With the universe concept a major drawing power of the comics, allowing team-ups and crossovers aplenty, one wonders how surprised we should be that Marvel and, to some extent, DC, are trying to bring the idea to their movies as well.
Regardless of how far this ever gets – the politics of such a move are staggering – the intention is there to move the integration into films.
But let’s hold up a second.
Spider-Man as a concept is immediately weakened as soon as other super-powered heroes are introduced into his universe. No longer does Peter Parker shoulder the burden of being a hero and protecting the public. What does it matter if Peter can’t get out there as Spider-Man when the Avengers are around? Why should the X-Men be persecuted as freaks by society when the Fantastic Four are adored, despite there being no real difference to the public? Superman can do things no person on Earth can – except, of course, when he’s in a universe with the Flash, and Wonder Woman, and even Supergirl.
Superhero concepts, as designed, tend to work best when they stand as the planet’s only available option. In comics, a set of genre rules exist to get around this problem – Spider-Man only fights street-level crooks, while the Fantastic Four handle Galactus, and the Avengers deal with the Masters of Evil. Legitimately, if Galactus showed up and had only Spider-Man to fight against, the planet would be eaten faster than you can say “uh-oh, I’m out of web-fluid!” These unspoken rules of superheroics keep the Spider-Man villains largely in Spider-Man comics, and the Avengers villains in Avengers comics, and pretends that there isn’t any other way about it. Unfortunately, this sort of thing is a rarity. The question has to be asked – what greater good will be served by placing such iconic characters together on screen? The beauty of comics-to-movie adaptations has always been that they can portray the themes at the heart of each character with a certain purity – one that fits into 2 hours of screen time. What’s the core of the Avengers or JLA concept? Struggling to think of one? “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” is just another way of saying “gratuitous character team-up” – and that’s quite probably what we’re headed for.
The fan in me can’t wait to see an Avengers, or even a JLA movie – but the rational side of me can’t help but wonder how they’re going to make a story out of it that services all the characters while still doing something unique. Will it make money? Probably. Is it a good idea? Time’s going to have to tell on that one. James will be back with another Alternate Cover next week; read his last column here.