#superhero media

[calvincell]

As a 100% devoted evangelist of The Batman (2022) I was duty bound to give The Penguin a watch. Despite my low expectations for spin-offs generally even with the plus of Matt Reeves’ continued involvement in the series I’m happy to say that I enjoyed Episode One a lot. Felt genuinely like DC’s version of the Netflix Daredevil series only with a minuscule booster shot of added levity. No significant spoilers btw:

My absolute favorite moment of the show and how I knew that showrunner Lauren LeFranc & her fellow creatives truly were onto something is the encounter Oz has with Falcone Jr. in the pre-title scene. Beyond just being an excellent hook for the show, IMO it was also a fantastic display of what makes The Penguin specifically a villain who firmly belongs in Batman’s rogues gallery outside of simply his penguin/avian gimmick as well as cutting to the heart of why he isn’t to be categorized as just one more generic mobster in the gnarled web of Gotham’s crime families; something which Batman Caped Crusader & Batman Audio Adventures tapped into recently as well. The scene along with the glimpse of his home life & familial relationships we get later in the episode shows how when you get right down to it, The Penguin is at his best when he is portrayed as having more in common with the villains at Arkham Asylum than with the garden variety members of the criminal underworld. Just like with how Daredevil highlights why Fisk is a different kind of gangster, The Penguin’s first episode shows how standard gangsters who underestimate him & pigeonhole him as just another mob earner with no teeth only makes them vulnerable to the “real Oswald”. That’s also why the character who they set up as his season long foil/obstacle works in giving The Penguin an opponent worth fearing who isn’t The Batman.

I also shouldn’t fail to mention that Colin Farrell once again truly cooks & absolutely disappears into his role & is once again surrounded by a suite of terrific actors matching his earnestness & talent beat for beat.

Overall, I definitely recommend at least this first episode to any Batman fan especially if you loved The Batman (2022) & Matt Reeves’ vision for the character, world and franchise.

My only worry is that similar to Netflix’s Daredevil, the amount of episodes coupled with the length of each might bloat the series a bit and harm the pacing. Though with the DCEU’s different priorities in the Gunn Era compared to the MCU it might not end up as an issue & the show might end up being better paced & worth the episode count. Relatedly, my only gripe is just general annoyance at our collective return to weekly episode releases for shows instead of binging but I’m not an expert in TV marketing & production so maybe weekly releases are truly a better boost for audience numbers, retention & growth than bingeable releases have been.

[shyjusticewarrior]

I want Cass to be in movies partially cause I love her, partially cause her being a relatively obscure batfam member gives some Cass stans a complex. I think becoming mainstream is the humbling this fandom needs.

Or maybe they'll become more pretentious about it. But at least there will be more newer fans.

[cameronlockhart]

I dunno how they did it, but My Adventures with Superman has made me actually care about Superman for once! He's never been my favorite superhero (Batman and Spider-Man are my two and only), but my god this show's been crazy good for two seasons straight! On to Season 3...

[kyliafanfiction]

I think I've said this already, but one of the things that I think really hampers my ability to get some of what Wildbow is laying down is that I don't read comic books. I don't really do comic book inspired media. Especially not superheroes.

I mean, I was really into Agents of Shield (until it became a shitpile), and the Arrowverse is one of my major fandoms, but in both cases, the comic book stuff was usually my least favorite parts, and I always liked it when they pushed away from their comic book roots to break more interesting ground.

I found the characters compelling, and the superhero fights interesting, per se, but more in spite of it being superhero media than because.

It's not that I hate superhero media, it's just not normally a draw for me, in of itself.

So a lot of the times, I honestly don't get what Wildbow is doing with some stuff. Like, I don't think Worm is a pure deconstruction, but he is looking at, exploring and poking at a lot of norms of superhero comics, etc. And I have enough osmosis from 20+ years of being a nerd and knowing the MCU and the Arrowverse and watching superhero cartoons as a kid on Cartoon Network, etc to pick up some of them. But I don't know the tropes enough to really know what he's responding to, or what he's saying in that response.

Like, yes, I can grasp that, for example, Jack Slash is a play on the Joker, but... what he's saying about the Joker with the character? Not a clue, not really. I can see what he's doing with Jack, and I can gesture in some vague directions, but I can't say for sure.

