Will’s Unpopular Opinion – Iron-Bat vs Super-America. – 5-6-16

* SPOILERS * SPOILERS * SPOILERS *

If somebody out there is going to seriously tell me with a straight face that there isn’t some type of template-building movie-software out there used for about every film we’ve ever seen in the past 10-15 years or so, I’d say that person clearly never watches movies. I just got out of ‘Captain America: Civil War’, and was thinking the entire time “man I’ve seen this before…but where?” It struck me halfway through that “yes”, in fact I had seen this before only a few months ago, and personally I liked it the first time when it was called “Batman vs Superman”. Now before all the fanboys and film buffs jump on me to tell me how wrong I am, or how most comic themed movies have similar plot-points, because the writers of Marvel and DC are normally the same; I’d like to counter with the fact that the studios don’t hire the same people. In fact they’re normally in direct competition with each other, and have closed sets for their big blockbuster summer forays. So the only true explanation I could thoughtfully muster is the concept of some machine that spits out template movies, that studios buy and alter to fit their characters. Because, god damn, these movies are so similar it can’t just be me who notices this. Is it?

Obviously, I need to warn for “spoilers ahead” but if you’ve already seen ‘BvS’, don’t worry, nothing is new… I’m going to try this in broad strokes and let the reader decide which movie I’m talking about.

We start out the movie with our “american hero” entering into a country he shouldn’t be in, and causing civil unrest as a somewhat routine skirmish taking down mercenaries leads to casualties someplace in Africa; all of which is unsanctioned by the US. This brings into question our heroes vigilante status and how that needs to be accounted for.

We then cut to a scene introducing our counter hero via pseudo dream sequences/augmented reality displays, as it’s clear they still have hang-ups about their parents death, hence putting our gadget crazy hero in a vulnerable yet telling position that helps the audience identify with them and their current disposition. This is shortly followed by a scene where our hero learns that their previous history as a crime-fighter has caused some no-name character to be affected by the hero’s actions. This now establishes they’re current motivation for the duration of the film (even if it contradicts almost everything we knew about them prior).

A mandate is then passed that a new law will call for our spangly hero from the African debacle to stand for his “war-crimes”, and be put under the microscope of public perception as well as the control of the US government in hopes of containing them from future disasters. A quick montage is then set in place by a government official who wants the hero taken out of commission; citing all the times this hero has been of service. The question is then put forth that the world may never have been in this position if heroes never existed in the first place.

A hearing is now set to discuss this situation by the government and ends in complete disaster as it’s disrupted by a massive explosion taking out the entire building, setting off a series of events that cause our tech-savy hero to question his opposite’s place in the world. It’s also around this point that a new hero enters the film. This distinguished royal highness has taken it upon themselves to begin poking around, trying to decipher what is going on as their own motivations propel them to continue their investigation.

We now cut to our 4th main character, the film’s main antagonist. We learn they’ve been orchestrating this entire conspiracy from the get-go. It’s all a massive ruse to see our heroes battle each other for his own benefit, knowing he couldn’t physically do it himself. So now in a lab our villain unleashes his doomsday device with a key he got off of an previous now dead enemy. The villain has some convoluted plot about setting into a motion an unstoppable force to ignite a flame our heroes can’t put out, all driven by some absurd yet blatant idea that his world was shattered by their very existence.

A massive battle ensues involving all of our heroes…

We then get a scene where our main two heroes, gallant driven and gadget ridden, go head to head as daddy/mommy issues come into play forcing the outcome of the fight. After a resolve involving broken helmets and exposed achilles heels, we get a bunch of epilogue scenes depicting the passing of weeks. We see the villain behind bars, and the heroes in civilian clothes talking portentously about the future; discussing what will eventually become the beginning of our huge super-hero team years in the making.

Now, again, these are broad strokes. But there is something undeniable about their coincidence and how much these movies seem to “borrow” from each other. Obviously it can’t be assumed that these two flicks copied off of each other, if only due to their back to back release dates, but to not recognize a massive comparison between the two is oddly narrow sighted, and brings into question how these movies truly get written. Marvel and DC have always been mirror images of themselves. ‘Spiderman 1’, and ‘Batman 89’ oddly had multiple similar scenes at key moments. The same goes for ‘Batman Returns’ and ‘Ironman 2’, but these movies came out years apart and lose traction in peoples consciousness. It’s to be expected to have some type of overlap with that amount of time in between films, but to have the same movie appear only two months after it’s first iteration seems to go beyond coincidence.

In 1996, the biggest comic book event of the year (that also started that spring) was the massive ‘Marvel vs DC’ crossover, pitting it’s heroes against each other in a battle royal that would redefine comics for years to come. It would climax in a huge series called ‘Amalgam’ which actually fused the heroes into one universe. Although that doesn’t seem to be the outcome here, (until they run out of ideas). Now, 20 years later, Marvel and DC are at it again; only this time at the box office with the same products.

Think that it’s still a coincidence? It’s pretty odd that ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Deadpool’ came the same year too. Two movies that seemingly never had much of a chance of being green-lit, now are premiering only 6 months apart. It seems clear that there is a playbook somewhere and Fox/Marvel and WB/DC are following it page for page. Either that or WB is cheating and peaking into Marvel’s and trying to pass it off as their own. Maybe Marvel found out, and last minute decided not to kill off Cap’, and to try and keep their book reports somewhat different.

In the 96′ comic, Batman beat Captain America during their duel. Just barely. Although the outcome may be different here, one thing is for sure; I just spent $20 on the same issue with two different covers.

-Will Valle