Why do people say DC movies are Dark?

I've seen a lot of people say DC movies are dark...Which is completely not true. I mean I hate to bring it up but it's a fact the Marvel Films are lighthearted and often less serious then the last 4 DC Movies, bur again you can't Blame the Nolan Batman series for being Dark and MOS was not really Dark. it just wasn't a comedy like certain other films... I mean I just don't get how being serious makes a movie dark. Hell Green Lantern felt like a marvel film ( A Failed Marvel film at that but still.) People aren't giving crap too Marvel about cracking a joke almost every scene so why are people complaining that the DC movies have a serious tone that is really only 10% Jokes. I guess it may be me because I for one preferred X Men Days of Future Past over Avengers and its obvious that DOFP was a much more serious tone movie. Thoughts?

cause theyre used to the kiddie disney marvel movies

It's the same reason why people say Marvel movies are kid friendly comedies.... because they don't know what the f*^# they're talking about.

Dark compared to the MCU is usually what people mean, cause that's the only way to judge comicbook movies these days, compare them to The Avengers.

@youknowwhattodo:

I believe someone pointed out to me I just prefer more serious films like DOFP or Man Of Steel which why I gave Avengers 7\10. I still s by that as Fun as most of the Marvel Movies are they should balance the comedy and action better.

@the_stegman:

A movie like Watchmen. Sure Way Dark Compared too a Marvel movies. I just don't think Because DC is going for a more serious Universe it should be called dark. If anything at one point it was Marvel who arguably had darker comics and DC which has more lighthearted.

That's cool, nothing wrong with it, it's your preference. But the same thinking that leads people to think that DC movies are dark is the same type of thinking that leads people to think that Marvel movies are kid friendly comedies.

Funny I was just thinking about doing a thread about this, but I agree people seem to think characters not cracking one liners ever 2 seconds equals doom and gloom. Serious isn't the same thing as dark and I wish people would learn that. Captain America is a serious character but is he dark like the Punisher is? Not at all. DC's movies have a serious tone and are darker than Marvel's but overall aren't TOO dark and serious. 12 Years a Slave, Schindler's List, the Passion of the Christ these are movies that are extremely dark, movies that almost traumatize you after watching them. Man of Steel is a Winnie the Pooh movie in comparison to truly dark movies. But I'm with you OP I actually prefer more serious superhero movies (not that I don't like lighter one's cause I do) but TWS is my favorite MCU film and I loved DOFP.

And I find it funny that the people who claim DC's movies are too dark are the same one's getting mad when people call Marvel's childish or too lighthearted. Not that they are but if you're going to exaggerate how dark DC's films are don't be shocked when the opposite happens to a Marvel one.

Because the lighting is too dark. I mean no wondering no DC film has ever won an award for best lighting in a film ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Man of Steel was darker then most marvel movies but not because he didn't make jokes, it was just the tone of the movie and there's nothing wrong with that. TWS was a more serious(less comedic) marvel movie then normal but it still kept its lighthearted tone. comedic≠lighthearted.

DC movies have a more serious tone, that doesn't make them "dark".

Marvel movies are more lighthearted, that doesn't make them kiddish.

They are both different approached to making superhero movies and I think its good that DC and Marvel are going different routes. Neither one of them is "Bad" or inferior, it really comes down to what you prefer.

These men deserve medals.

When it comes to Marvel vs DC I always have to ask: why choose?

The only DC movies I would possibly classify as 'dark' are Batman Begins and the Burton films. I found The Incredible Hulk had a closer tone to MoS than it did any other MCU film.

The same 4-5 adjectives are recycled to describe CBMs in vein of The Avengers and Man of Steel, when really those terms don't apply to every movie. Cap 2 and TIH are prime examples IMO.

Because they are ****** who just compare films instead of just taking it on it's own merits.

Batman is a dark character. Spider-man not at all. I think being serious makes for a cooler more involved story sort of a "how it would really happen" kinda feel.

The last superman movie might be seen as "dark" because it touched on internal struggle rather than a classic hero saves the day.

Not dark per se, just serious

*insert neck snap gif*

Idk, they have a bias against a company, but don't know how to come up with a legitimate criticism so they resort to the common one that's thrown around. Even if it doesn't make much sense.

Seriously, if you think a DC movie is that dark go out and watch some movies by David Fincher or Lars von Trier.

OOoo kill em

You gotta admit, GOTG is pretty freakin childish and overly comedic.......

People are just stupid. IM3 is one of the darkest cbms ever. just because it wasent JUST dark does not ruin the movie for me. it was well rounded. it had it all. Only an idiot would not say that when the girl in the bar stuck her hand through the guys stomach grabbed the guys gun behined and starting shooting people, are when IM started out-right shooting people in the dungen seen was WAY hardcore for a cbm. this is the kind of stuff u only see R rated action flicks. It probably had more cusing and sex talk then any other cbm.

Because people tend to think that TDKT is the only thing DC has ever made.

