This. I want this.
Tonally, Batman's been all over the shop. You have the sixties television show in which Batman and Robin slept in twin beds and you have Frank Miller's Batman in which he spits on The Joker's fresh corpse and you have a whole mess of crazy interpretations in between. Most recently, self-deprecating Lego Batman. I don't think there's really much validity in saying Batman is being shown as
too anything at this point.
To immediately contradict myself, I thought the Burton/Schumacher series of movies were too vapid. They became a live action cartoon - and they also began as a live action cartoon. They were mental. They were without stakes. They were completely impossible to invest in. Nolan's movies decided to characterize Batman as more than just a rich man in a silly suit, which was welcome, but by the third installment had gone over the place. It was down to Earth and grounded - but Batman also had a batplane and a knee brace which allowed him to kick through solid concrete. Those weren't my only problems, obviously, but now's not the time for that.
Tonally, Superman's been a bit more consistent - at least in terms of movies. Even Superman Returns was in keeping with the tone, style and continuity of Reeves' movies (which I loved). Man of Steel, therefore, was a bit of a departure, and was encroaching on Batman territory in as much as it was set in the real world (or what passes as the real world in Hollywood movies). I thought Man of Steel was tremendous - a lot of people didn't. Oh well, too bad for you - that just means more Man of Steel for me.
I've never been a big fan of Zack Snyder. I've already used the word "vapid" once in this post but I'll do it again: Zack Snyder's made a lot of incredibly vapid films. It was therefore pretty surprising to me just how much I liked Man of Steel.
Brooding, gritty, aging, angry Republican Batman (looking, aesthetically, just how I've always wanted him to look) looking to rearrange the dentistry of Alien Jesus? One please.