How I Stopped Being Apathetic And Learned To Love The Big Blue Boy Scout
Last year when I finally watched Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, I was blown away. Not just because it was an incredible movie (in my opinion), but because Zack had done something which I thought unlikely to happen. He made me care for the character of Superman. For as long as I can remember, I was always apathetic to Superman. No strong opinions one way or another. I’d seen the Reeves’ movies when I was younger an, aside from that; I cared very little for the character. I suppose it may have had something to do with the idea in pop culture that he is just this nearly indestructible God who can’t be killed (bar Kryptonite) and is just a boy scout. Even when I first got into superheroes when I was twelve, I immediately fell in love with Batman.I thought it was awesome how a guy, who has no superpowers and who witnessed a horrifying ordeal, became the hero he is. Hence the reason why I only saw Man of Steel last year instead of when it first came out in 2013.
Now I love the character, thanks to Zack and co. Yet his Superman is polarizing to say the least; just look at its Rotten Tomatoes score of 55%. Many people will say it’s “grimdark” (To slightly misquote Charlie Brooker “Anyone who combines words like grim and dark to make grimdark is just a funt.”) and isn’t the real Superman because he’s not smiling. Which I assure you, he does. People don’t like this take on Superman as it’s nothing like the Superman of yesteryear. The Superman of their childhood. And hear in lies the crux of the problem with the character of Superman. He’s not been allowed to evolve in the media and within popular culture as much as a certain other DC character. Batman.
Just think about it.Since 1966, Batman has appeared in nine films including this years Justice League; it’s sequel and Matt Reeve’s Batman movie in 2019. Not to mention the eight or so animated shows and their subsequent movies. Superman, on the other hand has appeared in seven movies including this years Justice League, it’s sequel and Man of Steel 2. Plus an animated series.Between 1966 and last years Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice, Batman has gone from: campy to dark back to campy to gritty realism and then back to dark. Apart from the gap between the ‘66 movie and the ‘89 movie, the longest gap between Batman movies was between 1997 and 2005. Eight years, Compare that to Superman IV:The Quest for Peace and Superman Returns which had a twenty-year gap between the two. My point is that the gaps between Batman movies are so small that it allows the audience to familiarize themselves with a new iteration of the character with each reboot.Hence, the reason Bale’s Batman is so popular. Batman has evolved in the public eye.The twenty-year gap between Superman IV and Superman Returns meant that a lot of people grew up with one iteration of Superman meaning Reeves became the de-facto Superman, anything other than this was not the real Superman, and that was bolstered by Superman Returns which was a continuation of the Reeves movies (but with a new cast).
Then along comes Zack Snyder who gives us a slightly different take on the character which most people are not used to. He portrays Superman as a character who has flaws and who isn’t perfect. A person who’s trying to find his place in our world.Yet unlike Batman, whenever there’s a new take on the character most are well like and few aren’t *cough* Clooney *cough*, Snyder’s version is disliked and as stated before, not the true Superman. I feel the twenty-year gap between Superman IV and Superman Returns has actually harmed the image of Superman within popular culture. Now maybe this was down to WB who think that Superman isn’t as much of a bankable character as Batman, who knows. But at the end of the day,to quote BvS, “The fact is, maybe he’s not some sort of devil or Jesus character. Maybe he’s just a guy trying to do the right thing.“Superman is a more interesting character than most people would believe. Just because Snyder’s Superman isn’t like Reeves or doesn’t smile 24/7, it doesn’t make him any less Superman.