#dc commentary

You can even pinpoint the exact moment he loses the plot–Selina goes to get Annika a glass of water, and Bruce's eyeline pov leaves her, the person he was actually looking for, and stays on Selina. Then when Selina goes to her bedroom, he moves–literally, bodily moves–from the apartment's main window to her bedroom window. It's a wrap at this point. "he's totally driven by base impulse re: selina." When she leaves, that's his opportunity to confront Annika–the person who personally knew Mitchell and might have information about what led to his murder (this is later confirmed)–without interference. And yet...he hops on his bike and follows Selina again, to who the hell knows. Leaving his biggest lead behind. 🙃 I have to mention @clawsnoir, one of the only people I've seen point this out–"following her was not the smart move (cornering annika would have been) but he couldn't help himself" (x).

I know I could probably put this on like eleven of my my blogs but it’s most about Batman so its going on this one.

You’ve probably heard about the ages of comics. Golden age, silver age, bronze age and dark age etc. But, there’s always something been something a little bit off about all of these defintions transfering into movies.

Okay, I know DC movies (and some Marvel movies before Disney bought it, I’m sorry it’s true) aren’t exactly the best representation of the characters we love. That might have to do with that, well there’s different types of characters we love.

You might say “THERE’S ONLY ONE *insert comic book character here*!” but is that really true? Sure, there’s only one person behind the mask. (Except in Batman and Spidermans case, but you get the drift.) Metaphorically or literally. But going back to the ages of comic books, there’s more than one.

There’s obviously a difference between Adam West’s Silver Age Batman and The Dark Knight’s Dark Age Batman. I’m gonna pretend to know how to explain completely so here’s an article who does it better.

Maybe it depends on which age the character fits best in.

Perhaps that’s why Wonder Woman was so critically acclaimed. It’s a silver age character in a sea of dark age one’s. She didn’t need a dark backstory for what she doesn’t she just does it because frankly, she’s a hero!

Maybe that’s why Superman is so out of character in the likes of Batman V Superman and Justice League. A part of me thinks they took Injustice Superman. Superman has always been a golden age good do-er for the sake of being a golden age good do-er. Sometimes we forget Superman isn’t Clark Kent.

He’s an alien. He’s not human, but he took up a human identity. Superman didn’t need to save humanity, he did it because he’s a good person/alien/kryptonian! Superman didn’t need a Martha plot.

Batman, however is a different story. Unlike Wonder Wonder and Superman’s Diana and Clark personas, Bruce Wayne isnt a coverup. Bruce Wayne is Batman. If you removed Bruce Wayne from Batman, there wouldn’t be a Batman.

Batman is supposed to be a contrast to everyone’s cheery. Batman wasn’t at his best in the silver age. He was at his best in the bronze and dark ages where he could be more gritty because he has a reason to. His parents died, and that’s why he is this dark gritty hero.

Maybe that’s why the Dark Knight franchise did so well, but the films with multiple heroes didn’t. Because DC tried to make everyone Batman. But everyone can’t be Batman because than everyone doesn’t work. Batman will be the darkest, making him too dark and making everything about his parents.

The silver age heroes will be uncharacteristic jerks. The snarky characters like Flash and GL lose they’re snark, which made them special and then everything falls apart.

So how do we fix it?

Well just look at the Justice League cartoon.

It had interesting characters, funny jokes, emotion, and even had Batman not being a total emo 24-7! He was a smart snarky guy, not a sad slob.

They're both exoticized non-American, non-Anglo women (Arab-Chinese; Greek (bonus for being portrayed by an actress of Cambodian descent in the mcu)) who became ruthless and deadly killers and assassins through mysterious organizations steeped in Eastern-inspired aesthetics, mysticism, and martial arts (League of Assassins; The Chaste/The Hand), that also have the ability to resurrect the dead (the Lazarus Pit; the Substance (mcu)). They were both trained and groomed by a problematic father(-figure) (Ra's al Ghul; Stick) who led the organization, and who they were deeply loyal and obedient to…until they weren't. Both men supported or enabled the relationship between the women and their respective love interests, for their own agendas--Ra's, because he viewed Batman as the only man worthy to either become his heir through marriage to Talia, or to sire a male heir with Talia (which technically happened); Stick, because he wanted Matt to sever all ties to his civilian life and fully join the Chaste.

In some of Talia's even darker depictions, she only loves "Batman" and has no use for Bruce Wayne. Similar to how mcu!Elektra wanted Matt to live only in his "glorious darkness" and expressed mockery and disdain for his civilian life. But overall, both have a history of flipping between ally and antagonist to the titular superhero, which is connected to their conflicts within their own morality. Both are often depicted with psychotic or sociopathic traits and tendencies, particularly when it comes to disregard for human life. However, they both genuinely (if not completely) loved Bruce and Matt, respectively (and Talia absolutely loves her and Bruce's son, Damian)--to the point that both their feelings could be derided as a "weakness", as Talia's love for Bruce is what fist spurred her to defy her father, and Matt was like the only person mcu!Elekra couldn't be made to murder.

As for theatrical feature films, from Superman and the Mole Men (1951) to Superman (2025) there's 8 to Batman's 12, from Batman (1966) to The Batman: Part II (2027) (I'm not counting BvS and the JLs bc they share those).

As for live-action television series, there's kid Bruce in Gotham--in the vein of Smallville, which ran twice as long--and sporadic appearances by older, mostly retired Bruce in Titans. But after Batman '66 and Adventures of Superman, there's no Batman equivalent to Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, or Superman & Lois (gotta appreciate that these center his and Lois's relationship; they are The First Couple of Superhero Comicdom, after all).

BatCat/Selina + “come with me” 🖤 (1940—2022)