Justice League Part II

Let's talk some more Justice League currently due to come out in 2017.

In Justice League Part I, I talked quite a bit about what DC Comics has done wrong in the past and my biggest concern with a Justice League movie.  Now, let's talk about what some (not me) would argue to be the most important part of a superhero movie:  the hero.

The most important thing to understand when considering a superhero is the relationship between the two potential personas.  Do they have a secret identity?  Do they wear some kind of disguise?  How different do they act when in their mortal identity instead of their super identity?  This is the foundation of what makes the superhero genre what it is.

The sequel to Man of Steel (2013) is set to introduce the newest reboot of Batman.  This movie, currently very cleverly called Batman vs. Superman and set to come out in 2015, is of particular interest because of who we all expect to be the two main characters.  Batman and Superman are two of the most important superheroes in superhero history partially because they are two of the first, but more importantly because they represent the two poles of the superhero globe:  one dark, one light.  One believes in the best of humanity, the other believes in the worst.

Since the two heroes are so very polarized, it isn't surprising that they represent two extremes when it comes to the relationship between their super persona and their mortal persona.  In their particular cases, the most important point is which came first.

Bruce Wayne declared war on crime and became Batman after his parents were killed in front of him as a child.  Worse yet, most versions of the story suggest that the family either went to the theater or left early because of him.  Rough stuff.  He was just a kid and from that moment on, he was Batman.  Everything he did in his life was for the sole purpose of fighting crime in Gotham.  Later, when he finally started his campaign, he created the persona of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne to protect his identity as Batman.

Kal-El was born on the planet Krypton and was sent in a small space ship to Earth just before Krypton's destruction.  He crash landed on the farm of John and Martha Kent just outside of Smallville, Kansas, where he is raised as Clark Kent.  Later, after moving to Metropolis and becoming a reporter, as his powers develop and he learns to control them, he feels a sense of responsibility that leads to the creation of his identity as Superman.

These two are interesting because they both came to similar conclusions.  Both have dual personas that are complete opposites and both work very hard to keep people convinced that the two are not the same person.  However, their is one subtle and distinct difference.

Clark Kent disguises himself as Superman.  Batman disguises himself as Bruce Wayne.

Clark Kent had a childhood and grew up.  He created Superman in order to step out of his timid persona and be something more.  Clark Kent created Superman.  On the other hand, Bruce Wayne had his childhood stripped away and turned himself into Batman.  There is never a time that Batman isn't Batman.  Bruce Wayne only exists as a way of funding Batman's endeavors and throwing his enemies off his trail.  Batman created Bruce Wayne.

I believe that in order to successfully portray a superhero, you must master that particular hero's relationship between their mortal and super selves.

For Superman, Clark Kent is the primary.  He should be natural and somewhat shy.  He's a small-town boy living in a big city.  Superman is an act.  He should pretend to be full of bravado and completely good, but it must be completely clear that it isn't real.  He shouldn't be particularly noble or self-assured, but rather should be trying to convince other people that he is.  The actual person should be flawed and self-doubting, but feign an air of confidence out of necessity, trying to live up to people's expectations.

For Batman, Bruce Wayne is an act.  The true character is dark and brooding.  He is constantly consumed by his war on crime and thinks of nothing else at all times.  Bruce Wayne should very clearly be an act.  He should pretend to be a billionaire playboy because that is what people expect of him.  He should seem to be care-free and a little bit of an ignorant ditz who only cares about himself while actually being a brilliant detective who has sacrificed a normal life to protect others.

These are two poles of the mortal-super relationship, but they are not the only types of relationships.  There are other examples, such as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark makes his mortal-super relationship (MSR) very clear from the first movie when he says, "I am Iron Man."  His MSR is quite simple:  there isn't one.  The entire second movie is about the idea that you cannot separate Iron Man from Tony Stark because they are one and the same.  The third Iron Man movie goes a step further and (spoilers) actually strips him of his armor.  However, this doesn't stop him from being Iron Man.  He never drops the fight or quits using brilliantly designed tools and weapons.  They just look a bit different.

We now have the two biggest foundations for a successful Justice League movie.  Keep it in the grey area and be sure to understand each hero's MSR.  With the two of these in mind, how should DC Comics actually go about piecing this movie together?  Find out in the exciting conclusion of this three-part analysis:  Justice League Part III.