Study of Generic Superheroes:
Study of the Superhero Film Genre:
The Corpus →
The Repertoire of Elements↓ |
Film1: Superman (1978) Donner | Film 2: Spider-man (2002) Raimi | Film 3: Wonder Woman (2017) Jenkins |
Typical Locations | New York, mythical places, big cities, urban location, usually America… or space. | ||
Characters / Groups | Typical hero with ‘powers’, group of heroes in conflict, dead family members, orphans, extremists, antagonist, sidekick – tech guys, love interest – the damsel in distress | ||
Conflicts & Themes | Good overcoming evil, overcoming adversity, origin story, internal conflict, | ||
Filmic Technique | Kaboom, CGI, big action sequences, cars chase, flashbacks, training montage, explosions, special effects, aerial shots, voiceovers, the costume reveal | ||
Iconography / Mise-en-Scene | Cityscape, primary coloured superhero suits, vehicles, specific weapons, power prop, superpower, | ||
Shape of the story | Opening action setting – origin story explained – characters introduced | Superhero is put in challenging situations – their arch nemesis tries to destroy the world. Achilles heel is tested | Superhero wins / saves the world – and the girl |
How Does Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ Conform to the Superhero Genre?
- The use of special weaponry and vehicles by the protagonist that are designed around a central theme or image – Batarangs, the Batmobile and the Batsuit.
- The hero has a ‘secret lair’ or hidden base of operations – The Batcave.
- Lucius Fox serves as the archetypal support character, assisting the hero through the use of technology from another location.
- The murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents motivating him to root out all evil in Gotham ties into the conventions of generic superhero stories.
- The Joker is a great example of the archetypal supervillain, or arch-nemesis, as his role as an agent of chaos is the antithesis of Batman’s crusade for justice and order.
- The setting of Gotham is a stereotypical American city, like many others in the corpus of the superhero genre.
How Does It Subvert the Genre?
- Despite Robin appearing prominently in the original Batman comics, there is no archetypal sidekick in ‘The Dark Knight’.
- Bruce Wayne has no superpowers, nor is the world of the film home to any supernatural elements.
- The dark, gritty tone of the film differs significantly to the more light-hearted tone of generic superhero movies.
- The hero’s love interest, Rachael Dawes, not only chooses another man, but dies in the film, not able to be saved by Batman. Usually, the superhero always gets the girl.
- Batman as a hero is not necessarily a force for good. He is willing to walk the line between darkness and the light to make Gotham a better place, and doesn’t live up to other generic protagonists as a paragon of virtue and righteousness.
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