The Boys returns to TV this week, so we've been thinking a lot about superheroes. There's Batman of course, whose movies have more twists and logic than we credit them for, as well as some surprising cast members. Over at Marvel, the Spider-Man movies may be secretly tragic, and Hawkeye may be the most powerful hero of all. And then there's the X-Men, whose enduring popularity might offer some lessons to imitators.
Here's a look back at the facts we learned this week. The links all lead to full articles with much more info, so click every one that interests you, or they'll just make even more superhero movies, showing us no mercy.
Fans criticized every single other choice for who'd get to play the role on the big screen, but we think everyone might have actually liked this pick.
Looking just at the movies, he's more successful than any other hero.
While the movie only shows us what happens to Tom Holland's universe, when we think about it, the final spell must affect other universes as well, with dire consequences for some other beloved characters.
To take down a video game that they claimed could potentially copy Marvel characters, the lawyers went into the game and copied Marvel characters, blaming the copying on random players.
The eventual reveal is supposed to be a twist—in fact, it looks as though they were implying she was a different character, Catwoman. Unfortunately, trailers and announcements told everyone Gal Gadot was Wonder Woman, so this twist stood no chance of succeeding.
Their version of Batman developed a sexual compulsion that he unleashed on his butler, his kid sidekick, and inanimate objects.
One ending they filmed teased a sequel with him, with the director standing in for the role.
This one takes a bit of explanation, but the movie makes much more sense once we realize he never planned to get locked up at all.
Yes, every blockbuster franchise will eventually turn into superhero movies.
The one exception to this has been the show Harley Quinn, which focuses on people other than Batman but still casually includes the character, and it works fine.
It was a 1944 serial, and lead Dick Purcell died a few weeks after filming wrapped up, likely due to strain from the shoot.