Superhero movies have retaken Hollywood over the last few years, with franchise reboots of Spiderman, Batman and The Avengers—including offshoots starring Iron Man, Thor and Captain America—finally figuring out how to do the comic book genre justice. It’s easy to forget just how long superheroes were stuck in the dark ages, though, as studios treated them and their fans with little respect.
Remember George Clooney as Batman? Ben Affleck as Daredevil? The half-baked Catwoman and Elektra villain spinoffs? While studios have been happy to cash in on moviegoers’ fascination with superhero flicks, none of the productions seemed to take the title characters or their stories very seriously.
Then something changed. Sin City, the black-as-an-oil-slick 2005 adaptation of Frank Miller’s classic graphic novel—as well as the mammoth success of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins—showed audiences craved deep characters and engaging stories, even in big budget blockbusters.
Now that quality comic book movies are in vogue in Hollywood, it’s high time some of our favourite heroes got the proper cinematic treatments they deserve.
Chadwick Boseman as The Flash?
The Flash
It’s hard to believe for one of DC Comics’ most popular characters, but, much like Wonder Woman, The Flash has never had a proper cinematic treatment. A Hollywood team has been working on a script since 2004, but evidently their hero’s trademark speed hasn’t inspired them to pick up the pace.
There are multiple versions of The Flash—the most prominent, Barry Allen, was actually inspired the Flash comics he read as a kid. Allen had a tough life: his father was successfully framed for his mother’s murder, driving Barry to study science in an effort to prove his father’s innocence. A lab accident caused by lightning gave him his super-speed, which, obviously, he used to fight crime.
The Flash is a role that requires a both intellectual intensity and physicality, both qualities that emerging actor Chadwick Boseman (42) brings to the screen. Purists will argue that The Flash isn’t supposed to be black, but the new comic book Spiderman is Hispanic, so why not? Sure, colours matter in comics, but race shouldn’t.
