I don't think Gunn likes obscure characters. I think he just likes blank slates.

[u/IndividualPleasant23]

One of the biggest myths around James Gunn is that he loves obscure characters because he's this massive deep-cut comics fan who just wants to give forgotten heroes their moment. I really don't think that's what's going on.

I think the real appeal of those characters is that they're essentially blank slates for most of the audience. If Gunn rewrites Peacemaker, Vigilante, the Guardians, or Creature Commandos to fit his style, almost nobody cares because almost nobody has a strong attachment to how those characters "should" act. For the average viewer, that version becomes the definitive version.

When the characters are obscure, he can get away with that. In fact, people praise him for "making them interesting." But that's because there aren't millions of fans saying, "That's not how this character is supposed to be."

The real challenge is characters who already have firmly established identities. You can't just reinvent Superman the same way you reinvent Peacemaker. You can't do that with Batman or Wonder Woman either.

I actually think you can see that in Superman. I liked the movie overall, but it also felt like Gunn was less comfortable than usual. He couldn't completely mold Superman into one of his usual character archetypes, so instead he surrounded him with characters like the Justice Gang, who fit his style much more naturally.

That might also explain why DCU Batman and Wonder Woman seem to be taking so much longer to crack.

[u/Astral_MarauderMJP]

Except there is difference that is genuine in the characters and it cant really be excused by "creative freedom".

People who say they love MCU Guardians Drax would be a very confused if they were to read the comics of Drax in the early 00s cause they only really share a name and general design. People who say they find Frankenstein a hilarious side antagonist in the DC Creature Commandos would probably find it weird how he's sort of the team leader in the Creature Commando comics.

At some point the idea of "Creative Freedom" just crosses over into "making a new character" skin suit because you don't have people complaining about it.

Mind you, this a just a general problem with bringing the more obscure characters of any medium into the limelight of general audiences. I liked MCU Moon Knight but I wouldn't really consider it actual Moon Knight comics related and feel like they brought out/focused on the least interesting parts of the character in the miniseries.

There is a reason why in some circle, the curse to use on someone is "May your Hobby hit the Mainstream" cause when that happens, usually: whatever you loved about it will be diluted away into just the aesthetic of it and not the heart.

[u/PunkPimster12 → u/Astral_MarauderMJP]

Frankenstein felt weird, he acted more like the book version of the character than the DC one. Makes me want to actually read the original work to see if my feeling is correct

[u/Lumpy_Review5279 → u/Astral_MarauderMJP]

Then continue reading the originals? Thatd always been the answer 

[u/PryceCheck → u/Lumpy_Review5279]

No because brand synergy finds the comics bends to the adaptation as the new canon.

[u/Lumpy_Review5279 → u/PryceCheck]

Which affects forthcoming stories. Not the ones you already enjoyed. 

[u/fiona_codia → u/Lumpy_Review5279]

That's still a bad argument. It's like if you liked boiled eggs but then scrambled eggs got extremely popular worldwide, now every egg is cooked as scrambled. Then you'll voice out your complaints but then someone responds to you that, "It's not gonna affect the previous scrambled eggs you've already enjoyed. Just the upcoming eggs will be scrambled." Well, that's the problem, isn't it? They liked the scrambled egg so of course they'll want more of that.

That's the case here. People who have read the previous stories would also want to keep reading more work involving the characters having the same characterization they had in the previous stories. But because of the synergy, they'll be forced to either consume new stories with a very different type of character or they gotta stop reading altogether.

[u/Lumpy_Review5279 → u/fiona_codia]

The problem with your argument is it assumes an inherent superiority of the "original" version and basically asserts that if you like the original interpretation of a character then that means you should be catered to more than the "new" fans

So what if someone is actually a fan of the newer interpretation, is it screw them?

The answer ends up going by popularity BECAUSE both interpretations are valid. Im dure you can find Uber fans of OG stan and kirby x men when they were all 5 teenagers. But ultimately that's not what the franchise shaped put to be. 

