If the premise of a superman story is “strong guy fight strong guy,” then yeah, not very interesting. What I’d prefer to see is a story that explores what having superheroes around does to humanity. What happens when a kid copies Superman and jumps off a building, and doesn’t get caught? What happens when police expect a superhero to do their job for them? At what point does Superman decide to step away because he thinks he’s causing more harm than good?
Maybe my memory is tainted because I tried to read the comic version of The Boys somewhat recently, but Watchmen is a much more mature exploration of the same topics.
All Star Superman is kind of my yardstick for a great Superman story. It gives Superman a challenge he can’t simply punch his way out of, and spends most of its time simply exploring how he moves through the world.
Meanwhile the X-men have been around since the 1960s exploring all kinds of stories about how the greater population treats mutants. Including the recurring stories of Mageto’s “We are better than them Charles” while Professor X is like “can’t we all get along?”
If the premise of a superman story is “strong guy fight strong guy,” then yeah, not very interesting. What I’d prefer to see is a story that explores what having superheroes around does to humanity. What happens when a kid copies Superman and jumps off a building, and doesn’t get caught? What happens when police expect a superhero to do their job for them? At what point does Superman decide to step away because he thinks he’s causing more harm than good?
The Boys, basically.
Maybe my memory is tainted because I tried to read the comic version of The Boys somewhat recently, but Watchmen is a much more mature exploration of the same topics.
The comic is edgy garbage. The show fixes it.
Dr Manhattan is a good exploration of the omnipotent superman.
Perhaps, but less cynically.
All Star Superman is kind of my yardstick for a great Superman story. It gives Superman a challenge he can’t simply punch his way out of, and spends most of its time simply exploring how he moves through the world.
Meanwhile the X-men have been around since the 1960s exploring all kinds of stories about how the greater population treats mutants. Including the recurring stories of Mageto’s “We are better than them Charles” while Professor X is like “can’t we all get along?”
And there’s conservatives now asking when X-Men became “Woke”…
Misfits is a personal favourite show that explores some of those themes.
Misfits is more about flawed people getting powers.
Great show, but not the “limits of superman and how normal people react” theme being discussed.
Thats fair, I just like the show :)
I wish Robert Sheehan had stayed on for season 4. Joe Gilgun was a different shaped peg for that ®hole. Not bad, just too different.
Yeah, agreed, it felt like a different show after S3. Still some good episodes in there though.
Too be fair, Klaus in the Umbrella Academy is almost the same character with almost the same powers.