Controversial Superman Opinions

[Stanlos]

What did the board think of Chuck Austen's take on Superman??

[Ra-El]

John Wick? Nah! I am thinking Eternals did it to perfection

Eternals have some cool fights, but Ikaris was overly reliant on his optic blasts. I'm not saying Superman should have John Wick's fighting style, but the choreography should be exciting and make it clear that Superman knows how to fight and isn't just a guy with super powers.

If Clark didn't knew how to fight he would die as soon as he met someone like Zod or Mongul.

I dislike the emphasis in making Superman just a farmboy who happens to have superpowers, is a make so easy to take the leap and make him useless without his powers.

[DochaDocha]

Invincible has an expository scene when Omni-man explains how he fights. He says something along the lines of how when he throws punches, he doesn't have to push his feet off the ground to create leverage. Conceptually, I'd love to see that in a Superman fight, but I'm not sure how well it'd work. People have a vague understanding on how humans fight, but the rules don't apply to Superman. I think that's part of the reason why a lot of people think Superman is this simpleton fighter because he doesn't know kung fu, but there's no human martial art that necessarily works on a flying man.

My fear is that the GA doesn't want to have this kind of nuance on a Superman fight so we'd get more of the same punching, kicking, throwing, etc.

[superduperman]

So I finally watched that My Hero Academia show and just wanted to say, I get it now.

[manwhohaseverything]

Invincible has an expository scene when Omni-man explains how he fights. He says something along the lines of how when he throws punches, he doesn't have to push his feet off the ground to create leverage. Conceptually, I'd love to see that in a Superman fight, but I'm not sure how well it'd work. People have a vague understanding on how humans fight, but the rules don't apply to Superman. I think that's part of the reason why a lot of people think Superman is this simpleton fighter because he doesn't know kung fu, but there's no human martial art that necessarily works on a flying man.

My fear is that the GA doesn't want to have this kind of nuance on a Superman fight so we'd get more of the same punching, kicking, throwing, etc.

For me it's not that superman is a simpleton that's the problem..His fights aren't engaging or fun.Look at one punch man the guy is wayyyy more of simpleton than clark still manages to wow!!.Clark just feels stiff...he needs to dance..

I posted what you said in earlier.But,still you can use real world things like miltary jets fight or even mix things up with human fighting style. It's not like anything clark does has no reference point.

Writers give zero thoughts to what clark and how he moves..While batman and spiderman writers do a better job at that even.

So I finally watched that My Hero Academia show and just wanted to say, I get it now.

It's a great show for young boys.. It presents superpowers as everyday thing.It also has a government sanctioned law abiding less questionable idea of a superhero.

Allmight just works..when deku first comes for inspiration toshinori basically says "be realistic".yet,toshinori always jumps in with just instinct alone(no space dad earth pa nonesense).He basically always smiles .. because he is a stoic.(philosophical sense) and teached himself to do so while especially when in stress and pain(there is this awesome scene where toshinori loses someone but it would be spoiler). Plus some great stunts..

[DochaDocha]

For me it's not that superman is a simpleton that's the problem..His fights aren't engaging or fun.Look at one punch man the guy is wayyyy more of simpleton than clark still manages to wow!!.Clark just feels stiff...he needs to dance..

I posted what you said in earlier.But,still you can use real world things like miltary jets fight or even mix things up with human fighting style. It's not like anything clark does has no reference point.

Writers give zero thoughts to what clark and how he moves..While batman and spiderman writers do a better job at that even.

I'd argue Superman's fights often are boring because the fight choreographers think Clark Kent is a simple farm boy whose only strategy is keep hitting the guy until he goes down.

That said, I thought MoS was entertaining for its time. There weren't a lot of movies that showed aerial combat like that. I didn't find it perfect, but his fight with Zod was framed well, especially things like when we'd get a video game, third-person, over-the-shoulder view of him punching Zod through buildings or when he'd lose sight of him while flying through the chaos. It's probably pretty basic by 2023 standards, but it's one of the aspects of the movie that I think are highly underrated.

[manwhohaseverything]

I'd argue Superman's fights often are boring because the fight choreographers think Clark Kent is a simple farm boy whose only strategy is keep hitting the guy until he goes down.

That said, I thought MoS was entertaining for its time. There weren't a lot of movies that showed aerial combat like that. I didn't find it perfect, but his fight with Zod was framed well, especially things like when we'd get a video game, third-person, over-the-shoulder view of him punching Zod through buildings or when he'd lose sight of him while flying through the chaos. It's probably pretty basic by 2023 standards, but it's one of the aspects of the movie that I think are highly underrated.

I would argue that they don't put effort into to making the simple farmboy fight look epic,cool,fun or even funny.They use it as way to just make everything look dumb.I shudder at the thought of a one punch man live action..But,it is the job requirement to make anything entertaining..
It is.Still you have to look at it from objective perspective.There are things that didn't work.Otherwise the movie would be getting a sequel by now.Audiences wouldn't have left with meh! Feeling.

[DochaDocha]

You can't blame all of the underperformance on the action scenes. In fact, one of the disappointing aspects of MoS is that there are too many back-to-back action scenes in the third act that I got numb to it and I wanted some more storytelling.

