Should comic book creators be advisors on comic book movies? This is a question I was asked many years ago and I find that I have a different answer to this question than I once did. After reading both sides of this argument, you might have a definitive answer as well.
What I Once Answered
A handful of years ago, I was asked to write about comic book creators taking an advisory role in movies about their characters. At the time, I felt that a creator would be too attached to the version he or she worked on to be able to move forward enough for a movie. I remember stating that a comic book movie needs to change a character so it will meld with the current times and the current market. Small changes would have to be made and this would alienate creators and some fans along the way. I argued that the studio had every right to do this in an attempt to make a comic book movie as mainstream as possible.
Today
After hearing what I heard about the Superman movie, Man of Steel, and reading Mark Waid’s blog post about his impressions of the movie, I thoroughly believe comic book creators should advise movie studios on comic book movies. You see, movie studios do not have a direct connection to the characters they are showing on the screen. Even if the movie is done by Warner Bros., the big wigs at the top are only looking at the botton line and not the actual characters involved. Maybe if someone like Mark had been in an advisory position, Man of Steel might not have veered so much from the traditional understandings of the character.
Someone needs to keep filmmakers grounded in their “representations” of comic book characters. The creators might have the chance of keeping new films away from being like World War Z which promises to only share a name with the book. When I go see a movie, I expect to see a representation of what the director sees in the story, but I do not expect to see the remnants of the abortion of the original story.
