As comic fans we all want what’s best for the characters we love when they get on the big screen. We want to see them succeed but in many cases fanboys are not the best people to talk to when making a comic book movie. Fanboys throughout the years have hated on many, many ideas and castings that have turned out successful and great. Fanboys need to calm down and sit back before we see the final product. Here are many things fanboys have hated that turned out successful.
Characters Fanboys Have Hated On
Bane
What did Nolan really change about the character other than taking away Bane’s venom? Nothing. Back in the storyline
Knightfall, which
The Dark Knight Rises took elements from, it showed Bane having both brains and brawn. He figured out who Batman was and took him out. Bane did that. I hate venom with Bane. Bane should just be made stronger and smarter than Batman. Having venom seems like overkill. Why make a character who is already very strong stronger? It makes no sense. Now let’s talk about Bane’s mask. Bane’s mask isn’t what it is in the comics but a similarity of both masks is that the masks are scary. Also we see Bane we a V shaped, sleeveless jacket which is what he wears in the comics.
Lizard
Now I didn’t see
The Amazing Spider-Man so I’m going to talk about the way Lizard looked like in the movie. Everyone wanted to see the Lizard look like a huge crocodile (or is it alligator?) mouth and jaw. THAT CAN’T WORK!!! Let’s think for a second, you’re excepting a man to go through a process that would make his jaw and mouth grow about 1 foot like the comics? It can’t work. Sure I rather not the Lizard look like that thing from the Super Mario movie but still you can’t except that jaw.
John Blake
This character gets hate for no reason. Everyone scares foul because of the faith of this character. John Blake is a combination of all 3 Robin’s. He is a cop which Dick Grayson is. He is a street tough ophan which is what Jason Todd is. He is smart and figures out who Batman is before meeting him like Tim Drake. No one bitched about how Tim Drake figured out who Batman was been everyone does at how Blake figured out. Let’s get one thing straight; Dick Grayson’s origin story is outdated. A circus act who turns into Robin is relatable and a good idea in the 1940’s but not in the 2010’s. That is the reason Dick Grayson’s origin story couldn’t work in Nolan’s Batman. I don’t think a kid could take the tires off the Tumbler so there goes Jason’s. Tim’s origin of him gaining Bruce’s trust by figuring out who Batman once is what Nolan thought would work and it did. He also added several other elements. Another thing that Nolan added from Dick’s origin is that no matter what happens to Bruce, Dick knew he would have to take over the mantle of the Bat. That’s what happens with Blake; Bruce gives him the mantle of the Bat.
Venom
Ok yes
Spider-Man 3 wasn’t great. I thought it was good but let’s look at Venom. First off he wasn’t even supposed to be in the movie but Sony wanted him. Venom is really supposed to be the opposite of Spider-Man. Eddie Brock’s look is like a combination of the main comics and the Ultimate comics. In the main comics he tries to get a job as a photographer at the Daily Bugle. He competes with Peter Parker for it, takes a fake photo that gets the cover story and they found out it was a lie caused them to fire Brock. This is straight from the comics that happened in the movie. Now in the Ultimate universe Eddie Brock is the same size as Peter which Eddie was in this movie. Eddie Brock goes to a church and that’s also where he becomes Venom, that happen in the comics that was transferred to the movie. Now lets talk about Venom. Overall the look for Venom is great in my opinion. I loved the idea of the webbing around him just like on Spider-Man’s suit. Yes the size of Venom was shorter than the comics but that’s it.
Green Goblin
I’m going to keep this one short and simple. In the comics both Green Goblin and Batman wore spandex. Now Bruce Wayne and Norman Osborn are billionaires and own their own companies. In the live action Batman movies you don’t see him wear spandex, you see him wear body armor. Why would Norman Osborn wear spandex and not body armor? People complain saying it’s not like the comics, none of the Batman suits have been like the comics. The Goblin suit was great.
Ideas Fanboys Hated At First, But That Turn Out Successful
1. Joss Directing Avengers
Here is the article of the news breaking about Joss directing
The Avenger. http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=17000 Fanboys hated the idea. Most of you disliked the idea and the same people who disliked this on now basically riding on the Joss bandwagon. Looking back he was perfect for
The Avengers. Those Marvel excevitves made a genious decision that most likely no one from the comic book community would have made. It’s funny how he wanted to be hated by most of you guys to now he’s being praised.