[WonderLight789]

Superman is not a good fighter at all. 99% of the time, he is shown as a bassic and generic brawler.

Superman is not a moral inspiration. To me, he feels like typical USA propaganda about the amercian way. They always love to paint themselves as the good ones.

Wonder Woman isn't as strong as Superman only because of sexism that has always been in favor of Superman. And the idea that the best man will aleways be better and superior than the best woman.

[Ascended]

So I finally watched that My Hero Academia show and just wanted to say, I get it now.

Right? That video manwhohaseverything posted is the first MHA thing I watched, and it was amazing, so I introduced my daughter to it and now a few years later she own all the movies, manga, and she has an autographed photo with Midoriya's voice actor next to her bed. Sh*t snowballed real quick from "This is how Golden Age Clark moves, cool" to "This is what we're reading for bedtime....for the next four years."

With Clark's fighting style, DC usually handles him like a brawler, someone with a solid grasp on the fundamentals but no real zing, who gets by on size and grit. Even when a creator is trying to showcase Clark's fighting talent, it often looks more chaotic and confusing than anything, like Clark's just flailing with everything he's got rather than making precise strikes meant to control the flow of the fight.

I figure Clark's got plenty of training, and he's athletic/physical enough to be good at it. I'm sure Pa taught the boy to box and how to control his strength, mind his footing and positioning, etc. For Clark, that's necessary to just live in a "world of cardboard." Then if the Legion's there, you got them and Karate Kid showing Clark a few things, then League training as an adult plus all the "on the job" training of being a hero, maybe Kryptonian martial arts if you believe in such a thing. But I don't think Clark's got a lot of natural *talent* for it. I don't think he's got that killer instinct. His first reaction is to hold back, to subdue, not to hurt. I imagine Clark enjoys the sport of a good sparring match, but hates the violence of actual battle. He'll never be a great fighter....but he's good, and smart and clever enough to out-think what he can't out punch.

Think his real advantage is that he's crafted a style unique to him. His powers have been there since the start, they're as natural to him as our bodies are to us, he uses them as naturally, and that affinity is enough to throw off most people. Majority of superhumans, after all, were normal folk at one point and their "foundation" is far different from Clark's.

[manwhohaseverything]

You can't blame all of the underperformance on the action scenes. In fact, one of the disappointing aspects of MoS is that there are too many back-to-back action scenes in the third act that I got numb to it and I wanted some more storytelling.

Agreed on the pacing issue.i tend to think,those two shouldn't be mutually exclusive.if it is,then it ain't a good action movie.

[Kman2]

I don’t think Superman should be a super genius, I think he should have the potential for it. But never have the desire to actually gain the knowledge for it, instead I would give that trait to supergirl since krypton is a really advance Sockety where even highschoolers are smarter than most people of planet earth. It gives him more of a reason to go to other characters for help like Batman, or whatever genius is in Superman’s IP if he supposed to be the only hero.

I’d also give Superman’s longing for krypton to supergirl, it’s never made sense to me that he’d be so attached to a world he never knew. I also prefer that Clark Kent be the real identity instead of Superman, both are important of course but he’s only really allowed to have a life he wants as Clark Kent and was of course raised as him before Superman or superboy was even a concept.


But I’m suprised some people think Supermans fighting style is boring. I thought most animated features had him use his powers in a way that showed you he was experienced but not a martial artist. Like in Superman: doomsday where he was using his ice breath to slow him down. Or in Superman/Batman: apocalypse’s where he creates that tornado heat vision combo. Even man of steel had cool moments where he was punching zod through the city, That gets replicated a bunch of times.

[DochaDocha]

But I’m suprised some people think Supermans fighting style is boring. I thought most animated features had him use his powers in a way that showed you he was experienced but not a martial artist. Like in Superman: doomsday where he was using his ice breath to slow him down. Or in Superman/Batman: apocalypse’s where he creates that tornado heat vision combo. Even man of steel had cool moments where he was punching zod through the city, That gets replicated a bunch of times.

I thought about these instances, and I think they give good visual flair and some variety in Superman's fights, but they don't end up being all that effective toward resolving the conflict. Particularly in the Doomsday fight, I end up just feeling like Superman should've just punched the dude harder than last time (to steal a Greg Doucette-ism).

[Kman2]

I thought about these instances, and I think they give good visual flair and some variety in Superman's fights, but they don't end up being all that effective toward resolving the conflict. Particularly in the Doomsday fight, I end up just feeling like Superman should've just punched the dude harder than last time (to steal a Greg Doucette-ism).

Don’t pretty much all fights that don’t involve hax just end with hit them harder? I guess the problem is they seem to be running at full steam until the final blow. seeing Superman struggle and grow tired while trying everything he could think of was enough to keep the fights interesting to me

[manwhohaseverything]

Don’t pretty much all fights that don’t involve hax just end with hit them harder?

No.simple answer.Franchises gets pigeonholed into things..And any instances don't make fights he has overall good.I reckon his best fight is in superman and captain marvel vs black adam

Granted it lacks the speed..