As you know, l’m quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book, not particularly well-drawn, but the mythology. The mythology is not only great, it’s unique… Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there’s the alter ego… Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red “S”, that’s the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears — the glasses, the business suit — that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He’s weak, he’s unsure of himself, he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race.
In Wonder Woman, Diana (Gal Gadot) and the other Amazonians are daughters of Zeus, the father of the Gods in Greek mythology. Wonder Woman is literally a Greek goddess. The theme of the Wonder Woman movie is the fact that humans are not inherently good, or at the very least are not always inherently good. Diana is not an everywoman. She is a goddess who, like in the ancient myths, provides an insight into our humanity because she is so far removed from it.
Justice League
Even a hero like the Flash (Ezra Miller), who was not born with superpowers, eventually becomes the fastest man in the world. These superlatives are classic DC. When compared to their Marvel counterparts, DC characters are always overpowered. If Marvel characters are underdog stories, DC’s are clashes of the Titans. Batman v Superman was even billed as “the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world.”
With Justice League hitting theaters in November, our heroes will face off against Steppenwolf, a god in his own right. It’ll be god vs. god in a battle for the Earth! ~Yanis Khamsi