The Appeal of Superheroes

First off, I want to apologize for the lack of posts this week. I've been busy with work and college visits (I was actually road tripping to and back from one as I wrote this), but I still wanted to get something up aside from the 'Saturday Morning Musings' post going up tomorrow. I said last week that I would most likely post something Supernatural related, and I will be, but that will be part of Saturday's post. Today's post, as you can tell by the title, will focus on superheroes, as well as discussing some of my personal favorites.

Superheroes are the sort of things that people either really love or don't really like. For the people who love them, it can be for a number of reasons. Personally, I love the idea and concept of them. You have someone who may be raised like any other normal person, but there's an event that serves as a catalyst for their fight for justice. Or, sometimes they're born with the power or gain it at some point in their lives. Either way, there's a very large number of people who love to watch movies/TV shows and read comics about them. There's a lot of talk as to who the 'real fans' are. Are they the people who read the comics, the ones who watch the movies/TV shows, or the ones who do both? Here's the thing, no matter what, you're a fan of the character and their story, so where you found out about them doesn't matter. I haven't read many comics, but I know about their context and plot. I'm aware that there are different things that occur in comics. Does not reading the comics make someone any less of a fan? Absolutely not. Comics can be expensive, so a person's mere support of a franchise and interest in knowing the story is good enough.

What comes to mind when someone mentions a superhero isn't necessarily just someone who has superpowers. The world vigilante comes to mind - a person in a suit tracking down the villains of the world. They're interesting people with different stories all leading to their fight against evil. It's something so interesting to look at their past and delve into their motives, their emotions, their mindset. In some ways, they're very relatable, and in other more extraordinary ways, they're different. We all have a certain superheroes we gravitate towards because they're the ones we connect with most. The following are some of mine.

I guess I should start out with the character I've loved since I was a child: Peter Parker. Spider-Man is a character that I've just gravitated towards. I can't necessarily put my finger on exactly why, but he can be awkward at times. He's a photographer. I definitely find that I relate to being a little awkward at times; I think everyone has those moments. I especially relate to that love for photography. I'm always looking for something interesting to take a picture of. This may can an issue between people, but I preferred Andrew Garfield's style of Peter Park and Spider-Man as opposed to Tobey Maguire's. With the new movie in very early production, we'll get to see another actor's take on the character. In general, Spidey's abilities are very cool, I mean, getting to shoot webs and swing whenever, wherever you want sounds like a lot of fun and he understands that he has this great responsibility with these powers, which is something anyone can learn and live by. I'm looking forward to getting to (finally) see Marvel take on the film.

Oliver Queen is probably my second favorite. You all know i'm a huge fan of Arrow, it's definitely my favorite TV show at the moment. I love his character because of his evolution. He started out as a rich playboy who was left to survive on an island (and various other places in the show) on his own. He slowly became stronger and learned how to survive on his own; he learned different values and what he needed to fight for. Stephen Amell does a tremendous job portraying the (Green) Arrow. Plus, he's a hero without a superpower; a vigilante with only a bow and arrow to fight off his enemies. He struggles with his own internal conflicts, also. He's a character that I, overall find very interesting due to all of those things.

The last I'll mention should came as no surprise, either: Barry Allen, also known as The Flash. Barry's power is something I find extremely cool. I mean, imagine having that super speed. It's be awesome to experience. I love his fight for justice and for finding his mother's killer. I also enjoy his personality as a whole. Now, there is more than one Flash, but I have grown to love Barry through the television show where he's play by Grant Gustin. He brings a type of personality to the character that is enjoyable to watch. I'm interested to see Ezra Miller's version of the character in a few years with the release of the movie.

Each actor who plays a superhero brings something different to the table, which is why seeing someone else play the role makes it interesting. Yes, we all have the actors and actresses we're partial to in roles, but seeing someone else's take provides a new look to the character. You have movies like The Avengers that have becomes these huge franchises because of their appeal, which I also love. There are still some superhero shows that I need to watch, but I hope to eventually have watched them all. There are also a ton of new movies and shows set to come out in the next few years and I'm very excited to see them when they are released. As for now, that about wraps up so I hope you enjoyed this post and I'll see you all tomorrow morning with another addition to the Saturday Morning posts.

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