Please DC, Stop Trying To Make Your Heroes Funny

The Big Picture

Superheroes often have a sense of humor. Spider-Man is a great example of a hero that loves witty jokes and is known to use his sense of humor against his enemies. Batman is dark, brooding, and dramatic, and most of his films portray him that way, but he still finds moments of levity when dealing with his eclectic rouges’ gallery. The key to a great superhero film is to maintain the balance between serious tension and humor, and DC films have been massively out of balance recently. With Blue Beetle coming out soon, and the DC reboot coming shortly after with James Gunn at the helm, it’s more important than ever that they get that balance right. They’re headed down the same path that Thor: Love and Thunder did by making too many jokes that diminish the plot’s conflict, and Warner Bros. needs to turn that around in their upcoming projects.

Recent DC Films Like ‘Black Adam’ and ‘The Flash’ Make Jokes at the Wrong Time

One of the main problems with DC’s attempts at humor is that it often tries to shoehorn jokes at completely inappropriate times that strip the moments of any tension. Black Adam has many examples of awkward jokes in a film that is supposed to be about one of the darkest, most threatening villains in the DC universe. Another example of overindulging in humor is how they reduce the hero Atom Smasher to a bumbling giant. For a film centered on one of the greatest and most powerful villains in DC comics, the amount of jokes seem forced and unnecessary.

Shazam! is one DC film that has a great balance of humor and conflict. Since Billy Batson (Asher Angel) was only 14 when this movie took place, his playful, naive attitude when he transforms into Shazam (Zachary Levi) makes sense. Nearly three years pass between the first film and Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and while it’s clear that Billy has grown up and takes his role as a leader very seriously, Levi’s performance as Shazam hasn’t matured in the slightest. The amount of jokes go completely overboard at times when the film should be building tension in the conflict. While Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) helps balance the drama with his sarcastic personality in first film, his dialogue is a non-stop stream of bloviating to deflect from his fear and sadness in the sequel. While this is a movie that appeals to both older and younger audiences and therefore the humor is expected to be a little cornier and immature, there are far too many jokes in Fury of the Gods to make the stakes in this film as significant as they should be.

DC’s biggest mistake with the comedic elements of a superhero film came in their most recent release, The Flash. This film consistently destroyed any of the tension they were trying to build with Barry (Ezra Miller) spouting nervous jokes or something ridiculous happening in slow motion. Almost a dozen babies, a nurse, and a dog fall from hospital windows many floors up, but every moment he’s rescuing the CGI babies is treated as a joke. The younger version of Barry being portrayed as a careless student with the personality of a stoner is an insult to the budding genius he was as a child. It’s as if Barry having his mom (Maribel Verdú) in his life enabled him to be lazy, so he lost his desire to learn. Young Barry’s overuse of humor grates on Barry’s nerves so much that, shortly after meeting him, he realizes that his silly ramblings are as annoying as everyone tells him. If Barry was able to see how annoying his younger self was, it’s easy to imagine how annoying audiences found both Barrys.

The Humor Only Works in DC Films Directed by James Gunn

DC films have a lot to learn about how to balance humor and heroism, but they have succeeded at this a couple times. The reboot of Suicide Squad uses the diverse personalities of the team to bring many styles of comedy to the film. This movie also strikes a great balance between using humor and building tension. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is on her own adventure for most of the movie and, much like her Joker (Jared Leto), she uses dark humor as often as she uses violence to survive. Peacemaker (John Cena) provides some of the best comedy in the film because he is so serious about his contradictory goal of using extreme violence to bring peace. The character proves to have a lot more depth in the spin-off series Peacemaker which became a smash hit on HBO Max and has a second season in the works. The common thread with these projects is that Gunn directed both, and that’s why so many are optimistic about his takeover of the DC cinematic universe.

Warner Bros had been looking for someone to oversee all DC projects the same way that Kevin Feige is in charge of all the Marvel projects. Since Gunn accepted the job, he’s made many announcements about his plans moving forward, and there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic. The biggest focus for most fans right now is on the first film of the DC reboot, Superman: Legacy, which Gunn will direct himself. Many ardent fans of the vision Zack Snyder presented of Superman (Henry Cavill) are skeptical, but the fans of the comic book version that represented the hope and goodness of humanity are grateful to be moving past that bleak, mistrusting portrayal. Gunn recently announced casting the two leads in the film, with Superman being played by David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan in the role of Lois Lane. He confirmed the rumor by emphasizing that they’re wonderful people, which could be an attempt to reassure fans that there won’t be any controversy to worry about like there was with Ezra Miller. Gunn’s track record with superhero films is as impressive as Superman’s strength, and that’s why so many have high hopes for his DC vision.

Superhero Jokes Don’t Always Land the Punchline

Superhero movies should definitely use humor that reflects the hero’s personality, but they shouldn’t force it so often that it negates any of the dramatic tension of the conflict. In order for the audience to be invested in the hero’s struggle, there needs to be high stakes involved with the success or failure of their efforts. With Suicide Squad, Gunn was able to bring a lot of character development to each of the team members through their dramatic backstories and the ways they use humor to cope with their past traumas. His ability to use comedy as one of many aspects in showing a character’s growth is a direct contrast to the recent DC films that made their characters shallow by overusing humor. Superheroes have humor, but they’re not comedians. They are meant to represent the best of humanity, and teach us how to be better people and face our struggles with courage and integrity. If everything is funny to the hero in a film, the struggle never feels that significant to the audience. Hopefully, Blue Beetle doesn’t follow the same path as previous DC films. Regardless of how well that film strikes a balance between the drama and comedy, Superman: Legacy is right around the corner, and there are a lot of reasons to have hope for DC films in the future.