Like, I've been assured that by the time he dies or w/e, Jack's story will be an interesting and genuinely subversive take on the Joker and that's probably true... but I probably won't be able to appreciate the subversion because I don't know the Joker well enough!

I do like Worm, but again, I like it more in spite of the superheroness than because of it. It does avoid some of the things that bug me the most about superhero comics conceptually (death being cheap, the reboots, the revisions, the way they change writers so often things change tonally from run to run, continuity meaning both a lot and a little, etc, among other things), but not so much narratively, because it is still a superhero story.

I love many of the characters of worm, and the stories are compelling, but...

I'm missing a lot of what else Wildbow is doing, because I don't always know the media and tropes and characters he's making reference to. And that probably is one of the things that makes me not appreciate the parts of Worm some people really love.

[generalluxun]

I know this isn't often explored in superhero media, but I think if superheroes were real, they'd spend most of their time keeping copycats in check instead of fighting actual supervillains. A lot of people would complain about how unfair it is for some people to fight crime just because they have superpowers or money, and these would try to be superheroes too.

I think a lot of peope would complain about it online, but Very few would have the guts to actually go out and copycat.

[filmjet]

Spider-Man by Peach Momoko

[tinkerbitch69]

My thoughts on Flash #14

(I really liked it tehe 🤭)

[hyperref-lex-ia]

Knowing sign for diversity purposes in a superhero media is great and cool but it is also useful. Tired of there being moments where heroes are trying to be quiet and they whisper in media where they make a point to show they know sign.

[luckyshinyhunter]

As much as I love My adventures with Superman, I'm so tired of the show getting a lot of disrespect and backlash lately on Twitter, especially from the Zack Snyder cultist!

First, the whole Lois thing, then Superman actually being Superman, now pretty much crapping on everything that's on the show, it's absolutely disgusting.

It's crazy how this, X-Men 97, The Boys and Invincible got a lot of slack for calling out grifters and people who dumped on their shows and yet somehow those idiot grifters still don't get the message.

Like can y'all just basically get a life for once, you are the mystery on why we can't enjoy good stuff, bringing all your toxicity in everything, with your crappy rants, thumbnails and shit.

[beyond-a-name]

So I keep seeing that post about critiques of superhero narratives going around, and while it sounds really good, something about it rubs me the wrong way.

The best thing to do with power is to give it away. That is not what superheroes do.

They use their power to help people, but it's never a redistribution of power. Even in settings where power can explicitly be granted to basically anybody, it is kept with a select few because that is integral to what makes it a superhero story.

Take Spiderverse for example, maybe my favourite ongoing franchise. In the Spiderverse, it is explicit that the powers of spiderman can be granted through a uniquely irradiated spider. There is an entire organization wholly devoted to connecting with other spider people across dimensions, but the story, even in the comics, never explores what would happen by putting all that funding and research into replicating those spiders.

Now, a big theme of every Spiderman retelling, and indeed almost every Superhero narrative, is what those characters lose to keep their city, their world, and their (remaining) loved ones safe. These superhuman characters go through exceptional sacrifice and loss because they have power, a kind of noble suffering, all for the good of those around them. This makes for a very compelling story, but that eternal martyrdom is also how abuse gets justified. If power is some noble burden, then it is both justified to give power to as few people as possible (to prevent suffering) while also to venerate those that have it (for their sacrifice and kindness).

This same justification, of course, extends to how real world government systems are justified. Really, it's quite tragic that our leader president king leviathan superhero has all that agency, they have to make all the "hard choices". Look at how strong they are for doing that, for taking care of everybody, even when people don't know what's best for them. And of course they don't, not always, because only the people with power have the ability to know. With great power comes great responsibility, after all, but it is the with-holding of responsibility that is precisely the problem.

This is the core of the power fantasy that superhero media presents. That you, dear reader, can be that hero. That you get to help people and be universally loved for it, and that all of your suffering is noble and justified. That even if your suffering is due in large part to the fact that you shoulder this burden alone and do not (or cannot) ask for help and thereby extend agency to those around you, you are right to do so. That even if you won't be outright revered, you will still be able to rest easy that it was you that made The Hard Choice instead of someone else, and that you're Keeping People Safe.