2. Casting Heath Ledger as the Joker
There was so much hate about this when it came out. All of the jokes everyone made, the haters came in town when this was reported. Fanboys at first hated this idea. Well you know what, haters were silenced. Heath’s Joker is the greatest profarmance in a comic book movie ever. Heath won a total of 27 awards for the Joker. 27!!! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Heath_Ledger) Heath won a combination of awards from the Oscars to Golden Globes. The Oscars victory showed the work that comic book movies aren’t just action movies for kids. His role has the Joker was legendary and even though people will hate on Heath’s Joker, those haters will just fade away while Heath’s legacy will be remembered.
3. Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
Few people may not know that before
Iron Man, Downey’s career was crazy. Downey has been arrested numerous times on drug-related charges including cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Downey has basically had a bad history of problems. When fans heard that he was casted as Iron Man fans went crazy. It’s like if you casted Charlie Sheen as Superman. There really weren’t a lot of people who gave Downey hope. When
Iron Man came out fans praised his performance which was only a start of a major comeback for Downey. He would gain more attention with blockbuster roles in
Tropic Thunder and the
Sherlock Holmes series. Downey proved haters wrong.
4. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman
Another hated casting choice. When Anne was casted as Catwoman she was without a doubt the most hated cast member of
The Dark Knight Rises because she was Catwoman. Of course most fanboys complained that Anne wasn’t sexy enough or Anne wasn’t beautiful enough to play Catwoman. Anne was getting hated and hated on. When the film came out she proved people and fanboys wrong again. Anne’s performance as Selina Kyle and Catwoman was one of the best things about the movie. From the beginning wen she knocked Bruce’s cane down to when she played innocent in front of the cops, she killed it. Her performance was praised, some have even said it’s Oscar worthy.
5. Michael Keaton as Batman
My God, this is probably the origin of bad decisions comic book fans hated which turned great. When people heard Michael Keaton was to be cast in Tim Burton’s
Batman fanboys hated it. Some even petitioned against it. Fans hated him as Batman for several reasons. Keaton was too small and short to play Batman. He didn’t look anything like Bruce Wayne. He wasn’t physical fit. Once again, haters we’re proved wrong. From the opening scene in
Batman, when Batman took down two thugs who have stolen from a family we knew; Keaton was prefect. One thing I liked about Keaton was the scene in
Batman Returns where he is just waiting for the Batsymbol to be lit. It just seemed like something you would see Bruce Wayne do. After
Batman Returns, WB’s wanted the tone of Batman to be different. Kenton left even after WB’s offered him 15 million dollars. Fans were crushed Kenton wouldn’t be back and they became even more crushed after seeing
Batman Forever.
Things Fanboy’s Want That Can’t Happen
Big Storyline
Fanboys want the stories in the movies to be based on comic book stories and things straight from the comic book universe. That has happened. For example in
Batman Begins Nolan used
Year One as an inspiration for the film. In
The Dark Knight, Nolan used elements from
The Long Halloween,
Killing Joke, and
Year One. In
The Dark Knight Rises, we see Nolan use elements from
Knightfall,
The Dark Knight Returns, and
No Man’s Land. In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series we see him use elements from the main Spider-Man comic series but we see him use Mary Jane as Peter’s first love which is from the Ultimate universe. In Webb’s
The Amazing Spider-Man, we see him use element of the Ultimate universe but he also added Gwen Stacy as Peter’s first love which is from the main Spider-Man comic series.
Big Name Director
Most fanboys who suggest directors the list will without a doubt include Zack Snyder, Ridley Scott, Del Toro, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron. When has Steven Spielberg, Cameron, or Peter Jackson director a comic book movie staring a big named hero? Del Toro has about 500 projects he wants to do; Cameron is too busy with Avatar. You guys aim to high and go for the celebrated directors. No one says Marc Webb for the Spidey reboot or Nolan for the Batman reboot.
Want Small Name Characters To Have Big Roles
There is a reason why we will never see a Gambit, Huntress, Venom, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, Vision, Nightwing, or other heroes in a solo movie. They don’t sell. Sure a Teen Titans movie could sell but outside of Robin, not that many people know who is in the Teen Titans. Gambit, while a big X-Men name, will never get his own movie because what about him can you sell to mainstream. Any DC hero will find trouble if your name isn’t Batman or Superman. Marvel has a better chance at selling smaller named heroes but what is your selling point for a Vision movie or a Miss marvel movie? It’s hard to sell thess character.
I am not hating or putting down on fanboys at all. We just want these characters to succeed so when we see or hear something we think of the negative before the positive. Any thoughts?