The Changing of the Guard: ALL Established Superheroes Must Go!
By
Agonus,
Posted on: 2010-11-13 18:41 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
Quote:
The other problem is that most of the books are built around the idea that a specific person is the superhero, so it's hard to change that. It's especially difficult with some of the backstories -- there's only one surviving son of Krypton, there's only one guy who was bitten by a unique spider, and so on. In order for there to be an evolving, changing roster, it kind of has to be built in to the book. Plus, audiences become attached to characters, so there is resistance to seeing them switched out.|
Originally Posted by Liz Bathory
But it all ends up on the same... The Comapnies aren't interested in taking a chance with new characters and loose money... not when they can draw upon money making characters. So the original ones will be made more modern/updated and will always be there.
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This also occurs in TV. The original concept for The White Shadow was that there were be an ever-changing cast of characters as the kids graduated from high school and moved on. When the second season came around with a mostly new bunch, ratings dropped and the show got canceled. Same deal with Heroes: it was designed around the idea most of them would die or be depowered by the end of the first season, making room for new heroes, but the suits decided that the fans wouldn't go for that and dictated the original cast stay around. (We kind of got a taste of the new heroes coming in, but that stuff was abandoned pretty early and left unresolved.)
DC did revamp both Green Lantern and The Flash once upon a time, but those revamps become more iconic than the characters they replaced, which made it hard to replace them... but not impossible, since everyone knew these were "new" guys, thus making them easier to supplant.
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
The big two do this all the time. Here's some examples:
Wolverine: X-23, Daken
Hulk: Grey Hulk, Smart Green Hulk, Red Hulk, Skaar-Son
Captain America: Hawkeye as Cap, Iron Man as Cap, U.S.Agent, etc
Green Lantern: How many do we have now? I can't name them all....
Superman: Super Boy, Super Girl, Steel, Power Girl etc
Batman: Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl etc
X-Men: X-Force, X-Factor, Generation X, 2099 etc
ad naseum...
They bring in new, younger versions all the time. The problem? People don't like to change while we scream at the top of our lungs that we are tired of the same ol' same ol'. Humans cannot be satisfied as a whole. We are always wanting new and more while we also want to keep the old. How many threads do we read nerd raging that so and so actor will NOT fit the bill for "my" favorite character? Or OMG they change so and so's costume? How dare they, burn them at the stake! But then the same people will post another thread saying they are tired of seeing that character, or that character's costume looks like it came from 1920...
I'm as guilty as anyone but it's our nature. The companies then have to try and balance all of that and make the most profit possible. Because at the end of the day money is what motivates those companies. Yes the writers may have a personal vested interest in a particular character or story but at the end of the day it is still the bottom dollar that puts books/games/movies on the shelves. And I guarantee you that there are people who have bought those things knowing ahead of time that they didn't like the changes inside. But they still bought it.
So don't look for a disappearing Batman/Spider Man/Superman/Wolverine anytime soon. And if they do, then expect a reboot or a time warp to follow shortly. Heck I'm still expecting Jean Gray herself to walk into a panel of X-Men any second now. Why not? Uncle Ben has been brought back a couple times. Superman's entire planet was rebuilt at one point..
But I do love the old What-Ifs and Elseworlds and the more current Exiles(which was canceled?). This gave the writers and readers a chance to see our favorites in a different light. Maybe this is what we as paying customers should be asking for. I mean how many of you have made alt versions of your main toon here in COH? I know I have. I have three PowerStreams now, two Bully the Clowns and a couple others as well... It's what keeps it interesting, but I still like to play the originals from time to time.
The problem is that the new characters don't have the time to carve out their own niche. I can't stand adding female versions of established male characters, especially when they replace said character(I'm looking at you Black Panther). She-Hulk only works the less involvement she has with her cousin and even now, they had to add another She-Hulk or two. It's all a mess with plot devices that seem to hang around too long (see: X-23).
"Samual_Tow - Be disappointed all you want, people. You just don't appreciate the miracles that are taking place here."
This means they only rehash!
DC does it a bit better... but the old crew will never really leave.
Ofcourse others can be a Batman... But the public will never accept another. New flash (person connected to the Speed Force) is easy... new Green Lanterns are even easier. More people in teh Superman family too. As Kara and al-El are natural aliens that can obviously procreate with humans they will give at least part of their Kryptonean genes and powers to their children.
And the legion of others that are immortal or long lived!? They will be there. If you read ' The Guardians of the Galaxy' series by Marvel comics you get a good idea. Dr. Strange is long lived and can hope to reach 500 years. Thor can easily reach 1000 years. Wonder Woman will be immortal (at least as long as she stays under Aphrodites protection). Wonder Man/Hollywood is an energy being and immortal. The Vision is a Synthesoid and can be reused or still there. Iron Man already had successors. But can also go the Batman Inc. route.
But it all ends up on the same... The Comapnies aren't interested in taking a chance with new characters and loose money... not when they can draw upon money making characters. So the original ones will be made more modern/updated and will always be there.
So I think there's a space for new characters, but we comics buyers have to actually read the books. For example, there was this fun series called Runaways that Marvel supported for a couple of years. Decent book, all unique characters. Gone now, because we readers would rather read four version of Wolverine each month!
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.