MARVEL Studios injects humor to break up things or to not take stuff so serious, while WB/DC doesn't really use that formula. I guess less humor = more serious film?....idk.....It doesn't matter much to me.

Yeah, jokes about plastering your walls with semen are totally appropriate for 5-year-olds.

@69ball-z-deep: I'M3 wasn't really dark. That scene wasn't dark either.

Lol, have you seen Watchmen?

Serious =/= Dark

@xwraith: jokes about breasts can be childish, doesn't mean they are child appropriate

@eyedcyou: one cbm. just one cbm you could think of and to u that makes my point mute. Watchman was R rated and underperformed. But far as MAIN STREAM cbms go u dont get much hardcore as IM3. U simply dont see stuff like the all the prostitutes in Slatterys hide out. and them jokers was ALL doin drugs in that scean thats why everyone including Slattery was acting so stupid. U are simply never supposed to see this kind of stuff in main stream cbms. IM3 was like watching an R rated 80s action flick.

@69ball-z-deep: I would recommend watching some R-rated 80's movies again then haha. Go watch the original Robocop. You want me to name more CBMs that are darker than Iron Man 3?

Batman Begins

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Rises

V for Vendetta

Sin City 1 & 2

Kick Ass 1&2

300 1 & 2

Blade trilogy

etc...

Iron Man 3 wasn't dark at all. A couple of prostitutes and drugs don't make a movie dark, especially when the the fake Mandarin that was hanging out with them was making the whole situation funny.

Blade

punisher

Sin city

300

Watchmen there was pretty much a porn sequence in that film lol

Kickass He full on bangs that girl on screen in a back alley....

Im3 has the same stuff you can see the same stuff on day time television now

DAMN RIGHT!

@eyedcyou: the simple fact that all but three of the movies u named were R rated just proves my point. And TDKT trilogy was not more hardcore than IM3. it had less jokes tho.

@eyedcyou: you beat me to it lol. Oh well

Maybe it's because Batman and Superman murder people in these films.

If you think anything in IM3 was darker than the Jokers hostage scene... You're losin' it.

@69ball-z-deep: well with that logic wolverine stabbing everyone puts it on the same level. A coin being pushed through a head in slow motion. Charles and wolverine telling others to f*ck off. Ripping the iron out of someones body. skin burning off someones body, a head being cut off. Hands being stabbed and left impaled on a table.

That is miles above being "shot" and then getting peoples arms cut off which didn't really look that bad because they just regenerated.

marvel's getting way out of control-like logan. logan had the potential to be a very uplifting move and like of to the hype as a masterpiece....as it is now-only kinda person who thinks it was needs help. i've been concerned about this trend for for a long time.....it's gotten worse

Because they're ignorant. The films are no more dark than the diary of an angsty 15 year old.

There's a difference between serious tone and a bleak miserable tone.

You can have a serious movie without obnoxious cynicism. And that's what they mean by "dark" MOS and BVS are superhero flicks that spend more time trying to judge and break their main characters than develop them. Everyone you're supposed to root for is either an unrepentant asshole, mopey and grim, or just plain unlikeable, with a few exceptions.

Perfect example: John Kent telling his son not to save people and just let them die for fear of him being exposed to the world. Or when John Kent tells his son not to save him in a situation where he could have easily have been saved and nobody would have said "ALIEN!" Or the infamous "Martha" scene in BVS. Or Superman sacrificing himself with a spear he could have easily thrown like a javelin. I could ramble on but seriously, you should get the point.

Those movies try their damnedest to step on any spark of hope and joy you'd try to find in them or the characters within them and 10/9 times the way they do it doesn't make any logical sense so it seems like they're for the sole purpose of spiting the audience. All for what? to appear "mature" and thought provoking? Dammit it's a superhero story and I'd like to know who I'm rooting for and actually root! I want to cheer!

That's why people call them "dark." They're a drag to get through and when you do get through you feel like you wasted your time and money. If anyone thinks that's what makes a good superhero flick then they should be ignored.

Yes Marvel's tone is campy and sometimes ridiculous but at least you can have fun and enjoy the ride and you can also absorb the films messages without it battering you over the head with it. That's what DCEU needs to learn.

@DeathandGrim2: i read a defense concerning the violence in logan that said it was to teach the consequences of violence.....didn't work-i could've told you it wouldn't work and i'm not even a psychic-besides, what are r rated films targeted to?

Dont know.

Dark = Watchmen, TDK

Serious = Man of Steel, BvS, WW

My answer from 2 yrs ago is still true...though I also add because people parrot what others say.

In that time period the MCU has released serious movies and TV shows. Anyone saying DC is objectively darker than Marvel in terms of live action is kidding themselves.

@spymater8: If it's a superhero film it's still gonna attract those who're attracted to them. R-Rated or otherwise. But Logan is a good example of how a film can be serious and still fun without being annoyingly bleak or insulting toward its audience.

Even if the underlying message didn't click with you the film was good right?

90% of the time there at night.

Bad lighting

@DeathandGrim2: ''not annoyingly bleak or insulting toward its audience.'' we talking about the same movie?