But as you just conceded, superhero stories don't have to be about just stunts and effects. You're saying that that's a problem resulting from drift, not an inevitable and standard state for any story about a person in a superhero costume. Heller's comments suggests to me that he doesn't see that distinction -- that, like so many people out there, he only sees the stereotype and the negative caricature of what superhero fiction is and is unfairly using the bad examples to tar the entire genre.
Absolutely right. Not to mention that the executives running FOX now are totally different people from the ones who ran it when Firefly was on. It makes no sense to blame one set of people for their predecessors' decisions just because they work for the same company.
Sure, FOX did treat Almost Human similarly to Firefly in that it showed the episodes out of order, but that's two examples out of dozens and dozens. FOX has put more SF/fantasy shows on the air than just about any other TV network. Clearly it's willing to give genre shows a chance. But most shows of any type get cancelled young. That's just the nature of the industry.
Maybe, but honestly I never much cared for his version of Bruce, and his version of Batman was pretty awful. I really found him the weak link in the Nolan movies' cast. Well, Katie Holmes was the weak link in the first, but Bale never really impressed me overall, not in that particular role, at least.
Perhaps Heller's grading on a curve, in the sense that a terrific performance from a 12- or 13-year-old actor is more impressive than a terrific performance from a veteran actor in his 30s.
Although it's certainly true that the producers of any show are going to say things like "This is the best cast I've ever worked with" or "Our actors are the best ever," because of course they want to get people to watch the show.
