Anghus Houvouras on the comic book movie trend of the superfan becoming the supervillain….
Comic book adaptations are often accused of being unoriginal. These movies are ‘On the rails’ as they say. A predetermined path of familiar tropes and storytelling techniques that very rarely deviate from the familiar. The glut of superhero themed movies has rapidly accelerated some of these redundancies making them feel glaringly obvious. While I was watching the latest trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 I noticed a familiar theme; the superfan that becomes a supervillain.
Jamie Foxx’s Electro starts off as a total geek with glasses and a terrible comb over. He starts off as Spider-Man’s biggest fan but eventually transforms into the super powered villain who wants to destroy Spider-Man. The sycophantic idol becomes the sociopathic monster obsessed with destroying his one time idol. It sounds familiar, and it should. There have been a number of comic book movies that have used this character arc.
Aldrich Killian: Iron Man 3 (2013)
I remember watching the opening scene of Iron Man 3, where a geeky bespectacled Aldrich Killian fawns over Tony Stark and declares his scientific admiration. This scene felt kind of familiar, so much so that I was kind of surprised that no one else called out the obvious homage (or downright theft) of the characterization from another superhero movie villain…
Edward Nygma/The Riddler: Batman Forever (1995)
Aldrich Killian was a more polished version of Jim Carrey’s Riddler. A character who wildly obsessed over Bruce Wayne before his mind bending technological advances ‘raised too many questions’. Thus, the Riddler was born who becomes obsessed with amassing his own fortune and transforms himself into a billionaire whose power rivals Wayne. The superfan becomes the supervillain who seeks to ultimately destroy Wayne and Batman.
Syndrome: The Incredibles (2004)
Syndrome is another example of this principle, though there are slightly more levels at play. As a child, Syndrome idolized Mr. Incredible and wanted to join him on his crime fighting exploits using high tech gadgets to make up for his lack of superpowers. After Mr. Incredible rejects his offer, Syndrome’s aspirations turn villainous and he sets out to destroy anyone with special abilities.
Maybe this wouldn’t have seemed so redundant if Iron Man 3 hadn’t just used this arc last year. Superhero films may be the laziest in terms of storytelling with a predetermined structures and character arcs. Everything is connected. There is no randomness in this world. Only connections that conveniently tie everything together. Spider-Man can’t just be a hero who fights villains. He has to be personally connected to the villains. The Green Goblin can’t just be an insane madman hellbent on destruction. He has to be his best friend’s Father or connected to his Parents in some contrived way. Electro can’t just be a scientist who becomes imbued with superpowers. He has to work for Oscorp and be obsessed with Spider-Man.
The best movie villains for comic book adaptations have been the ones whose connections have been the most tenuous. Like Joker from The Dark Knight. He wasn’t a guy who Batman accidentally dropped into a vat of acid thus fueling a violent vendetta. He was an insane genius inspired by what Batman represented. There was no previous meeting between them. The Joker’s origins were irrelevant to the proceedings. He wasn’t an obsessed superfan or someone with ties to Bruce Wayne. He was an instrument of chaos, completely random, with no connections to the previous story.
In order for comic book movies to break free from their redundant storytelling structure and technique, writers need to embrace the idea of random villains. This superfan turned supervillain thing feels played out.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published April 16, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
