Frontlist | 10 DC Adaptations That Are Nothing Like The Comics

Frontlist | 10 DC Adaptations That Are Nothing Like The Comics
on Feb 05, 2021

With so much history for DC movies to touch on, a large amount of adaptations choose to be nothing like the comics they're based on.

For many moviegoers, DC movies are synonymous with superheroes. Superman and Batman are the symbols of superheroes, and many fans will see anything that features their favorite DC Comics characters. DC fans have gotten a fair few excellent movies over the years, but they’ve also watched more than their share of flops.With so much content in DC Comics to explore, movies can go in seemingly a million different directions. Sometimes, these films stick close to the storylines of the comics; other times, these movies see great departures from their origins on the page. While success depends on many factors, this disparity can make or break a film. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987) Superman may be synonymous with superheroes, but not all of his movies follow his storylines exactly. Sidney J. Furie’s 1987 film Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was the fifth movie in the Superman series at the time, but it was the first one made without producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind. Whether it was their involvement or not that made the other movies so much better, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was not well-received in the least. It has huge glaring plot holes and seems to reflect a completely different character than the Superman that fans had come to know and love. Catwoman (2004) Pitof’s 2004 film Catwoman is viewed by fans as poorly as Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is. Both of these movies claim to portray their titular characters, but, in fact, these characters are vastly different from their appearances in the comics. Fans who had been excited to see Michelle Pfeiffer return as Catwoman were in for a surprise, as Halle Berry took over the role for Catwoman.However, the movie ended up as such a mess that even general audiences couldn’t enjoy it. The film received largely negative reviews, and is still reflected upon extremely poorly as a film — especially as a film meant to depict Catwoman. Batman Begins (2005) When audiences saw Christopher Nolan’s 2005 film Batman Begins for the first time, the version of Bruce Wayne they saw there was something of a surprise to them. There are many interpretations of Batman in the comics, but this version of Batman pulled only from one version specific version of the character. For most comics fans, this Batman seemed a lot darker and grittier than any Batman they had ever known. Christopher Nolan did make excellent Batman movies, but his Bruce Wayne was different from most Bruces in the comics were. Green Lantern (2011) There were a lot of misfires with Martin Campbell’s 2011 film Green Lantern, but Ryan Reynolds is no stranger to having his characters fumbled. His Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverinewas similarly a mess, but his character was redeemed by Deadpool.Audiences are hoping that, because the Green Lantern hasn’t appeared yet in the DCEU, Ryan Reynolds may return and save the character once again. The 2011 film Green Lantern was vastly different from the Green Lantern fans knew in the comics, but they remain optimistic for more moving forwards anyways. Man Of Steel (2013) To kick off the DCEU, Superman received yet another movie with Zack Snyder’s 2013 Man of Steel. However, for many viewers, this movie was a poor introduction to the new world of DC on the silver screen. Clark Kent appeared much darker and grimmer than he had ever appeared before, and seemed to not even enjoy his life as Clark Kent or as Superman. The only time he really laughs is when he takes flight for the first time. While Henry Cavill undoubtedly is an excellent Clark Kent, the writing just isn’t there; he is simply so unlike his comics counterpart. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016) After Man of Steel came Zack Snyder’s 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which Batman and Superman come head to head and fight. Whenever this happened in the comics, it was impactful because Superman and Batman were closer than brothers, and trusted each other more than anybody else in the world. Superman even trusts Batman with Kryptonite. However, none of this effort had been done for the characters in the DCEU movies, so the motivations and their dynamics are drastically unlike their comics counterparts. Suicide Squad (2016) Something that the MCU hadn’t really done that the DCEU decided to attempt early on in the franchise was an all-villain movie. In David Ayer’s 2016 film Suicide Squad, fans saw supervillains like Deadshot and Harley Quinn teaming up, rather than heroes like Batman and Superman, or Captain America and Iron Man.However, these versions of the characters didn’t seem much like their comics originals at all — especially Harley Quinn. In fact, Harley Quinn’s portrayal in this movie was so poorly received that she got a whole new movie to rectify things: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), directed by Cathy Yan, in 2020. Justice League (2017) While the DCEU was making movies like Man of Steel, the MCU was already well on their way past their team-up movie, The Avengers, and moving deeper into their second phase of the cinematic universe. In an effort to keep up, the DCEU rushed their own team-up movie, and Justice Leaguecame far too soon for the franchise. The entire Justice League hadn’t even been introduced yet, and still hasn’t been. The Justice League film doesn’t seem to resemble the Justice League that fans knew from the comics in the least. Joker (2019) Much like James Mangold’s 2017 film Logan, Todd Phillips’ 2019 film Jokertook a more serious approach to the movie’s titular character. While the Joker of the filmand the Joker supervillain that fans know from DC Comics are two vastly different versions of the character, many audiences still enjoyed Joker. Some even enjoyed Joker because of how different the character was. This allowed for a new interpretation of the character in a more familiar world than Gotham may be to audiences. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) One of the more recent entries into the DCEU, Wonder Woman 1984decided to tackle one of the most dramatic moments in Wonder Woman’s life. In the DC Comics, Wonder Woman was forced to stop Maxwell Lord from controlling Superman — and possibly destroying the Earth — by snapping his neck on live television.However, Patty Jenkins’ 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984 featured a Maxwell Lord who was able to pull himself back from the brink. Rather than Diana Prince killing him, he is able to stop himself for love of his son and the world he wants to leave him, rather than anything else. His strength of character is enough to save the world, whereas, previously, Wonder Woman killing him was the only option left.   Source: CBR