Everyone is constantly complaining about Batman's insane strength and durability, but is it really that implausible? Let's think for a second. Batman is supposed to be the pinnacle of human potential, correct? Let's look at some of the human race's most strongest people.
Louis Cyr
This is officially the strongest man that ever lived. He carried nearly 2 tons on his back and even pushed a freight train up an incline with one finger! He accomplished this with not just natural talent, but through hard work as well.
Shaolin Monks
Simply by searching up information on Shaolin monks you'll easily find tons of information about how incredibly powerful they are. The reason they could do this is because of their Chi energy. Considering Batman supposedly mastered all martial arts, this should include Tai-Chi and Shaolin Kung Fu as well. Chi allows for people to survive many dangerous stunts that would normally kill any grown man (it could even make fire and heal people, but that's a different story.)
I honestly don't think it's all that unbelievable. If anything, it makes it even cooler to think that we could possibly do these feats ourselves.
I'm tired of seeing writers who just flat out don't understand what the whole point of Spider-man is (looking at you One More Day, Sins Past, Clone Saga, etc.) I'm here to explain what you people (the writers) need to understand about our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man.
Don't make Spider-man's life a living Hell. I honestly can't stress this enough. Making Spider-man's life a Spanish novela is absolutely pointless. It doesn't make Spider-man grow as a character, all it does it prevent him from doing so. If anything, it'll just give him some serious psychological problems. It doesn't even allow us to take Spider-man seriously if he's always moping and crying about everything, which brings me to my next point...
Don't make Spider-man a total joke, the man is how old? Oh yeah, 28. You can make Spider-man funny, just don't overdo it. For example, in Marvel NOW, Spider-man was fighting these villains and one of them had the power to unravel your clothes and this happened:
This is probably not a good way to bring back your friendly neighborhood Spider-man back after being abused for a year by a 60 year old man who gets his kicks from young people.
Spider-man is a character who should be allowed to have both his high points and his low points, not to be a nervous train wreck. He should be someone we can relate to and cheer on when he accomplishes something great! Not only that, but he should grow and flourish. When he has a wife, don't just retcon it, keep going with it. Let him start a family, let him be happy, like we want him to be.
If you guys aren't aware of it yet, DC had announced Batman vs Superman back in comic con. This had quickly made every nerd ever climax at the very thought about it. But what do I want to see?
No Justice League overexposure
Ever since DC had announced that all these famous DC characters are going to appear in the movie, I had my worries. I really don't want the whole movie to be centered around the team, just centered around Batman and Superman. Similar to X-men: First Class, where they focused more on Charles and Eric rather than the entire team, but still gave the team the screen time that they deserve.
Batman and Superman being friends
Probably being one of my favorite bromances in literature, I would like them to be friends. I don't want them to be archenemies or something, I want them to truly have an understanding. And yes, I know that the movie is called Batman v Superman, so obviously they'll fight, but if they do fight, I want that fight to be really emotionally driven. I want them to truly have a reason to fight rather than some half-@ssed reason to give fans what they want.
An ending at a high note
I don't want this movie to be all melodramatic. I truly want this movie to have an uplifting feel to it, like you truly feel good after than movie, rather than "Whoa, that was so deep that I started drowning." I want to really feel inspired. That's what Superman and Batman are all about. They're about doing the right thing and trying to help the world the best way you can, and to keep you head held high all the way.
Well, those are some things I want BvS to do, what would you want?
As you guys know, Old Man Logan happens to be one of the greatest Wolverine stories around. But one thing that bugs me was the fact that it ended so soon. We didn't even get to see if Wolverine kills the other villains. Do you think a story like this should get a sequel, or should it be left alone?
Today marks Stan Lee's 92nd birthday (and my 15th!)
As you guys know, Stan Lee is THE most influential comic book writer of all time, creating some of the most iconic characters such as Spider-man, Thor, Hulk, the X-men, and many more! Without him, Marvel wouldn't be as big as it is today!
Happy birthday Stan, and thanks for shaping so many childhoods!
This isn't a "who is the better hero" blog, by the way. Obviously I would say Spider-man.
These two are definitely two of the most popular superheroes ever created, maybe even more so than even Superman. But which one has been the more influential?
Noteworthy Spider-man influences
-He was the one who started the long line of Comic Book Movie block busters when Comic Book Movies weren't received very well at the time (The movie Spider-man (2002) started this, then Spider-man 2)
-He changed comics to something more than just sh!ts and giggles (The Night That Gwen Stacy Died)
-He starred in very popular TV shows such as Spider-man (60s) Spectacular Spider-man, and Spider-man: The Animated Series
Noteworthy Batman influences
-Set the bar high for superhero films with The Dark Knight trilogy
-He starred in very popular TV shows such as Batman (60s) and Batman: The Animated Series
-He starred in the very popular Arkham video game series
What do you guys think?
Personally, I would still say Spider-man has been the more influential character. He's been changing the public's view of superheroes ever since he started, while Batman's been doing it a bit later (starting in the 90s with Batman: The Animated series).
Ever since my father told me that comics are really just entertainment and nothing more, it got me thinking; are comics just entertainment, or are they important and great literature?
First, let's talk a bit about the Golden and Silver ages. We all know these times were pretty cheesy and the stories often didn't make much sense or were just downright stupid (e.g The Flash's origin, Detective Comics #267, Action Comics #273, etc). But how is this different from, say, Romeo and Juliet? It took Romeo and Juliet four days to fall in love. Pretty unrealistic right there. Although, the biggest difference here is that Shakespeare actually took his work much much more seriously than comics at the time. Shakespeare's plays were actually, for the most part, pretty grim and serious (e.g In another Shakespeare play named Hamlet, the main character's uncle is a usurper who kills his father to gain power).
