Zack Snyder vs. Bryan Singer

[Ayen]

@WK, I think the problem anyone will face with adapting X-Men is choosing between its library of characters and how much time to focus on each to give them equal footing combined with your normal 2 hour runtime constraint to fit all of this in. I supposed Civil War can be seen as an example of how to do this correctly, but it remains to be seen if that was a one time thing, or something filmmakers can duplicate in future superhero movies. On paper something like Civil War doesn't look possible, but the execution was as close to flawless as I have seen, at least when it came to making the whole team look important.

Perhaps if they were to adapt the earlier comics and just have Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Ice Man, and Arcangel alongside Professor Xavier, it'd be easier to give them each equal footing and go more the Guardian of the Galaxy route because that's only six characters in addition to whoever you choose as a villain, who would most likely be Magneto. Or look at the earlier comics as a point of reference and just choose six characters in general from the X-Men mytho that people would want to see. You can still have Wolverine, but don't make the mistake of having him overshadow everyone else.

As for Watchmen, I think one of the things that worked against it was the fact it was marketed as a typical superhero action movie, when it was so much more than that. While I was pleasantly surprised at what I got at the cinema I can't fault people for being disappointed if they were expecting something else based on the trailers. Though this is less the movie's fault and more marketing and trying to cater to your general movie audience that is drawn to action scenes and explosions.

Another deal is (SPOILER)Dr. Manhattan replacing the giant squid. Not a bad idea on its own, but, Manhattan is gone by the time the U.S. and the Soviets unite, whereas the giant squid isn't. Meaning they have nothing physical to fight and keep the alliance going so it changes the narrative and doesn't make as much sense. Which can be especially frustrating for a hardcore Watchmen fan as for the most part they were pretty true to the source material.

@FL, very good analysis of Superman. You're right, he's really more of a concept. The best Superman stories are about the internal struggle of Superman, not the external. Yes, we know he can defeat the bad guys. Yes, we know he can do virtually anything. The struggle comes from the question, "What should he do? What should be his limit? Should he be held accountable according to man's law? What should we do? What can we do?" He is basically a god with human morals, and powers that can do a lot of damage to the world at large if not kept under check. Something as simple as a handshake could crush a person's hand. Opening a door could cause the whole thing to be ripped from its hinges. A simple exhale could blow down a house. Then there's the fact as demonstrated in Man of Steel where not being able to control his X-Ray and Superhearing rendered him unable to even function and was one of the more interesting parts of the movie. To be fair, Dawn of Justice did explore a lot of these ideas, but never went anywhere with them.

I feel the cartoon did a better job of representing Superman in media, especially with his, "Cardboard box" speech to Darkseid about how he always has to hold back. Even Supergirl does this better than the movie with James's speech about, "When you're stronger than every army on Earth you have to be better." It's not something we can relate to, and may be better kept in written form considering internal struggle may be harder to show in a visual medium, but it can still be an interesting story to see how such a character manages powers that can be so destructive, or how they feel about them (something I'll admit Smallville did well). The problems lie in trying to have him like every single other superhero who fights the bad guys and has that moment where he may not come out on top. It doesn't work as well with Superman unfortunately because of how overpowered writers have made him over the years. Unless you went the John Byrne's route and considerably nerfed his abilities to make it a fair fight, but most people have never heard of John Byrne's Superman and his Superman was so different from what the mainstream accepts it'd likely never be considered for an on-screen adapation.

I think WK has been a bad influence on me because this is the most time I've ever spent on a single post about comic book movies in my entire life. DAMN YOU, WOLF KANNO!