So let's go back to Spiderverse. As it stands, even though I think it could go farther, it's obviously (at least partially) a deconstruction of the superhero genre. Whereas Into The Spiderverse shows its greatest thematic strength in the power of community in the face of tragedy, Across the Spiderverse goes a step further to start asking why we have to keep making all these damn tragic decisions in the first place. Into the Spiderverse assures you that you're not the only one making hard choices, actually, and shows how nice that actually is. But Across the Spiderverse asks why anyone has to suffer in the first place. Across the Spiderverse resonates so strongly because it takes a look at the trolley problem and does what everyone who sees the trolley problem reflexively does, which is to start asking who tied all these people to the tracks and why do we take people dying by trolleys to be such a given? The film, in actively questioning the implicit assumption of tragedy and "noble sacrifice" is directly undermining part of the core superhero power fantasy. Whereas abuse and oppression are preserved in maintaining systems of power as necessary hardship and noble suffering, change is pioneered in questioning those power structures and recognizing that suffering is not a virtue. If suffering isn't a virtue, how noble are these sacrifices, anyway?

While I'm deeply excited to see the next Spiderverse film the moment it releases, like I stated earlier, the series doesn't go as far as it could. While it partially recognizes that the distribution of power is entirely arbitrary (who gets bit by that spider is effectively random), it doesn't ask why we aren't then redistributing it. Spiderverse, at least thus far, does not fully embrace actually giving that power away.

And it is here, dear reader, that I present to you a book recommendation. If what you've read here resonates with you and you're curious to see a work take that final step, then I'd like to direct your curiousity to the Nemesis series by April Daniels.

The (currently unfinished) trilogy begins with Dreadnought, in which Danny, a young, closeted trans girl, watches the world's greatest superhero die in front of her, before inheriting his powers. But with Dreadnought's abilities, Danny also gets her ideal feminine body, rendering it impossible for her to remain closeted any longer. While the book is obviously a trans narrative first and foremost, and a profoundly impactful one at that, the book also criticizes the centralization of power and touches on how deeply traumatizing all that "noble suffering" really is. The other superheroes are deeply traumatized and living in a state of constant vigilance, and everyone is of course bickering over who gets to benefit from Danny's powers and to what end. All the while, mind you, while telling a transfeminine narrative so archetypal that I could directly match it to my own lived experience, one for one: transphobia, homelessness, even her friend's perceived entitlement to her newly feminine body.

The second book, Sovereign, much more directly confronts the authoritarian fantasy at the heart of the genre (while also keeping it delightfully queer). In Sovereign, it is eventually revealed what is increasing the number of all these super- people, and casts its titular villain as a grossly rich man who seeks to keep that power as selectively distributed as possible. Not only does the book have Danny explore what heroism looks like outside of the corrupt, state-sponsored "White Cape" framework, but Danny also consistently reflects on just what it is she is actually getting out of all this violence.

Book 2 concludes with the forward expectation to redistribute this power much more freely, but book 3 isn't yet out to follow up on it. I personally suspect that this is largely due to the core challenge of redistributing power in a genre where the centralization of power is so integral to its telling. (I mean, it's not like anything else of note since 2017 could have had any sort of impact on the writing and publishing of a queer novel). Still, the series even thus far does a much better job of deconstructing the power fantasy and martyrdom that superhero media relies on than many mainline works before it, and its two finished books already stand on their own beautifully. Also it's trans, which rules. (It's one of my all-time favourite series, if you couldn't tell).

Anyway, you started this post expecting a thorough response of a specific rebuttal of leftist critique of superhero media. Namely, that rebuttal argues that superhero media, at its core, is about helping people. This is partially true, but it is almost never about empowering people to help themselves, which is precisely the problem.

I agree, the best thing to do with power is to give it away. Really be nice if it did that lol

[calvincell]

I’ve been making my way through my 3rd re-listen of the incredible podcast - Batman: The Audio Adventures & just appreciating once more not only how terrifically written it is by showrunner Dennis McNicholas but also incredibly well acted by all of the amazing cast. For any unaware, the podcast is an audio fiction blend of comedy & superhero drama that was previously only an exclusive for HBO MAX subscribers back in 2021 but now both released seasons are freely available on literally every podcast app including on MAX’s own YT Channel itself, no subscription required.

