Originally Posted by
Robanker
They make good villains because they're so impossibly overpowered compared to the hero that the "how" of the takedown becomes interesting. Add great performances on top of that and yes, you have a compelling villain.
To paraphrase a lot of writers over the years, "it's not a great story to watch Goliath simply step on David, but have David take out Goliath and everyone asks 'how?'"
Most writers don't seem to understand that Superman need not always be Goliath, hence why they can't make him work as the hero. It's their failure, not the character's. I see more people love All-Might than Deku when talking about My Hero Academia. There's plenty of love for positive Superman-analogues too. Most writers are just too far up their own behinds to accept that dark doesn't automatically mean quality or adulthood-- it's just dark. But hey, when we're raised to think sarcasm is an excuse for not having a personality and that only cynicism and dark storytelling have value, can you blame them?
My god, I'm sorry for the boomer moment. I don't know what came over me.