Now, to Bronze and Modern ages. This is where comics also tend to be a bit more realistic while still keeping the same concept. Comics during these ages were (and are) much more complex than you were led to believe back in the Silver and Golden ages (e.g Batman: Venom deals with Batman's addiction to taking strength enhancing pills, Daredevil: Shadowland deals with Daredevil being lost in darkness and evil, killing his enemies, etc.) This is where things get much more similar to, say, Greek myths. Greek myths teach many lessons that you yourself will have to learn in the future, and so do comics (Great responsibility and all that).
There are bad and good comics out there, but the best of the best belong to Marvel and DC. They have easily been the most influential comic book companies that have ever existed. Overall, even with their cheesy and stupid stories, those stories right there have clearly impacted us so much, and that is enough to make me call their comics great works of literature.
Who do you think could play The Punisher? So far, we have had three different Punisher movies and none of the have been very successful. Although, of those movies, Thomas Jane has had the most fans and support of being recast, most likely because of his short film "Dirty Laundry" and because he himself is a huge fan of the character.
I myself couldn't agree more. Who do you think could play The Punisher?
Just like the advertisements, this movie is all over the place. It's not horrendous like, say, Howard the Duck, but it's not as good as you'd expect it would be. Especially for a timeless and iconic character like Spider-man.
The Story
WARNING! THIS STORY IS FULL OF PLOTS AND CAN BE EASILY BE SPOILED FOR YOU. THESE ARE ONLY THE BASIC PARTS
It starts off with us finding out how Peter's parents died. A guy killed the pilot and decided to kill his parents. In the end, they end up in a plane crash. Afterwards, during the present, we see Spidey trying to take back plutonium vials that The Rhino (without the Rhinoy parts) stole from Oscorp. During the middle of all this, Spider-man saves a guy called Max Dillon from danger and decides it's a good idea to lift his spirit a little while Rhino in his little truck runs over a bunch of cars. Hijinks insue and he saves the day just in time to make out with Gwen during graduation.
Later on, it is revealed that Max is actually the electrician of Oscorp and he needs to fix some wires. Like a clumsy little oaf, he gets himself electrocuted and accidentally falls down to a tank of electric eels (ouch). Then, while he's getting electrocuted in major pain and not dying, the tank explodes and he comes out with blue flashing skin. He then decides to go to times square for some reason and realizes he's on TV! And he's famous now! Then, Spider-man is all like "come with me bro" and Max is all mystified until a cop shoots at him, which for some reason pisses him off. Max then shoots at him with his new found powers of electricity out of anger. There's a massive fight with tons of dubstep and the rejected fourth blue man eventually gets captured. Peter and Gwen have their little love story and we move on to Harry.
Harry finds out that his father is dying of a disease (never mentioned what it was) and that Harry will eventually die from it as well. His father dies and then Peter comes along and is all like "Hey man, remember me? We were best buddies back in the day!" and then they talk and talk and develop a bromance. Harry later finds out that he needs Spider-man's blood to cure him of the disease, but Spidey refuses because he doesn't know what will happen. Harry obviously gets pissed and decides to free Electro (the name Dr. Manhattan #2 gave himself) to help him kill Spider-man. Harry also decides to kill Spider-man himself by becoming a supervillain (Green Goblin, obviously).
The last fight is where Spidey fights Electro and Gwen from afar uses a bunch of machines to overcharge him, like a battery. Green Goblin fight was Spider-man struggling to save Gwen from certain death, and ultimately failing. Peter quits being Spider-man for months until the Rhino attacks.
The ending is Rhino attacking a bunch of people for some reason and some kid dressed as Spider-man decides it's a good idea charge in and face the Rhino himself. Spider-man then comes in to save the day and everyone is happy.
The Good
The love story is easily the highlight of the entire movie. They really seem like they're in love, yet Peter being Spider-man is making it hard to stay together. Better than some of the other love stories out there on film. Electro. This guy is such a nerd, yet so bad*ss when the cop shoots him. His character development, while quick, is actually somewhat believable. The soundtrack is an improvement from the original TASM, as it has a lot of cool dubstep that fits with Electro's powers. The action is great, as it should be, and is always exhilarating. Spider-man's costume is pretty cool and accurate to the comics as well! Aunt May is an amazing person and stands as a great character in the movie.
The Bad
The story was rushed. Everything went by so quickly. The Goblin, arguably one of Spider-man's greatest enemies, is reduced to some spoiled brat with hardly any character development. What disease did he have again? And why did it affect him faster than his father? Also, his design was total sh!t. Gwen dying might have been sad for some people, but it was pointless. Why did they kill off one of the best characters in the franchise? To teach Peter a lesson? It was Gwen's idea to charge into the fight to help Peter, not his. Did it make a strong life changing affect on him? He becomes Spider-man again after like 10 minutes (five months in the movie's time, but still too short). The ending was total cr@p as well. Why would a mother and a child be watching a HIGHLY DANGEROUS CRIMINAL attack a bunch of cops? To see the fireworks? As a matter of fact, why was anyone there at all besides the cops? Also, because of the mother's stupid ideas, the child decides to face the Rhino like an idiot to prove that he's not afraid or some BS like that.
The Verdict In the end, the good outweigh the bad, but not by much. This is really a popcorn flick at best, mediocre at worst.
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