'Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice',' 'Daredevil,' And The Problem Of Tone In Superhero Stories
This week, I've spent a lot of cumulative hours occupying "dark" superhero universes. The fact that they are supposed to be, for all intents and purposes, completely different Universes that represent completely oppositional interests on every level, would be easy to miss for the uninitiated. Marvel v DC, Netflix v Warner Bros, TV vs film, in-home v theatrical, long-form v feature — none of these supposedly core-deep schisms can alter the reality that I've spent roughly 14 hours of my past few days watching one dude in a mask punch, kick and trade raspy philosophies with another dude not in a mask, at nighttime, in a dimly lit, vaguely industrial location. And what is it that hangs in the balance? Why nothing less than competing levels of right-wing ubermensch ideology, that's what!
The show is Netflix/Marvel's "Daredevil," season 2, and the film is "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." (I'm aware that some may still be watching the former, so no...