Of Superheroes (and Villains)

Originality is not something that's the standout in this weekend's new release from Marvel, The Incredible Hulk.

But then superheroes are cast in a mould, and their primary objective is to wage war against evil and prevail, against all odds.

Many of the most loved superheroes are characters laden with angst, tortured souls like DC's Batman, who decided to fight crime after his parents were gunned down in front of him.

Others, like Marvel's Iron Man, are weighed down by their conscience and guilt, inspired to work tirelessly (and selflessly) for a better world, and thereby pay penance for their previous misadventures.

Edward Norton's portrayal of Bruce Banner and his alter-ego Hulk, adds credibility and class to a slick, well-produced movie, which also marks Marvel's first foray into cinema - a departure from their traditional royalty/franchise model seen in Spiderman and X-Men. I, for one, enjoyed it more than I did Ang Lee's Hulk. Liv Tyler, as always is at her shimmeringly beautiful best and adds that oh-so-vulnerable contrast to the superhero's invincibility.

It got me thinking about my favourite superhero portrayals and here's a list which many of you may disagree with, but I do have my reasons for including them in my 'magnificent seven'.

No list of great superheroes (and villains) would be complete without Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker in the Batman series. I would be doing an injustice if I didn't mention Danny DeVito's Penguin, another character portrayal where the actor is intrinsically attached to the role itself.

Marvel took a major gamble in casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, given the actor's battles with his personal demons. But it paid off handsomely, and marked a new age for superhero movies. With critics and the paying public applauding the movie alike, the cash registers are ringing now at Marvel Studios, with half a billion dollars in revenues. A far cry indeed from the time Marvel's then CEO placed a 'winner-takes-all' wager and borrowed $550 million to finance setting up a studio. Historically reduced to receiving royalties from the successes of Spiderman and X-Men, Marvel's resurgence has enabled it to finally catch up (and indeed, surpass in many respects) its rival DC (Batman, Superman).

The contrast between Marvel and DC is what adds spice to the contest - Marvel's 1960's upstarts and misfits to DC's 1930's style square-jawed champions of truth, justice and peace. For me, there's plenty of space for both to co-exist. But then, I'm a committed superhero fan, as I hope many of you reading this are.

Christopher Reeve's 'faster than a speeding bullet' Superman holds a special place in an entire generation, but thats not enough to secure him a place in my list, unlike Tim Burton's Batman, the sexiest film of 1989 - with an excellent original score underpinning a tight screenplay and slick cinematography. It went on to gross more than $400 million worldwide.

Ian McKellen's Magneto in X-Men is a wonderful villain, because he is supremely self-assured, rather than just megalomaniacal - an orator, a populist leader, a rabblerouser, a master of rhetoric. McKellen is so good that its almost unfair.

Far from Hollywood dumbing down by making movies about comics, as was the assumption in the Eighties and Nineties, its actually smartening up. The next few years sees a raft of new releases and sequels from both Marvel and DC - the Iron Man
sequels, Wanted (starring Angelina Jolie and based on a smart and sassy comic), Hellboy II (the sequel to the cult original), Hancock (with Will Smith as the distinctly unheroic superhero!) and Alan Moore's Watchmen are all guaranteed viewing
pleasure.

Here's the difference - while one of the producers of Judge Dredd hadn't even heard of the people who created the character, Marvel Studios invited in a brains trust of 'all the people who'd written the Iron Man comic, and amazingly, treated them with respect'.

But there's another entry on the list - the lone woman, Michelle Pfeiffer's beautiful and seductive, but completely insane and deadly Catwoman in Batman Returns. In contrast with Halle Berry, whose part limited her natural abilities. Just goes to show that the hero doesn't necessarily take the cake when it comes to these flicks.



Whilst on the subject of heroes and villains, I'm biting my nails in anticipation of this summer's hottest release - the late Heath Ledger along with Christian Bale's excellent Batman in Dark Knight. Named after the graphic novel from 1986 that was too bleak to film at the time, it stars Ledger as the truly pschotic Joker.

The List:

1. Jack Nicholson, Joker
2. Danny DeVito, Penguin
3. Edward Norton, Hulk
4. Robert Downey Jr, Tony Stark
5. Tim Burton, Batman
6. Ian McKellen, Magneto
7. Michelle Pfeiffer, Catwoman

@ oRiOn 2008