What's with DC trying to be dark and edgy?

they are doing the complete opposite of Marvel

and they wonder why they have less success than their rival...

The problem is: dark and edgy can work with Batman, but the other superheroes (Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman) are optimistic characters. This is why Marvel can make movies about Captain America and Thor, because they don't take themself too seriously.

I think they're trying to cast themselves as the opposite of Marvel and their "fun for the whole family" approach.

They are trying to differentiate themselves from Marvel.

If Marvel can do a particular style so well, what makes DC think they can do better? It only makes competition worse for them.

They've got it into their heads that if they make themselves absolutely different from the MCU, they won And because they rely too much on Batman and have essentially decided to Nolanise the rest of DC on film and appeal to the gritty and edgy comic book fans. Even though there's just as much a market for those who don't want to see the DCU be Batmanized on screen.

Honest;y I just think they have a very misguided mindset that these heroes and characters just aren't cool, and the only way to make them work is with a dark edgy deconstruction of super heroes. Which doesn't even work since most people barely know the DC heroes, so deconstructing something they know nothing about it goes nowhere. Not to mention that it's just a very counterproductive mindset to begin with.

I don't even....

Interesting thread

Reminds me of "Blood on the Dancefloor"

@masterdetective: what the heck are you talking about? really, I mean it, can you be more specific?

DC has things like Bizarro, Batmite, Prez (books that are aimed at younger audience and far from dark and edgy). They have the Vertigo line which is aimed at adults, with lots of horror themed titles. Read JL 3000 and it's a book with humor and superheroics. The Superman books are basically action movies with mixed stuff like science fiction, fantasy and drama.

So I ask again, can you be specific? Because DC tries to be very diverse. That's a fact.

Because they still think its the 90s. They feel superheroes must be dark and edgy and realistic to be any good. They're suffering from a post Watchmen or more appropriately post Dark Knight effect. Since the Dark Knight was critically acclaimed for being dark and realistic they must now make everyone of their heroes like that.

Well I am the prime example of the gritty and edgy comic book fan and I still think Man of Steel was bad. I dont think it being gritty was what made it bad, I think it was the complete lack of any and all emotion is what made it bad. I think regardless of what tone that movie took it would still have turned out shit.

Cause family friendly is too mainstream

@blackdog2009: He's talking about the movies.

What is up with people not knowing what the words "dark" and "edgy" really mean?

Edgy

Applied to books, music, or even haircuts which tend to challenge societal norms and reveal the dark side. Cutting edge.Novels by Chris Crutcher, Adam Rapp, and Alex Flinn.

Dark

Having very little or no light.

You misspelled serious and epic. I'd rather have that then an assembly line"fun" movie

Because batman is the DC biggest money maker and superman boy scout doesnt sell as seen from failed movies like superman returns. Although I think flash can break this cycle seeing from his tv show its more light that usual

It has a lot to do with the superhero films that they have made that flopped. They blame it on them trying to be silly and jokey rather than th just being bad films. The reason Green Lantern bombed and the Dark Knight made a billion dollars wasnt because one treated itself more seriously its because Green Lantern was a bad movie that nobody wanted to see. Unfortunately WB hasnt realized that and they feel making everyone darker will make people go to the theaters to see them.

I am guessing it's the Batman thing, more specifically TDK series. They tried bright and pleasant with Superman Returns and Green Lantern and those movies were serially panned. TDKs were really well received.

If you think about it, this is the reason for them shoehorning Suicide Squad in there. Batman, Joker, Harley.

MoS Superman wasn't the real Superman, so this is some s*** like Injustice where versions of characters do things that the real character wouldn't do. That's cool and all but I don't get that feeling I get when I watch Iron Man and Cap in the MCU. When I first saw Iron Man I was like "Holy s***. Tony Stark jumped out of the comic book into this movie". I want THAT Superman (Flash, Wondy etc).

I thought the same thing, so I can only assume they mean the live action movies.

Because even their animated movies are fun and light hearted with serious moments....

Idk seems like only a few examples were chosen to make a point and the rest were thrown out the window.

Their animated line of movies are not dark and edgy

Their cartoons are not

Man of steel had a serious tone, but wasn't "dark and edgy.

they have some dark comics, and light hearted ones..

As soon as the main character doesn't crack a joke it becomes dark and edgy on here

Not sure what OP had in mind?

Aside from Man of steel, Batman v Superman, the Nolan movies.

Which ones are we talking about here?

Green lantern?

Watchmen? Obvious reasons

Batman obvious reasons

man of steel was serious, but he didn't do anything over the top, aside from killing someone, and he traumatized himself after that lol. In my mind edgy is someone like Dredd, who would break a neck then go grab a coffee....not someone who cries about it after.

also what is your definition of edgy?

@w0nd: The upcoming films that are striving to be darker and more "realistic" superhero films.

My definition of edgy is when someone tries to be darker and stand out from the croud by doing things that are considered bad simply for attention. Basically stuff a 15 year boy would do to look cool. Which seems to be the direction for the DCEU with all the tattoos on the characters in Suicide Squad, Superman snapping Zod's neck for "realism", and the fact that Batman will be using a machine gun in BvS according to Zack Snyder. The DCEU looks like its painfully trying to be more mature than Marvel when it would be more mature to accept that most of these characters are designed to be enjoyed by children and that you dont have to treat something deathly serious to make a good film.

I don't know, but I'll enjoy watching it all go tits up.

What societal norms did Man of Steel challenge? What dark side of Superman did they explore?

.......that's not what dark means in this context....

Man of Steel was simply a serious take on the Superman mythos that adapted and explored the journey of Clark Kent on his road to becoming Superman.

