When it comes to adapting another source of media to the big screen, it's bound to run into issues of being faithful to the original source material while also updating it to modern times as to not upset the fans of the work. For comic books, this is an even bigger problem as some characters are so strong/powerful that they could end the villain of the story on the spot (looking at you Hulk, Thor, Superman, and Scarlet Witch) but of course people don't want to see that as they want to see a story unfold. Whether it's the origin of the character, a story from the comics that fans love being adapted to the big screen (Planet Hulk, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kingdom Come, World War Hulk, etc.), fans want to see specific moments from the story unfold such as Superman showing his humanity when helping people who are proving difficult to be redeemable or Hulk finally hitting his breaking point and swatting down armies and destroying planets by punching them, as it not only lets them have a fun time, but it also lets them have flashbacks to the happiest moments they have from reading comics with their favorite characters. For me it's these things plus seeing the characters I love properly portrayed to the source material while also (possibly) improving upon them.
(Good example of universe building)
With the MCU, I feel they do a great job at building a universe while also developing their characters (except Hulk because he's apparently too complex for some reason). While the MCU does have several great moments of character building for their most powerful characters such as Thor and Scarlet Witch, it seems that Hulk and Spider-Man have been the most challenging ones for them to properly portray close to their comic counterparts.
I say this as Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man relies too much on Tony Stark's technology while not showing a lot of his intelligence like in the comics. This was however shown in Captain America: Civil War when Tony recruits Peter to his side as we see Peter's homemade suit and web-shooters before Tony gives him an upgrade. While I'm glad they brought in this aspect of Peter's character from the comics, Homecoming fell short of this and Far From Home only had small instances of this such as Peter crafting his new suit with Stark technology. All in all, Far From Home somewhat started to show Peter being his own hero without relying too much on outside help from superheroes like in the comics.
The one MCU character I feel that has been done the worst in terms of character development is Hulk/Bruce Banner. Growing up reading the comics and watching cartoons starring him, I always felt bad and somewhat sympathized with Bruce and Hulk as they try to do the right thing despite all the horrible things done to them by people such as Bruce's father abusing him, being bullied and unfairly expelled from his school due to bullies, and being hunted and attacked by the military despite not causing any problems. On top of this, Banner has to subconsciously restrain Hulk's full power as one punch or step could mean Earth being shattered into pieces as well as having to deal with the multiple Hulk personalities that dwell within his mind. These personalities are due to Banner developing Dissociative Identity Disorder to help cope with the abuse at the hands of his dad and him killing his mom in front of him. With these personalities, some may just want to be left alone (Savage Hulk, Green Scar/Worldbreaker), want to have fun at the expense of others (Joe Fixit/Grey Hulk, Professor Hulk), or want to kill every human on the planet (Devil Hulk). Seeing Banner struggle with this is one of the things I love about his character and Hulk's, because no matter how much stronger or smarter the opponent is or how hopeless the situation looks, they always found a way to power through it while helping others who quite frankly never deserve their help. Sadly, in the MCU Bruce and Hulk went from being well-developed characters in the Incredible Hulk, Avengers 1, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, to bumbling jokes and heavily weakened to show how strong other characters are (I'm looking at you Taika Waititi and Russo Brothers).
(Was off to a decent start but started to crash, but now looks like they're making a comeback)
DCEU, where do I start? Ever since seeing Man of Steel, I had high hopes that I was starting to see the beginning of a cinematic universe that was going to rival Marvel's, but of course, Warner Bros. had to screw it up big time. Zack Snyder has done great with DC films such as Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman (to a large extent with some improvements needed here and there), Watchmen, and of course his take on Justice League. With these films, Zack was able to stick with his version/vision of the characters while also placing elements of the comics within the films. While some of the films could have some improvements done to the story and characters, I feel that Zack came the closest to faithfully adapting Superman and Batman to the big screen. Patty Jenkins comes in very close second place with the first Wonder Woman movie starring Gal Gadot. With Patty's take on the character, she adapted Diana's traits of being compassionate, understanding of the plights others are going through, but also knows when to fight fiercely for what she believes in. With the recent release of the Justice League Snyder Cut, I feel that Zack Snyder made the DCEU relevant again as well as redeeming a lot of mistakes made by Joss Whedon's version of Justice League. Even though I am more of a MARVEL fan when it comes to movies and comics, I have started to get into DC a lot more as they can make/have made stories and characters that are just as good, if not slightly better than MARVEL.
Comments
Post a Comment