EDITORIAL: Why Can't DC Comics Catch a Break?

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is probably the most anticipated comic book movie ever. The only way it could get any bigger is if somehow Spider-Man became a part of it. Yet why is it that this movie is the one that catches the most skepticism on this website? I've set up three main reasons why.
Superman was the first comic book hero. Superman: The Movie was the first major big-budget superhero film. Both films helped public interest science fiction at the time. Hell, Superman's origin is probably the most well known science fiction origin of all time. So yeah, if you were a kid in 1938 and you loved him, you probably still do now. Same, and a higher chance of you being alive to boot, if you were a kid in 1978 and loved him. We all have our favorite "versions" of Superman. I grew up in the 90s when comics cost between a loonie and a toonie and this was my Superman:

Yeah. That was him.

That was my Superman.

We all have our own Superman.

Yet the criticisms levied against Man of Steel by "professional critics" often seem like something I'd read on this site.

The biggest criticism comes from the idea of Superman kills Zod and Superman destroys Metropolis. Points against that tend to be Superman always kills Zod (yup) and [frick] Metropolis what did you expect in an alien invasion? Counterpoints are well he killed Zod in a stupid way and okay, so Metropolis blew up but why didn't Superman save anyone? To which counterpoints will go saying it was stupid is just your opinion and he didn't save anyone because it was his first day on the job. I could go on and on and on about this.

The score Man of Steel is in the rotten area on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet what the score indicates is one of two things. Either the movie sucked, or was polarizing. It was polarizing. Don't believe me? Take the average of 1 and 10. Out of Rotten Tomatoes 289 reviews, 128 are negative resulting in 44% of those reviews to be rotten. That number is damn near close to 50. It's polarizing. It sucks or rocks depending on you and most of the time, it sucks or rocks because you care.

Whether you care for this new Superman, or if you care for the Christopher Reeve Superman - you care either way dammit!

You see, the biggest complaints against this movie tend to be that it does not have all the traits that made Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie amazing. Yet what was the biggest criticism against Superman Returns? That it didn't have all the traits that ended up making this movie amazing.

I could go on and on. However, the truth is, both sides care far too much. You know what Superman is at the end of the day? Writing on a piece of paper. As much as Gusto may want you to believe, he's not your wife or kids. Sure he's symbolic of truth, justice and the HUMAN (I am a Canadian and Superman was invented by one) way, but he's a line on paper. Yet you and I suffer from the chronic problem that we care too much. Hell, if I didn't care you think I would write this?

Batman v. Superman: Dawn  of Justice will face the same problem. Many of us have grown attached to Christian Bale's Batman. Some of us yearn for Michael Keaton's Batman. I have absolutely no doubt that give or take a few points, the Rotten Tomatoes score will be around the same. There will probably be more positive reviews, but there will be more negative reviews than last time. Not only will will this movie continue to see a divide in people who care about Superman, but now you've got to add Batman whose modern fanbase is much larger. Even Wonder Woman has her seventies fans. The only hero who gets out of this unscathed is Aquaman because he has nothing to lose.

Marvel vs. DC; Marvel vs. Fox; Marvel vs. Sony; Marvel vs. Universal... boy Marvel does sure have a lot blood feuds. Honestly, if only Dan DiDio and Joe Quesada could fight outside a Burger King with Denys Cowan at ringside I feel life would get so much easier. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice did not go head to head with Captain America: Civil War because doing so would be stupid. Nobody wins at that box office. Marvel doesn't win. DC sure as hell doesn't win.

MCU vs. DCEU - one is funny, one is grim - one has Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, one has Ben Affleck and Confused for Samuel L Jackson. Man of Steel did not really set up the DCEU, but this movie will. This is a short point, but you know what I'm saying. This "feud" isn't real. Either way, a studio would have flinched or both movies would be a screw you to each other rather than what they are going to be.




This may belong in the previous section, but no, the connection to Marvel is tangential at best. It really all boils down to that Avengers paradox I proposed earlier. You love The Avengers, I love The Avengers. However, when you argue against the DCEU stating that Warner Bros should establish individual characters in movies first, I have to ask, why? I ask that because, well, tell me, is The Avengers only a good movie because of previous standalone films? If it is, then it is a terrible standalone film. If it is not, then why did we need the individual films? Okay, maybe it was a secant rather than a tangent, but still...

Is the DCEU doing something wrong? Some people have commented stuff like the Arrowverse is better than the DCEU. The DCAU will always be the definitive DC film universe. Why does DC do everything right everywhere but their movies? It seems like DC has commited the sin of starting second. Only two properties really work in cinematic universe form. Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Not Transformers, not a modern Universal Monsters Universe, not a Fast and Furious universe and definately not a Riddick shared universe. So what has DC done wrong really other than start second?

That's not DC's fault. That's Jeff Robinov and Alan Horn's fault. They both wanted Superman Returns to make more than it did even though it was not a financial failure. Robinov wanted Man of Steel to make one billion. It may have brought the bank home but still didn't do well enough? I'm going to say it. If Tsuijihara was in charge back then, Brandon Routh would still be Superman.

So what has DC done wrong? They started second after being crippled by their versions of Avi Arad and Tom Rothman and will now never be able to live up to the work started by Marvel - or so I hear. [frick] you Robinov.

Oh well, I might be right I might be wrong but I do feel this site has become more positive. Either way, I'm hyped.