It's hard to believe, but there was a time when people didn't take superheroes very seriously. After all, we're talking about adults who dress up in costumes and beat up other adults in costumes. At its heart there is something fundamentally quirky about the concept.
But one of the most beautiful things about superhero stories is that they have the capacity to be fun, and the capacity to be dark as hell. Once writers started exploring the psychological depths of why, exactly, people like to put on costumes and get violent, we started learning things about these superhero characters... and it isn't always pleasant.
Bright and breezy superhero movies tend to make the most money at the box office, but there are still a lot of people in the world who prefer them to be dark and brooding. And sure enough, many of the best superhero movies ever made are exceptionally, even depressingly grim. Many of them star Batman, for perhaps obvious reasons. Heck, we had to change the rules a bit just to make sure Batman didn't completely dominate this list.
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But one of the most beautiful things about superhero stories is that they have the capacity to be fun, and the capacity to be dark as hell. Once writers started exploring the psychological depths of why, exactly, people like to put on costumes and get violent, we started learning things about these superhero characters... and it isn't always pleasant.
Bright and breezy superhero movies tend to make the most money at the box office, but there are still a lot of people in the world who prefer them to be dark and brooding. And sure enough, many of the best superhero movies ever made are exceptionally, even depressingly grim. Many of them star Batman, for perhaps obvious reasons. Heck, we had to change the rules a bit just to make sure Batman didn't completely dominate this list.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...