His new movie Super — about an average Joe who dons a spandex suit and fights crime vigilante-style (see an NSFW clip here) — opens in select cities today, and to celebrate The Office star shares his thoughts on the superhero genre in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands today. Turns out, he has quite a few burning questions about Spidey, Batman, and their crime-fighting peers. Click through for a preview.
Superheroes are a truly strange storytelling phenomenon, specific to the culture of 20th-century America. Hotties in tight, bright uniforms flying around in masks, fighting supervillains, finding kid sidekicks, preserving secret identities, and fostering furtive romances with mortals. W-E-I-R-D. Having just played my first superhero, the Crimson Bolt, in the new film Super, I am now an authority. Granted, my character has no actual powers, just a sociopathic sense of purpose and a spandex costume. Herewith, my thoughts.
THE ORIGIN STORY or HERE’S HOW IT GOES DOWN After being bitten by something or exposed to something, you realize that you have a “power” of some kind, something that sets you apart in some way from the ordinary mortal man. For instance, X-ray vision, superstrength, or the ability to fold laundry with one’s mind. What do typical superheroes decide to do with said powers? They make a flashy costume, keep a secret identity, fall in love inappropriately, build a lair, and take on the bad guys, vigilante-style. And do they take on ordinary bad guys, like bank robbers and muggers and Ann Coulter? Noooo. They go after “supervillains.” Now, what would you do if you discovered you had a power? Call me old-fashioned, but I’d probably tell the CIA or local law enforcement and work with the authorities. I’d dress and act as low-key as possible. I’d try to find a way to be of maximum service to the world — show up in Haiti and Japan and Tijuana. Do the occasional birthday party. You know.
THE COSTUMES What’s up, superheroes!? What’s with the neon red and kelly green skintight spandex outfits? Why the yellow boots and silver tiaras? And those teeny-tiny masks you wear like you just walked out of Eyes Wide Shut? Do you really think you’re intimidating someone by dressing like a Romanian acrobat from Cirque du Soleil?
To read Wilson’s entire guest column on the superhero phenomenon, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands Friday, April 1.
Read More:
Rainn Wilson’s Crimson Bolt drops trou in Austin — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
Sounds like pure trash for over-hormonal, undersexed teenage boys, who will lap this up. Ugh. (and the whole “comedy” angle will surely make hipsters and “cool” people think they are even cooler because they will all claim that the film “deconstructs and subverts” the tropes of superheroes. Yeah, right…) Nothing but a crappy comedy about a nerd, made for nerdy boys who can’t get laid…
But how do you really feel?
can’t the same thing be said about women and romantic comedies?
Megan is that you?
On the nose, lol…
Hollywood, could you stop trying to make Rainn Wilson happen!!
LMAO!!!! True.
The Rocker was hilarious though…
Seems like megan hasn’t been laid!
Isn’t there already a movie called Kick Ass that covers all of this?
I’m kind of sick of the whole “deconstructing the superhero” genre. It’s been done, and this doesn’t look much different from any of the others. That said, I didn’t like Kick Ass and hope this one will at least be funny and less excessively and unnecessarily violent.
The point of kick Ass was to be excessively violent, so it wasn’t unnecessary. This film does look very violent, although less effectively so. It’s also, by many accounts, nowhere near as well written as Kick Ass, which is probably a bad thing for your hopes; but seeing as you didn’t like Kick Ass (I’ll assume you also never read it?) then it may mean you’ll like this one?
whenever i think i’d use my powers for personal gain,i remember this issue of What If?where peter parker stops the robber who would’ve killed his uncle because it’d get him even more publicity so he eventually becomes what tom cruise is today and he doesn’t keep his identity a secret,what ends up happening is that all his rogues gallery charges into his trump-style office to attack him,but daredevil tries to save him and they all gang up on DD and because peter never became a superhero and never learned how to fight all he can do is cower as DD gets beat to death.classic issue.of course,being sick and tired of working for a bum paycheck,i’d use my powers to get rich.never said i learned a lesson from that issue.
I know he’s trying to be funny, but his “deconstruction” of super hero comics might be helped if he’d ever read more than 2 or 3 issues of the 2 or 3 comics everyone’s heard of. The “origins” and use of powers he’s refering to is about 30 years out of date, and much of it doesn’t apply to many of, even the mainstream comics. Spider-Man attracts Super villains because the mob bosses tend to hire them to get rid of him because he DOES fight normal crime, help fire fighters and all that stuff. In fact the “big league” heores like The Avengers & Fantastic Four sometimes take the micky out of him for being used to fighting muggers, not alien invasions and attempts to take over the world. Marvel also do a pretty big line in “ugly~” heroes, from The Thing and Night Crawler, to Beast The Hulk and any number of unfortunate mutants etc whose powers render them far from handsome.
The movie did look like it might be fun, yes even for those of us who have lost our virginity, but apparently it isn’t.
Oh and I’d hardly class a $2m budget film where everyone worked for scale (Acting’s equivilent of minimum wage) Hollywood.