The comic book will always be better than the live-action movie. And when it comes to Japanese anime, there is one more layer — in that the manga will be better than the anime, and the anime in turn will be a heck of a lot better than the live-action movie, as anyone who has seen the Netflix version of Death Note will attest. It was so bad I was half-tempted to write down the name of the producer in my death note. But that’s the challenge of trying to take the giant universe of a comic book and fit it within the time constraints and contextual restraints of a series. Try fitting all of that into a three-hour movie and you wonder why our lives are so long and drab — when we could live the entirety of it in a single movie setting. How would you like the three-hour timesheet of my whole life my dear HR?
But perhaps Henry Cavill might be feeling like he has just been shafted by an HR exec into quitting his previous role by being offered a 30% raise. He submitted his resignation, served his notice period, did the farewell celebration, sent farewell emails to all colleagues with his personal mail ID (supersexyboy365@yahoomail.com), and even put up the LinkedIn post about his great new role and his great new company. Only to discover that there was a smoking gun called James Gunn who left a giant ‘LOL’ on his post and said, “We’ll not get back to you”.
Perhaps, this is how Superman dies. Fans of the comic books, who have read the epic story arc “Death of Superman”, might be feeling the same way. I will never forget those comic book covers in the built-up to that arc, one with Superman’s tattered cape hanging off a barely standing pole and that soul-crushing scene of Lois Lane holding a lifeless Superman’s body, screaming and crying into the void. A bit like Demi Moore from Ghost, when Patrick Swayze dies in her arms and she just looks around for help screaming “Anybody... Anybody!”. Perhaps also the same way when the original Superman, Christopher Reeves, took a nasty spill from a horse leaving him as a paraplegic.
A scene from ‘The Death of Superman’ DC
Many fans have been outraged at Henry Cavill being dropped from the franchise, perhaps this feeling of him being the closest we could have come to having a half-decent Superman and who did reasonable justice to both the emotional history of the character and also matched him in actual looks — as one would expect from a Superman. It is aptly showed in the end of Man of Steel, when the battle-hardened female soldier can’t help but blush and say that he is cute, even under the withering gaze of her superior officer.
Henry Cavill, a much-loved Superman, with superfans Yanshan Zhang/Getty Images
But when it comes to another very human hero, or anti-hero — James Bond — I must ask my female readers to weigh in. James Bond has seen the whole hog, from Sean Connery to Roger Moore, from the Remington Steele-meets-Chuck Norris version in Pierce Brosman to the male Ursula Andress — Daniel Craig. Fans have been equally (bitterly) divided on whether the new Bond represents the new-age man or compromises on the unfeeling agent visualised by Ian Fleming. One may notice that the path to hell is paved with good intentions for the supposedly “more-emotionally-in-touch-with-himself male” Craig — he accumulates as many dead women as his unfeeling predecessors, ironically pointed out by M, his equally unfeeling superior.
Daniel Craig in a scene from ‘Casino Royale’
Many have taken to Instagram (because that’s what irl superheroes do) to stan Henry Cavill with “You will always be my superman”. But perhaps, one can take a leaf out of the students who stood on their desks in Dead Poet’s Society with ‘Oh Captain, My Captain’ — the consequences to their careers be damned — to realise that not all superheroes wear capes. Because each of you who like, comment and share this post will always be my superman and superwoman.
The author is a Marwari investment banker turned corporate comedian. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the website.
