DC Comics already began to seriously fall behind Marvel Comics by the time that I got into comic books, and it felt like that gap just kept widening over time. There is a good reason for this, since Marvel Comics characters tended to have a far more human side. For example, Peter Parker was broke, and had serious issues with personal confidence and love interests. Tony Starks becomes a drunk, and loses his status as Iron Man as a result (something that I would like to see the movie franchise incorporate into their story line).
However, DC Comics began to close that margin just a little bit, at least, with the Batman movie franchise starring Michael Keaton in 1989.
The Batman is a great character for DC. He is probably their best original character, because he is not too perfect or hokey, like Superman.
Maybe the rich millionaire (now billionaire) Bruce Wayne seemed a little too good to be true, but even this could be converted into a darker and far more complex character than typical comic book characters generally did from DC. By the time that the new movie came out in 1989, the Bruce Wayne character was a bit more complex than the television series Bruce Wayne had been, which was refreshing.
The latest movie series is even more realistic, and Bruce Wayne is an even darker, and far more complex character. He, too, had serious women issues. He was lonely, and had a sense of responsibility, but needed to portray the perennial party boy of the frat world type. A spoiled rich bat who was actually the dark superhero known as Batman, who tried to do what was right, even if that meant looking like he was the bad guy. He looks like the poster child of irresponsibility, but in fact, he secretly risks his life to try and help the people of Gotham who need him.
Also, The Joker is a great character. Much like Batman, he is dark, and their is a psychotic side to him that adds an extra element of danger there. He got progressively darker, until the most recent big screen portrayal, in which he is very, very dark. By this point, it seems that he really does not care what is going to happen. He hates "schemers" and destroys their plan, injecting a little chaos into everything, making him very unpredictable. This is also what makes him so fascinating, and why he became such an incredibly popular character - probably one of the best, and certainly one of the most iconic bad guys in recent memory!
This is almost to be expected, because The Joker lends some serious flexibility to the standard DC Comics characters, who usually possess very little.
Found this article recently on the origins of The Joker (or at least the Joker as portrayed by Heath Ledger), and thought that this was an interesting take on his origins, and what had turned him into the ultimate "Agent of Chaos" that he had become by the time of the movie.
So, here is the link, to any Joker and/or Batman fans. He really was an amazing character!
Just What Was the REAL Origin of Heath Ledger's Joker? by Kit Simpson Browne ⋅ Posted on July 30th, 2015:
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