Celebrating Pride Month: Dreadnought vs. Man of Steel (Snyderverse)

[Winter]

My relationship with the DC Extended Universe is, mixed. I love Wonder Woman, I really enjoyed Aquaman, I think Ben Affleck is one of the best Batman of all time and despite the title of this post I have a soft spot for Man of Steel. But the rest of the series is, eh.

I mean I don't think this is the worst DC series out there (personally I find the DC Animated Movie Universe to be a LOT Worse) but I'll admit that most of the films were just kinda okay if not outright bad. True story, I saw the first Suicide Squad in theaters and as I was leaving the theater I got a notification on my phone for #7 of the Tomb Raider tie-in comics. I had been waiting for this notification for a while as it was the issue that would bring Sam back into the series and sure enough Sam was included in the preview.

I spent over 5 minutes going over this 4 page preview try to look for every possible clue as to what would happen to Sam and if this meant that she would return to the series as a permanent companion. And then, after five minutes I stopped and said out-loud to myself "Wait, did Diablo die?"

The film I had saw was so uninteresting that I could remember if a Major character had died or not and it had just been out-shined by a 4 page comic preview of a tie-in comic to a game. That is what I remember most about the film, I saw it on the same day as the preview for the first issue of Choice and Sacrifice.

But the film I find the most interesting in this series is the first one, Man of Steel.

I'll admit that I still enjoy this film but at the same time I can't deny the flaws of the movie. It is to dark, Pa Kent is badly written, there's to much action and it's overall bleak and while I personally didn't mind Clark killing Zod (and find many of the criticisms of said scene to be a bit overblown and ignore the context of the scene) I get why fans of the series have a problem with it and ultimately I do agree with the fans as the series doesn't do anything with this moment which ruins any drama it could have in the future.

Thus, once again, enter Dreadnought.

Dreadnought is, when you get right down to it, Man of Steel done right. The point of Man of Steel was to show a more flawed version of Superman, with human parents who weren't the perfect parents who instilled his most valued ideals and showed how devastating a hero like this would be. At least that's my interpretation of the film and while I don't think it's a bad idea the film doesn't execute these ideas very well.

Dreadnought, however, takes similar ideas and actually takes the time to really explore them. Danny's parents are horrible to her, she enjoys the violence as it allows her to find an outlet for her issues, and she seriously contemplates letting her father be murdered by a minor supervillain because she wouldn't have to deal with his abusive ass anymore. The novel even has Danny fighting supervillains in the city like MOS and just like MOS this results in a lot of civilian causalities.

However, the key difference here in all these cases is how the story is executed.

The issues between Danny and her parents is fully explored instead of skimmed over. As has been pointed out Pa Kent is kind of a crap father and he always gives rather awful advice to Clark while Danny's father is outright abusive and sees her being trans as something horrible. Both cases are about a father that doesn't understand their child and both fathers even have a moment where they say their child is no longer their child.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of the signs of a bad stories is it will bring up a hot topic issue or do something that will be seen as controversial and then never really talk about that subject because it's not actually interested in that subject.

Let's take a look at one of the most controversial scenes in Man of Steel -

Clark: What was I Suppose to do! Let them Die?
Pa Kent: ... Maybe?

This never gets addressed, it's never talked about and the film disregards it completely in the scenes before and after it. During the entire film film Clark is saving people even at the risk of exposing himself, he even gives himself up to Zod to try and save Earth so nothing Pa Kent says is explored or really talked about.

By contrast the abuse Danny suffers from her father is a BIG part of her character. Like I said her enjoying the violence of a fight is an outlet for her anger as a result of years of abuse. It's even hinted at when she realizes she has Dreadnoughts Powers.

Danny (in her narration): Go ahead, Dad. Hit me like you mean it. What do you think you can do?

This shows that Danny wants to vent her anger against her father and, as mentioned in my previous post, this doesn't happen because the abuse Danny deals with is emotional and she's so terrified of her father and so desperate for his love and approval that when he yells at her all she can do is cower in fear. Her struggle of whether to save her father from a minor supervillain or let him be killed shows that Danny is teetering closer on the edge of the abyss then we realized.

Her saying to herself "Let him die!" isn't so much horrifying but tragic. This man has hurt her so much, and is dealing with this villain to try and trap Danny in the body she hates again, that the idea of his death fills her with excitement. But in the end she's to moral a person to let him die so she saves him, and shows regret for this because he continues to abuse her.

