When one watches The Man of Steel, Snyder's latest effort, one can't help but notice the entire tone matches Nolan's films. This is a no brainer because WB make crap tons of money on Nolan's films, so now they think they have a formula for success on their hands. Take what once had a joyful exubrence and trade it in for more “realistic” takes on characters. Does this though make the movies feel more real? I would argue that what is really happening is WB is has had the wool over thier eyes with pseudo realism. Meaning that they present the world not in the stylized form that comics do, but in a exaggeratedly realistic manner.
Take Nolan's film Begins, for all of its struggles for realism it actually included ridiculous pseudo science with what was in effect a giant microwave making all of Gotham's water turn to vapor. This is one of the dumbest plots I have heard and everyone ate it up. Why is it that Nolan refused to include to use powers etc because they were unrealistic but when it served his whim he just made up a machine to serve as a plot device?
Why doesn't this just vaporize every person in Gotham?
Nolan was not producing a “realistic” take on Batman, he was producing his idea of what Batman should be. This is why is is a terrible idea to base the entirety of DCEU on the tone of those films. Ledger's Joker, while impressive, does not represent the Joker from the comics as much as what Nolan thought would be cool. Hence the dirtiness and the scars. Up until that point Joker had always had a bit of class, but it wasn't “realistic” enough for Joker to be the wildcard kiss you or murder you kind. Now he is just a murderer who wants the world to burn, even though in the comics Joker is more of a kill you on a whim kinda guy Nolan made Ledger a straight up murderer with nothing else on his mind but to kill people or convince others how fun killing people is. The Joker in the comics is almost like two face in his decision making, going this way or that based on his insanity and multiple personality. Ledger had a clear endgame goal and never once shifted from his intention, in effect leaving behind the idea that Joker is insane and making him more of a zealot who just has different views of the world.
This is not the Joker, the Joker has no end game in mind and no set theology. Everything is a whim for Joker in the comics but when Nolan was crafting his Joker he took away that aspect (theoretically) because it didn't fit the story he was trying to tell. Oh but he did it in the killing joke storyline? You know what is funny about that is that actually proves my point. He had never had that intention, to prove anyone could be as insane as him, up until that point. It was just a whim he had and then he moved on. Joker's every intention is not to prove the evil of man. He is self serving in the comics, not a zealot for some poetic cause. Which brings me to my next point.
When doing a “realistic” version of a story, the characters always fall to the wayside for plot. Notice the lack of Robin, or Penguin, and lots of other characters in TDK trilogy. The new films seem to be embracing the comics more but are still using the same tone. Therefore they are forced to change the characters to suit the tone instead of changing the tone to suit the character. Hence Kal Drogo Aquaman and tattoed metal teeth wearing Leto Joker.
These aren't the definitive takes on the characters, and before everyone whines about different takes on characters hear me out. There is a “definitive” for each character out there. A version of the character (usually in main continuity or was main continuity before some kind of reboot) that manages to adequately capture the essence of the character and is iconic for the character in both look and attitude.
Take Christopher Reeve as Superman, there was no violation of the character from the comics, no one had to explain that this was a “realistic” take on the character because it was just an honest portrayal.
Every DCEU choice so far has been bogged down by the explanation that this is a realistic darker portrayal of the characters from the comics. Why though? Are there people out there who hated the idea of a light, fun Flash movie? Or is DC changing the inherent feel of their characters because they learned from the box office success of TDK trilogy that is the cool thing to do? Where does this leave the more absurd characters like Shazaam? Are we going to get a dark, gritty, blood soaked art piece about a kid who gets powers from a wizard and uses those powers to kill people? Imagine how out of character it would be to see that from an icon like Spiderman.
Furthermore is darkness and grittiness even realistic? In a movie where people can shoot lasers from their eyes and fly there is inherent silliness. One of my favorite scenes of the Raimi Spiderman films is when Spidey has to ride the lift and there is another guy in there and it is super awkward. This is a funny light REALISTIC scene. It doesn't take a serial murderer to be realistic, it doesn't have to be darkness gloom and seriousness to be real. There is levity in reality, there are eccentric people in reality, not every villain has to have some crazy ideology.
Hit the comments and tell me what you guys think.