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DC Cinematic Universe ( The James Gunn era)

Wrong. The one motivating factor for Bruce Wayne taking on the Batman role is as mentioned yesterday: he is forever in the grip of the worst childhood trauma imaginable--watching his parents murdered before his eyes. That is and always has been a motivator for individuals to become real world crime-fighters, whether one is wearing a police uniform, or in the superhero genre, a bat-themed bodysuit. It all starts there, which should be apparent to anyone who ever read a Batman comic.

One of the reasons Batman is one of history's most popular fictional characters is not limited to the Bat-theatrics, but an understanding (and for some, a personal understanding) of being powerless to stop loved ones from being murdered, so he or she vows to end as much of the problem as possible. There's nothing more realistic than that reason-to-be for the character, whether wearing a Bat-suit or not, despite the limp attempts to force the character into some silly category (usually as a defense of other characters and/or their goofy adaptations that cannot so easily escape the criticism).



"Fantastical" does not mean some extremist position where the content is completely removed from the reality humans experience every day. The Incredible Hulk TV series was a success because producer Kenneth Johnson purposely placed a fantasy element within the relatable human drama (and trauma) of Banner (think about why that Banner became the Hulk in that pilot), not create some silly, cartoon-by-another-name, dragging characters along for some silly ride--which no one would ever accept. While the TV series used its green monster for thrills, he was also allowed to serve as what the original comic book character was supposed to be: the uninhibited outgrowth of the turmoil in Banner. To this day, the series is praised for being the first live action superhero production to play it as realistically as possible with mature themes, and still deliver the thrills. Clearly, there are some live action superhero adaptations followed that path, and it works. If that's a problem for some, there's always the Super Friends.
I actually agree with some of this. The fact that the events of superhero stories are in no sense realistic -- yes, people suffer traumatizing tragedies IRL; no, they don't become Batman in response -- doesn't mean they can't be resonant or relevant. If they didn't have meaning to people, if the characters and emotions and themes didn't speak on some level to people's lived experience, they would be neither popular nor valuable.

What I don't agree with is your familiar perspective that any sense of playfulness or whimsy in superhero stories is contemptible, and to be avoided at all costs, because these stories are very serious business. The amazing thing is, the best of them can be two things at once: funny and self-aware on the one hand, and thematically meaningful and emotionally affecting on the other.
 
And even the comics and most movies weren't stupid enough to claim the mask being bulletproof, meaning of the multitude of bullets being shot at him, it would also be just a matter of time until one would hit him in the head.
Except for the DCEU, which was that stupid and specifically showed Batman's mask to be bulletproof, while trying to be "grounded and realistic". *sigh*
I miss the yellow oval for a lot of reasons and one of them is the scene in TDKR where Batman thinks "I can't armor my head." Yeah, that's not realistic either but it at least conveys a better sense of "comic book logic" IMO.
 
Maybe I missed it, but I don't think anybody said that? Only that Batman isn't "realistic" either. They're both superheroes, one of the more unrealistic categories of fiction ever created. They're both outlandish nonsense characters in any real-world sense. One is arguably more outlandish than the other, but neither has a goddamned thing to do with life as it actually exists, and all the self-conscious grit in the world won't make it so.
I might have misunderstood then.
Which is by no means to say they can't be wonderfully entertaining and effective characters anyway. But it's a puzzlement to me why anybody wants to demand or appropriate "realism" for them. How much sense does it make to say, "I value realism in fiction, so obviously superheroes are my genre of choice." WT actual F? Go watch a domestic drama or something if realism is your thing. Otherwise, embrace and accept the fantastical for what it is.
Yeah, I don't understand why some people so obsessed with realism, realism tends to take all the fun out of things like superheroes. Now believability, is more important, you want to be able to believe what you're watching or reading, even if it's completely unrealistic. I watch and read things like superhero stories to get away from the real world, so I'd rather not be reminded of it too much during them.
 
My understanding is that it would be like August or so... enough time for Superman to be a success (or fade as a "failure"), and then jump right in with a new DC thing....which at that point will determine the fate of the DCOU.

And I imagine that by the end of Peacemaker season 2 we will get an announcement of the next thing after Supergirl.
 
Just watched the finale of Creature Commandos. It ends with a bang, not the epic action kind, but with an emotional gutpunch and a satisfying ending. It's nice to see Gunn play in this format where he doesn't need to put the big action piece at the end. Looking forward to season 2.

And another slight letdown at the finish - Creature Commandos set up a couple of hooks that they didn't pay off, and what should have been a big reveal at the end was a nothingburger.