In particular, I love the Harvey Dent moment we get in Season 1 - Episode 6 - “The Whale of Damocles”:

I have to first off praise the inspired creative choice the series makes to give Two-Face the dynamic that his personas are essentially like constantly bickering twin brothers - arguing, name calling & posturing but still inseparable at the end of the day.

In the scene in question, Harvey’s binary obsession has allowed The Penguin to easily lure Dent to his favorite pier on the Gotham Wharf, Pier 2, to prevent a planted bomb from destroying it. Batman arrives soon after as Dent’s desperate search brings him to the most perilous part of the pier. Batman is so earnestly trying to appeal to Harvey to stop that he almost can’t prevent slipping into his Bruce Wayne voice when we then get an excellent memorable moment (@ ~31:50) where we get a glimpse at the tortorus psychosis Harvey is living through:

Harvey gives this tragic peek into his mind as he extols the awe-inspiring & nightmarish gospel he shares with his violent other half. It’s not only a very well written torrent of mad thoughts but also brilliantly & emotionally performed by Harvey/Two-Face’s VA: Ike Barinholtz. Batinholtz truly makes Harvey sound simultaneously mesmerized, terrified & sorrowful - on the verge of tears as he tells his former friend about the completely fractured way he views the world now & Batman’s actor Jeffrey Wright matches it with his desperate pleas to Harvey’s true self colored by the unflinching compassion he has for Dent.

For how invested the show is in genuinely trying to revive a bit of the Adam West era charm and fun camp & IMO successfully making the show legitimately funny, I believe it’s also equally in touch with the aspects of the franchise exemplified in shows like BTAS ie the darkness of the setting & emotionally resonant tragedy of both Batman himself and the different members within his rogues gallery. The show is not just sharp on a comedic level but also earnestly intriguing & engaging dramatically as well.

I have no doubt sung this show’s praises before but I don’t plan to stop anytime soon because I truly believe that the series is a must listen for every fan of Batman, superheroes & audio fiction/audio dramas generally. From top to bottom, the series is a brilliant production and stands to me personally as amongst the best content within the umbrella of DC Comics at least within the last decade.

[munohlow]

Doom patrol was really out here doing it all by pushing the makeup and letting actors show off their skills through body language and voice acting

[midnight-bass]

DARKMAN (1990)

[lizlives]

Rewatched Logan and was reminded of the discussion of it's themes. In one way or another, a lot of people say that Logan is at least alluding to if not out right about a commentary on superhero movies and how like the western they are slowly fading and will go away like the western genre did.

I'm not sure how this truly impacts my feelings on the movie, tbh after rewatching it I'm not sure how to feel about it, but if the theme of the movie is that the superhero genre will have to die like the western genre, a part of me feels like that's really dumb?

Like maybe I'm stupid or have the wrong idea, but to me, what defines the superhero genre is ultimately kind of broad and vague. Like really, try to define what being a superhero is that actually encapsulates all or even the majority of the genre. If you really wanted to try it would probably be something like, "Heroes who save people and have unique and often flashy costumes and names," that's it to me.

A lot of superhero stuff is just vibes, meanwhile the western was not only way more specific, but also rooted in a specific culture. Of course the genre faded away, because that way of life faded away. Superheroes were never real, and their concept is vague enough to be basically timeless. I don't really see any "death" of the superhero genre being meaningful. Like at worst, I see the current era of superhero movies fading away in a lot of ways, but that doesn't really mean anything? They'll just be replaced by different (and hopefully better) superhero movies, just at a different rate.

Idk, this might just be me, but I love superheroes, and I'm not really tired of them because like I said earlier, they're not strictly defined to a particular setting or culture or anything. To me, at least for my experience, superheroes are really just characters I enjoy because I like the aesthetic of bright and colorful costumes, I like the struggles of identity that many superheroes struggle with, and I like characters that are going out of their way to try and do good. I know maybe this isn't what other people think of, but to me If that went away, I would think that has far broader implications than just a genre passing it's heyday.

[bestmothertournament]