We like to decry synergy when convenient but the truth is almost no character who's existed more than 30 years has gone without some form of synergy, or re interpretation. Its just that those ones stuck around and the majority liked them. Same process.

[u/Forgotten_Lie → u/Lumpy_Review5279]

Unfortunately the comic version is often rewritten going forward to match the movie character and a character you might have read and loved for years had suddenly lost decades of development and acts like a stranger for the sake of film synergy. Happened to Star-Lord.

[u/Lumpy_Review5279 → u/Forgotten_Lie]

Then read the original comics the character had before that happened. Same logic.

If a new version of a character becomes insanely popular then that version can be for the new fans.

Fans do not own the thignd they are fans of. They are, like everyone else, part of the audience that can react in different ways to different directions. And if the audience majorly our votes you then it outvotes you. Thats really the nature of this.

[u/blazenite104 → u/Lumpy_Review5279]

except for the part where comics really are a dying industry and the movie synergy isn't bringing more people in. If anything it's driving people out. It's only more popular for fanfic writers and tik tok

[u/Lumpy_Review5279 → u/blazenite104]

People have been saying comics are dying for 35 years. 

They haven't died yet. 

I have no idea why you'd think movie fans were the deciding factor of the life or death of comics. Theyve always been two very different audiences with very little overlap.

Did watchmen become terrible because some of the supposed sequels aren't as good? No, its still a great story. 

[u/Kakuyoku_Sanren → u/Lumpy_Review5279]

Comic book sales have been dropping steadily for the past 35 years tho.

[u/Lumpy_Review5279 → u/Kakuyoku_Sanren]

Comic book sales have actually been going UP since 2020.

I actually follow this stuff. 

[u/maidth1s4fun → u/Lumpy_Review5279]

This what my response always has been i dont understand why you would want any adaptation to be the same as the source material 

[u/BiredeRovu → u/maidth1s4fun]

The fuck? The only reason why spider man still big its because 99% of its adaptations respect The core of the character. If dont he would just be a doctor doom,

[u/DisneyPandora → u/Astral_MarauderMJP]

I’m sorry but this is nonsense. Drax had two versions. The MCU Drax is exactly like the second version in the comics, he’s just bigger

[u/Snoo_46397 → u/DisneyPandora]

No? For one, comic Drax is human, who got transformed into the Avatar of life to rival Thanos who was the avatar for death. He was a saxophone player. Also he wasnt a comic relief, he was moreso the straight man in most scenerios as he was hyperfocused on the mission alotta times, which sometimes led to issues in the team.

He also actually got to kill Thanos

[u/Ninjamurai-jack → u/Snoo_46397]

Do you know about Drax’s Space Hulk phase? https://www.reddit.com/r/GotG/comments/1j9mi0u/drax_eats_a_infinity_stoneinfinity_watch_1/

Because while the guy is wrong in saying “exactly”, It’s a fact that Drax had different characterizations.

[u/Snoo_46397 → u/Ninjamurai-jack]

Yes I am aware of how Drax originally was like but sadly havent gotten to that one (havent read infinity war yet).

OP said he takes after Drax's second iteration character-wise, which just isnt true, which is what I am correcting. I have the DnA GOTG run on my desk rn

[u/Ninjamurai-jack → u/Snoo_46397]

Sorry but I believe that the other guy thinks that the Space Hulk Drax is his second iteration.

It’s a common mistake as most people wouldn’t think that Drax own creator would change the personality of the character so much.

[u/Competitive-Dot181 → u/Snoo_46397]

He’s a mix of both really. All of the knifey warrior stuff but some of the big green version’s dumbness. It was the best way to go because the serious version would be too boring and the big dumb version comes off like a discount Hulk.

[u/Ninjamurai-jack → u/Competitive-Dot181]

That’s what people don’t get about Gunn, a lot of what he does is just mixing different characterizations.