The Batman Changes Years Of Movie vs Comic Problems | Screen Rant
More often than not, comic book films seem to stand apart visually from its source material, but recently we've started to see the page and screen come together more. So, why is it that we don't see that happening more? Prior to the kick-off of DC FanDome 2020 on Saturday, we got a glimpse of The Batman's (2021) official logo, as well as an original piece of promotional art by Jim Lee; something we don't often get to see in tandem with comic book film adaptations. Long-time comic fanatics and comic cinema fiends alike live for cinematic takes on their favorite classic heroes. Yet, more often than not, there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the screen and the page.
Of course, they are inherently connected because of their core content and the stories they draw from (no pun intended), but at the end of the day, it's rare to see actual comic book art visually represented in conjecture with the films themselves. Even when it comes to promotional art, which is arguably the easiest avenue to further connect page and screen, we rarely see the studios use work that mirrors the comics these characters originally came from. The fans connect the two much more often than we see our DC and Marvel overlords do it. That's why this new promotional content from DC's Batman franchise is as warmly welcomed as comic book pages fresh off the press.
DC has been giving us more in terms of pairing comic book style art with its cinematic promotional material recently. With the release of the characters and who's who of the new The Suicide Squad movie during DC FanDome on Saturday, we got to see some classic comic book style artwork partnered with the reveal of the live-action characters, melding the 2D origins of the characters with their silver screen representations. The original Suicide Squad movie even seemed to try and embody the feeling of a comic book with its vibrant colors and explosive action scenes. Yet, with most comic book cinema, we don't often see that connection, especially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So why is it that we don't see more of this kind of promotional artwork? One theory is that they are trying to keep the two worlds separate for those that don't follow both. There are huge chunks of the DC and Marvel fan bases who love these heroes solely for what they've seen in the theaters. This part of their fan base doesn't have a personal connection to the rich history of comic books their favorite characters come from and therefore don't care as much to see that type of content. Another theory is that both comic book superpowers and their parent companies (Warner Brothers and Disney) are more focused on what will widely sell, rather than what honors their films' 2D origins, no matter how much their devoted comic book fans crave it. They know what sells: the faces of the popular celebrities that are in their films, and that's what gets plastered on most of the promotional material that reaches our screens.
Although the cinematic universe seems strongly set in what way and how they promote their films, there seems to still be hope yet for hardcore fans of traditional comics that want to see them further interconnected with their live adaptations. With DC revealing Jim Lee's promotional material for The Batman, a stronger bridge has been built between the two, and the possibilities for including more of that kind of material moving forward are endless. Let's just hope that Marvel seizes the opportunity to start integrating more comic style work in their promotional material too. What could it hurt (other than maybe a few pencils)?