I hate the trope where a superhero is portrayed as the only or first hero in their universe. For example, in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Peter Parker is literally the first and only superhero. The Arrowverse did the same thing, making Oliver Queen the first vigilante, and in Superman & Lois, Superman is the only superhero who exists.
Personally, I’ve never liked that approach because, in the comics, superheroes and metahumans have been around for centuries. James Gunn’s Superman even acknowledges this, saying metahumans have existed for about 300 years — which lines up with the comics and the main Marvel 616 universe.
I see Superman as the “Michael Jackson” of superheroes — he’s the archetype, the most iconic and influential, but not the first. There were plenty before him. That’s one reason I’ve always had an issue with the Arrowverse implying heroes only appeared after the particle accelerator explosion in The Flash.
j4k3@lemmy.world 2 days ago
There is a point in a plausible explanation of why metahumans exist.
Ultimately, it is all just an exploration of a gods mythos shown at video shrines meant to justify the ethos of exceptionalism in support of billionaire exploitation culture.
Zahille7@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Like in that first PS4 Spider-Man game, there’s a bit of dialog spoken by JJ about Spider-Man being one of the first superheroes on the scene, and people took that personally (i.e. Vulture, Electro, and Doc Ock to an extent).
Similar with the Arkham games for Batman. Those are supposed to all take place before the Justice League or even Superman are around. You hear little throwaway lines of dialog in Arkham Knight about a “freak in Metropolis,” and SSKTJL takes place during his time with the JL. It’s supposed to be similar to his career trajectory in the DCAU, which started with Batman: TAS and ended with Justice League Unlimited/Batman Beyond.