But then, I guess the entire mission was something of a macguffin all along.

I still love the show. And at least
G.I. Robot lives!

Brokenhearted about
Nina
though.

. Robocop and Starship Troopers, with similar violence, at least felt like a satire. This didn't. This just felt like James Gunn murder and sex fantasies that he could get away with someone else paying for

Now, i SAY i am for a spectrum of different types of things for a subgenre....so i appreciate for example , the serious to silly range (Captain America/Black Panther down to Guardians of the Galaxy), but ...... kind of a yuk for me. I want to have something I can share with my kids and grandkids...this sure ain't it, and not seeing a whole lot of that in the future


Nina , based on her origin, was a human... i know her DNA changed, but did she legally qualify as a nonhuman (like Weasel and GI Robot and thr Bride)? And was she created just for this show? Very sad ending....any luck that her DNA might revive her?

I also saw this thing called "Suicide Squad Isekai" -- looks like Japanese anime.... is that at all connected ot anything? It looks like the Gunn Suicide Squad, but maybe I am wrong? ANd what is Kite Man??? How is that conenectes?

I dunno...all this stuff is soooooo not for children. Now i feel like I am slipping into Trek_God's stereotype of people wanting the Superfriends.... but that stuff has a huge place that would be good for little kids to teens to get into.... not seeing that here.

THeoretically if a person had enough money and training they could become a real life Batman, but no amount of money is going to turn a person into a character like Superman or Wonder Woman.
It isn't just about Money...it would also have ot be PHYSICAL and really MENTAL discipline to do all the training, and at least being able to get the engineering done.
I’m skeptical. Someone like Musk or Zuckerberg would have tried it, if it was remotely feasible.

Yeah, it probably wouldn't go as well as it does in the comics, but it's not as impossible as the super powered characters are.

I can't really see either of them caring about other people enough to try something like that.

I don't think it would be about helping or caring about other people. It would just be something that would put them above rank-and-file humans.

The physical disicpline would be the thing that also stops a George Soros from doing the physical and just doing the political and philanthropic (i.e. give money to organizaitons, who are doing the ACTUAL work).



with Batman, there's all kinds of stuff , in additon to what we just mentioned, as basically "fantasy" that we have to roll with .... like him building the batcave and bat equipment with virtually no one else knowing (especially the Board of Wayne Industries and the IRS not asking questions about where th emoney is going.... you can only write off so much to "partying").


C'mon guys....we are on TREK BBS.... we grew up with Star Trek being, really science FANTASY....but we loved most about it were the metaphorical stories we can apply to our "real" lives and inspiration to make things better.

One of my other "concerns" is how each character is "consistent" (heavy air quotes) with the general nature of that character OVER TIME, so that an aggregate feel that is that particular era's "ideal" version of the character...so exmples include the Wonder WOman TV show & movies, despite being 40 years apart... i think both "are" Wonder Woman, or the Maguire & Holland Spidermen.
 
I also saw this thing called "Suicide Squad Isekai" -- looks like Japanese anime.... is that at all connected ot anything? It looks like the Gunn Suicide Squad, but maybe I am wrong? ANd what is Kite Man??? How is that conenectes?
Neither one is connected to the DCU. Kite Man is a spin off of the Harley Quinn cartoon
 
Whatever you think of this movie, it's got two of the best Superman rescues of any live action version.
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Man, effects were a lot less sophisticated a couple of decades ago. But somehow more thrilling. :lol:
 
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Movie gets a harsher rap than it deserves. I caught a large chunk of it recently when I ran across it on TV in progress, and really enjoyed it. It's hardly perfect, but I've seen worse Superman movies. (And how.) The common "deadbeat dad" complaint is lazy and stupid, since Clark didn't know Lois was pregnant when he left Earth. If you're gonna attack the movie, at least attack it for something it actually does. (The "stalker" thing has more validity, though I don't really have much problem with it in the film's context.)

Performances are generally solid, with Routh doing a fine job of doing what he was cast to do (channel Reeve), and Spacey being a fun, and occasionally strikingly vicious, version of Luthor. And yeah, those scenes above are great, as is the bit where Superman takes a point-blank bullet to his open eye. I don't know that his invulnerability has ever been portrayed onscreen as cleverly and effectively as that scene.
 
The common "deadbeat dad" complaint is lazy and stupid, since Clark didn't know Lois was pregnant when he left Earth. If you're gonna attack the movie, at least attack it for something it actually does.
I thought the "deadbeat dad" criticism was that he was basically abandoning the kid AFTER he came back and realized it was his son...a superpowered son who was going to have some real issues as those powers manifested.
 
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