John Dyro Writing and Rhetoric 31 Oct 2012 Research Paper Proposal

Villainy in Super Hero Movies

How the difference between villains highlights the difference between movie franchises.

The two most successful super-hero movie franchises of our time, in fact of all time, are The Dark Knight trilogy and The Avengers. These franchises differ in almost every way: plot, setup, tone, continuity, etc., but the one way they do not differ is in their success. Because super hero movies are one of my favorite types of movies, and because their success engenders such devotion in fans of the movies, this topic was an obvious choice for my research paper on popular culture. What interests me most about these different movie franchises are how different they are, but studying all of the key ways they differ would be much too difficult. Instead, I will focus my research on how the villains in these movies are portrayed because

this difference highlights the essential differences between the philosophies of the franchises. The villain in any super-hero movie is a key figure. What is so interesting about villains is that, more often than not, villains change from sequel to sequel as the main hero defeats them in increasingly difficult ways. Despite the change in the persons of the villains, the movie producers vision for the kind of evil their hero defeats often remains the same. Thus, by studying the various villains in a movie franchise, the background thinking behind the franchise and the hero is often revealed. Comparatively studying the many villains in two movie franchises is an ambitious task, but undertaking it well will reveal many sharp insights into the nature of the movies. Exploring my preliminary thoughts on the different villains, I sense something much darker about the villains in The Dark Knight. What is so disturbing about these villains, in fact what confuses Batman about the Joker, is that the villains in these movies dont seem to want anything in particular. Each sets out to destroy Gotham city, but what they gain from this destruction is unclear at best. The villains just have an insatiable thirst for destruction without gain, which is a dark and twisted form of villainy. In contrast, the villains in The Avengers movies, although spread out over different storylines, different time periods, and different struggles, for the most part appear to be seeking some form of personal gain, whether it be power, revenge, wealth, or a combination of the three. Although these villains still commit horrid acts, committing these acts for a purpose makes the villains more human than committing crimes for the sake of destruction itself.

The meaning of a movie can be found in many different elements: its story, its characters, its setting, etc. When it comes to a superhero movie, it is almost always about the struggle between two people: the main hero of the entire franchise and the main villain of the particular movie. By researching the critical and commercial success of various movies, and focusing on the difference between the villains in the movies, I hope to more fully understand the meaning of both of the movie franchises.