The Future of Comic Book-to-Film Adaptations

I could not wait to see "The Dark Knight" last summer. Until recently, I was fairly comic book and graphic novel ignorant, but I knew that the second installment of the Christopher Nolan series would be epic. To prep myself, I started my summer viewing with "The Incredible Hulk" and "Hellboy 2". "The Incredible Hulk" was a decent start, but nothing out of the ordinary for comic book adaptations. "Hellboy 2" was a very pleasant surprise indeed, but still not in the same stratosphere as Batman by any stretch.

Before seeing "The Dark Knight", I was fairly down on the whole comic-to-film phenomenon. I had seen a number of them from "X-Men" to Ang Lee's "Hulk" and failed to be blown away. On the night of "The Dark Knight" being released, my excitement had peaked and the movie delivered in droves. In fact, I've watched it several more times on BluRay and it still packs the same level of intensity and intrigue as it did on the big screen.

Fast forward to this past March - "Watchmen". Prior to seeing the film, I had read numerous reviews from critics praising it's maturity and depth, as well as bemoaning it for being "too long" and "not what was expected". I had also heard from a few friends that it was less than stellar. Despite this, I chose to see the film. In fact, I saw "Watchmen" twice in the same week. Rather than join the local herd, I found "Watchmen" to be a spectacular and much-needed departure from the standard superhero film and story.

Since seeing both "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight", I've taken heavily to reading graphic novels and comics. As I've dug into the more independent and lesser-known comic franchises, I've found the medium to be exciting, engaging and timely. Such amazing and subversive characters still waiting to be ushered into the spotlight are lined up to be found.

As my interest in comics has surged, I've decided to go back and watch some of the comic films from earlier in this decade to see what I've missed. The most popular of the recent films would be the "Spiderman" series and the early 2008 blockbuster "Iron Man".

"Iron Man", for all intents and purposes, was exactly what I assumed it would be. Rather than really show the depth of the mythos, it was a standard-issue superhero romp. While the first "Spiderman" film turned out to be a decent viewing, "Spiderman 2" was a colossal bore. As the film moved on, I could see that this series was built to be a collection of stories where Spiderman wins the day in the end. In other words, boring.

This has gotten me questioning as to whether or not I am expecting too much too soon. Admittedly, I'm a comic book newbie. I won't deny that. However, the majority of the comic films seem to follow the same pattern (or trap) of having the hero defeat another over-the-top enemy with no deviation. Spiderman defeats Green Goblin or Doc Oc. Essentially, they seem pedestrian and predictable.

But now with "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight" (presumably) raising the bar for the films to follow, I wonder if people will begin to turn on the medium in a film format. Currently, the comic films are substantially profitable and as long as they continue to draw big, they will continue to be made. Aside from being great escapism, it bodes well for other adaptations in the future such as the upcoming "Surrogates" and "Witchblade". However, if people start to have higher expectations and the films fail to deliver, will comic films continue to draw?

I hope that not only to adaptations continue to become reality, but that they also continue to offer depth and substance. There are several graphic novels such as "Black Summer", "Doktor Sleepless" or "100 Bullets" that would make excellent television or film properties. My hope is to see the medium continue to grow and allow for such lesser-known titles to break through into the mainstream.