through a building that collapses on him, Man of Steel gets up and flies off. A 100 ton train lands on top of him and drags him about 2miles before smashing through a building, Man of Steel gets up and flies off. Stands directly underneath a machine that is capable of toppling buildings and destroying the earth, Man of Steel defies it and destroys it.

Batman–older, weary, tired, and cynical is the thing that gets him?? give me a break. I'll be avoiding this movie or at least stealing it.

I simply can't wait for the superhero BS to die a horrible death.

By: alexander potempkin

alexander potempkin — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:02:07 +0000

I'm interested to see how the story is staged.. i'm not a firm believer in Snyder's abilities but thought 'Man of Steel' was great fun. The point about Superman being represented as the first superhero in the world is interesting, and one i'm sure they'll find a way of avoiding in the second go around.. what i'm hoping for most are some iconic images between the two.. (the shot in the beginning of the dark knight as Batman descends down through the parking garage onto the van) (Joker holding his head out the window as cop lights and the cities dusk ambience move through the city with him).. those are the things that really stick with me from Nolan's films (not really the topical story lines or maze-like logic).. anyway, I'm glad The Playlist spends time focusing on these things as well as doing festival coverage (can't wait for '12 years…' and 'Gravity'!)

By: Washington

Washington — Fri, 13 May 2016 09:02:07 +0000

Did none of these nerds watch The Town?