I never watched Man of Steel. I was just clearing up for people that do not know what dark and edgy mean.

the neck thing i can forgive because he was visibly upset for it. but it was off putting at first. but then made me think..."where would they actually put zod....in prison?"

the Avengers went on an actual killing spree, but because they were making jokes in every scene it took away from them doing so...

they must have slaughtered hundreds of aliens. in the first movie

Was the machine gun 100% set in stone? A lot of people take rumors on this site as 100% fact, and then when it turns out to be wrong they vanish

"Batman carries a machine gun at one point in the movie."

We don't know the context behind it yet.

The ninja turtles donatello will be a girl

the turtles will be aliens

the turtles will be adults.

Electros costume is a hoodie with lightbulbs on it.

venom will be in the second movie

the black suit will be in the second movie

actually I won't get into it, but we saw one second of him with a gun, and now it's how he will be through the whole movie.

Idk I guess since there aren't that many movies to go by we only have these two movies to use. Superman, which was more boring than edgy, and batman vs superman.

I don't know how suicide squad is supposed to be other than edgy....

@buttersdaman000

What societal norms did Man of Steel challenge? What dark side of Superman did they explore?

.......that's not what dark means in this context....

Man of Steel was simply a serious take on the Superman mythos that adapted and explored the journey of Clark Kent on his road to becoming Superman.

It changed no norms. He broke the neck of someone who would have went on an endless rampage if superman lost. He made a judgement call in a shitty situation. Or from the avengers outlook. he killed an alien, which they did tons of times in the movie so it apparently doesn't count.

What's more concerning is in the new 52 he was killing parademons left and right, arms and legs exploding off their bodies, and he was cracking jokes then and spewing one liners. That bothered me more than a man who took a life and we upset about it.

@w0nd: He said it in a recent issue of Empire magazine.

http://batman-news.com/2015/07/30/18-things-revealed-in-the-batman-v-superman-issue-of-empire-that-no-ones-talking-about/

Personally Im not cool with Batman using guns.

I strongly felt both these factors are what made Man of Steel a hugely flawed movie. Applying a gritty and edgy tone to Superman is like making Mickey Mouse a vigilante, it just feels wrong. The emotional vacuum produced by the script and reacting prevents audiences from connecting with these characters or getting behind them but that would never have happened if the film had a lighter and more upbeat approach. You don't get lack of emotion in lighter films.

Which are also misspellings of depressing and soulless, at least assembly line 'fun' doesn't me want to smack my head repeatedly against a wall.

No, but you're misspelling deep and smart.

Personally, I'd be fine with you doing it a bit more head banging.

"Batman carries a machine gun at one point in the movie."

We don't know why or for what, so I am not grabbing my pitchfork yet until i see him gunning down villains.

Like i said people love to cling on something that was read or heard possibly out of context and make a backstory and reason for it.

interesting how everybody here seems to have seen all the DC movies coming out a couple years from now

Dark and Creative. That's what DC stands for.

Some of marvel is "Dark" or "Edgy" also, ever heard of Daredevil, Punisher, and Deadpool? And not all DC is either, I read Flash all the time, it is not dark at all. DC may be a bit more serous and less goofy than Marvel sometimes, but it's not really darker. Mainly Batman, but so is Daredevil.

I want them to be "Dark and Edgy". I don't want WB/DC to copy Disney/MARVEL. That would be stupid of them

Honesty I don't really look at who sells more as a verification on who is doing better. Who has the better stories is where my money is going and at the moment that is DC. Can't say Marvel is rubbish as that's a lie but there books are much worse quality and normally the stories aren't as good. They have a few gems but DC defiantly has the better stories over the last 3/4 years.

Kind of ironic considering how dark and mature Marvel's Netflix line-up has been so far, which IMO, has outdone DC's attempt of the same genre.

i like the way the DCU is going. i like that Superman is realistic and raw and act more human is Mos than he did in the previous movies acting like Jesus.

Well, to be fair, there's a lot of Jesus imagery in MOS too, but I agree, I like this Superman more than how he's been portrayed in previous movies.

Kind of funny that marvel has better Dark titles and live action than DC lately and also has better fun and lighthearted series

Depends entirely on what you consider the measuring stick of success. If the BO intake is all, then sure Marvel has more success with pumping out movie after movie and generally sticking to the same family-friendly formula. However, DC is not a company that was just bought for the net worth of a small country and has to earn back the money to it's new owner, and they are in control of all of their characters on the screen, so they don't need to hurry, they have all the time they want to make something that will last longer than Marvel's quick laughs and spectacles. And the fact is that people can still talk about Man of Steel close to three years after it's release, when most talk of the Marvel movies cease a month or two after they leave the cinema circuit.

I'll be honest, I don't get what not taking themselves too seriously has to do with whenever or not they would have made Captain America or Thor? The best movie Marvel has made thus far is after all the Winter Soldier... the most Nolan-like movie of the lot, and Thor sucks, sadly.

better Dark titles? Daredevil doesn't count lol , they turned Thor, and Falcon into complete jokes and DC has the best lightheards series in terms of animation if thats what your talking about

Taking what they do seriously and having inner conflict makes them dark and edgy? Well I'd rather have that than a team of people treating everything like it's a joke. "Hundreds just died, let's go out to eat!"

nope don't watch animation of DC or Marvel

AoS darker than arrow and a lot better nowadays

DD one of best CB series

current 2099 Spiderman series is currently amazing and dark

AoS is far from dark , Arrow constantly reflects on the terrors of Oliver's life and seriousness of a superhero life , you rarely hear jokes in the show, AoS literally has the same tone every episode , they have 2 dark and serious episodes , the episode when Daisy is shot and the episode when Bobbi is tortured and on the brink of death