Pa Kent being an over protective parent, saying that Clark isn't his son in a moment of anger yet still feeling that Clark is meant for something great COULD Work... If the film did ANYTHING with these ideas. But they never do, they have Pa say or do something that doesn't fit with the character we know in other media and then we move on like nothing happened.

There's also how both MOS and Dreadnought handle the collateral damage. As has been pointed out a good chunk of Metropolis is totaled in the final fight and yet the citizins praise Superman saving them. Now it should be noted that most of the damage was the result of Zod's terraformer and during the fight between Zod and Superman Clark actually is trying push Zod away from the City and even off the planet but Zod keeps bringing them back to the City.

The real problem here is that the film acts like the big battle never really happened as RIGHT AFTER Zod's death get an upbeat and happy ending with characters going about their lives completely normally and everyone smiling about how they have someone like Superman in their lives to protect them. Even at the tale end of the movie the music and the characters are all smiles like they didn't just go through a horrible terrorist attack.

Dreadnought has the villain unleash 4 mechs on the city and while Danny is dealing with that the Legion is all but wiped out, those she was closest to in the Legion are seriously injured at best or dead at worst with the only notable survivor being the Transphobic Graywytch. And this looms over the ending as it means that Danny is now going to take on full Superhero duty whether she's ready for it or not.

There are several things I can go further into but for me those are the big points. And again, despite what I said I actually do like MOS but I can't deny that it is flawed and when compared to Dreadnought those flaws become so much more apparent. Superman is suppose to represent hope but the film gives the sense that such a being would only instill fear and destruction. Danny better embodies this then the Synderverse Superman as despite everything she goes through she still has hope. Hope that she will be excepted and loved, hope that she can live up to the Legacy of Dreadnought and Hope that, despite what idiots like Graywytch say, she is worthy of the title of Hero.

Long story short, seriously Dreadnought is a great series and needs more love and attention.

[CharlesPhipps]

I feel like the Dreadnought threads would be better as one big thread.

[Winter]

I feel like the Dreadnought threads would be better as one big thread.

Really I just posts whatever pops into my head and with the upcoming Superman show and this being pride month my mind has been on a Superhero binge and I just got through watching Man of Steel again and soon after watching it I thought "Huh, this was actually done better in Dreadnought... So was that, and that, also that, that thing too" and you see where this is going.

[CharlesPhipps]

I feel like the Dreadnought threads would be better as one big thread.

Really I just posts whatever pops into my head and with the upcoming Superman show and this being pride month my mind has been on a Superhero binge and I just got through watching Man of Steel again and soon after watching it I thought "Huh, this was actually done better in Dreadnought... So was that, and that, also that, that thing too" and you see where this is going.

You are correct and I don't have any problem talking about Danny. I'm also very excited about her third upcoming novel that April Daniels is currently writing.

I really thought the series was over.

[Winter]

I feel like the Dreadnought threads would be better as one big thread.

Really I just posts whatever pops into my head and with the upcoming Superman show and this being pride month my mind has been on a Superhero binge and I just got through watching Man of Steel again and soon after watching it I thought "Huh, this was actually done better in Dreadnought... So was that, and that, also that, that thing too" and you see where this is going.

You are correct and I don't have any problem talking about Danny. I'm also very excited about her third upcoming novel that April Daniels is currently writing.

I really thought the series was over.

Gotta admit something I would love to see in a sequel is the character Darkfist (aka Batman) to show up and to give Danny the loving father figure she's always craved. Something that I honestly just thought of was it being revealed that he had a son who was trans but he didn't except him as such and then later his son was killed and he's regretted his treatment of him and changed his Superhero identity (something like, I don't know K/Night Hawk) as a tribute to his son.

Danny would be, in essence, his chance to atone for his greatest failure which itself would be an interesting take on the "Death in the Family" idea.

I even have an idea for a design which is basically Batman but with a mask/cowl that's based on the one that the character Harper Thomas wearied in the Comic Sunstone (BDSM comic so DO NOT read it at work!).

It would be an interesting take on the Batman/Superman relationship as instead of a "What if Batman and Superman were enemies" or "Lovers" as one Expy of the two are it was instead it's "What if Batman adopted when he was a kid Superman".

As for the villains I'll admit I hope that they're not transphobic as I've had my fill of such idiots in real life and with Greywytch gone it would be nice to have villains who honestly didn't give a shit.

Personally I'd love to see villains who had powers similar to Dreadnought along with a none powered regular villain (kind of the Joker to Darkfist's Batman) working together. Basically I would love the Worlds Finest of Dreadnought that finally deals with what Nemesis is.