Watching Comic Book Movies With Non-Fans

[MM2Dylan]

When I was twelve, I sat down in the the theater to watch the first X-Men movie with my grandparents. I had been reading comics since I was about five, so I had a working knowledge about the X-Men overall. Once the prologue with Magneto finished, my grandmother turned and said to me, "Since when can Wolverine do that?"

Basically, I made this thread for posters to share the goofy conversations they've had with others about comic book movies who weren't really fans themselves. I couldn't find a thread specifically aiming at this sort of topic, but if I'm mistaken, please let me know.

 

[Schlosser85]

My Dad has this idea stuck in his head of comics being like for kids.

He also said Tom Hardy was too little for Bane and they should have cast Tyler Mane, and that Tyler Mane should have reprised his role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

IMO Liev Schreiber as Creed was one of the only good things about that movie.

 

[KevanG]

My mother watched the Avengers and she rather liked it despite not knowing anything about any of the characters.

 

[OriginalMiles]

None of my friends or family read comics or know much about these characters outside of the movies, some of the shows and what I've said to them.

I'm like the odd one out in my family. They do enjoy these movies as much as I do though, and I like getting to explain things they don't understand!

Also, one of my friends once called The Abomination "Hulk's dad". He thinks HULK is canon, even though I've told him that it's not but he's so stubborn and he ends up saying "But TiH starts in brazil".

 

[Lantern Venom]

The experiences can be both extremely cool or downright infuriating. In some instances, non-reading friends will ask me for explanations or elaboration, which I'm happy to give. Other times, I hear criticisms of heroes/events/movies that are clearly based on a person's limited knowledge of the the source material.

 

[GENERAL RAAM582]

My dad didn't think The Avengers would make a lot of money since it "only appealed to a niche group of people."

He liked the Mandarin twist, Adam West and Keaton are his favorite Batmen, Maguire is his favorite Spidey, and more stuff.

He thinks there have been too many X-Men, Spider-Man, and Batman films even though there has been over 20 James Bond films, which he loves.

 

[Lantern Venom]

My dad didn't think The Avengers would make a lot of money since it "only appealed to a niche group of people."

He liked the Mandarin twist, Adam West and Keaton are his favorite Batmen, Maguire is his favorite Spidey, and more stuff.

He thinks there have been too many X-Men, Spider-Man, and Batman films even though there has been over 20 James Bond films, which he loves.

Good point. When non-fans ask me why so many super hero movies get made, I just point out that most heroes on screen are 50 or more years old. Studios have multiple pre-existing storylines from which to choose, so they don't have to start from scratch and they already have a built-in audience.

 

[smallville fan]

Other times, I hear criticisms of heroes/events/movies that are clearly based on a person's limited knowledge of the the source material. These are the people I affectionately call the "GA Sheeple".

Agree. A good number of people who've never read a comic book think that the large scale action in MOS doesn't belong with Superman when comics beg to differ.

When Aquaman finally makes it to the big screen, these are the people who'll be laughing at him and will never give him a shot. I can also imagine those folk criticizing the new Aquaman and other superheroes in general with them asking stuff like "Why do they have to be all so edgy all the time? I miss Superfriends!" or "Isn't Aquaman supposed to be goofy?"

 

[Jochimus]

Neither of my parents ever really cared for comic book movies...but now my mother just loves the MCU. My siblings outside of my older brother (HE's really the Marvel man in our family) don't tend toward comic book movies either, although some of their kids do a little bit.

As for any other non-fans I know, I have at least three co-workers who (as a result of their kids) have been exposed to comic book movies - one loves the Iron Man movies, one has a daughter who loves the MCU in general, one has a son who was into Bats and the Turtles when he was little, and they all pretty much don't care for any Batman past Keaton.

 

[SuperFerret]

My dad didn't think The Avengers would make a lot of money since it "only appealed to a niche group of people."

He liked the Mandarin twist, Adam West and Keaton are his favorite Batmen, Maguire is his favorite Spidey, and more stuff.

He thinks there have been too many X-Men, Spider-Man, and Batman films even though there has been over 20 James Bond films, which he loves.

As a fan of the superhero genre and someone "in the know", I agree with your dad on those three examples.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Agree. A good number of people who've never read a comic book think that the large scale action in MOS doesn't belong with Superman when comics beg to differ.
"

I don't think a movie can do justice to Superman without the kind of action in MOS, especially if he's encountering a threat of equal or greater power than his own. We see action of that nature in comics all the time, especially when teams of heroes and villains are involved.

Likewise, I heard non-comic fans criticizing the '03 Hulk movie because Hulk was "basically a villain" (as if he's always been a warm and cuddly character) and "he fought the military and caused too much destruction". There are valid criticisms of any movie, but many non-comic fans have a cookie-cutter view of different comic book mythos, which leads to some obviously ignorant statements.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I have a friend who is as pretentious a film snob as you can find. I was shocked that she even took the time to go see Man of Steel, but of course I wasn't surprised at all that she absolutely hated it. (To be fair, she did like TDK and TDKR, though she though Batman Begins sucked because it was "so mainstream").

I'm not really sure what her criticisms were exactly... she just said she found parts of in unintentionally funny. She said she thought the scene where Superman and Lois were standing in the desert was funny but couldn't explain why.

Anyway, this is someone who worships Sophia Coppola, Darren Aronofsky and whoever made High Art, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Having watched some "mainstream" movies with her in the past, I can guarantee that she walked into MOS with her arms folded, rolling her eyes before the opening credits.

Now granted, the movie isn't perfect, but I'm surprised she even went to see it in the first place.

 

[Team Andino]

When I watched TDK with my dad he asked me why Batman didn't kill Joker at the end. I reexplained that Batman doesn't kill, that the whole point the whole time is he doesn't do it. My dad just rolled his eyes and sighed. Either my dad doesn't take movies as serious as I do, or he's killed a man before. Now that I think about it maybe he'd like Man of Steel.

 

[Mandon Knight]

I don't think it's particuarly 'non fans' as such, just those with very limited knowledge or are they the 'general audience'.

Have to say, rearly watch CBM's with non comic book fans, my elder brother is as close as I get and every one we've watched together, he's liked.

I did watch TDK with my Dad bless him and that was a fricken' nightmare, had to stop all the way through to explain who people were, how they fitted into plot and answer the question of 'why there was more than one joker' ? When we had the swat / clown grouping switcheroo, that blew his mind....

 

[TheGOODKyle]

I suppose it's just my OCD but before I watch anything I like to know as much backstory as possible. I ended up researching all of the Doctor Who seasons before starting in on the 9th Doctor. But if people enjoy a film, regardless of how much status they have attached to it, then that's good right? If someone gets something wrong simply correct them.

Although that Magneto/Wolverine comparison would have made me laugh. :P