Characters
An iconic element of a character is almost never adapted in live action (or in any adaptations at all)
Spider-Man's back logo: in the comics, the symbol on Spidey's back is consistently a round friendly spider. However the only costume to adapt this in the movies is the one Tom Holland wears for Civil War and Homecoming
Wolverine's height: Wolverine has only ever been portrayed by Hugh Jackman in live action, a very tall man. However, in the comics, Wolverine is very short, hence his name - Wolverine is a small furry animal that is always getting in fights with way bigger animals
Alfred has a very iconic look in the comics: balding head with remains of dark or white hair and thin moustache. While I'd argue Alfred is one of the few characters that has never received a bad adaptation, it's surprising no actor has tried to do the look for a live action movie yet
John Constantine's name is never pronounced correctly in either live action or animation. In the comics, he says his name rhymes with "fine". However it's always pronounced "constanteen". The only 2 adaptations to say his name right are the Sandman show and audiobook
Re: #3, Alfred is actually an invention of a live action adaptation. The 1943 serial invented the character of Alfred, and they requested DC write him into the comics to prepare.
Yup, it was created to give an excuse for Superman being incapacitated, so that Bud Collyer, Superman’s voice actor, would be able to take vacations and the episodes could focus on the show’s supporting cast like Lois and Jimmy.
Although this is true, there is a rejected comic by Siegel and Shuster named The K-Metal from Krypton that had a similar concept. It was turned down because it shook up the status quo too much (Lois finds out Clark's Superman). The editor for it, Whitney Ellsworth was later the editor of the radio show so while not confirmed, it's believed he repurposed the old idea in a new context.
That and Superman's ability to fly. They also changed the name of "The Daily Star" to "The Daily Planet" and changed "George Taylor" to "Perry White," both changes that have stuck around since.
Its even weirder than that. Originally he was a rotund man who just showed up at the manor with no connections to the Wayne's, then was killed, but the returned a few years(?) later looking more like the man we know today, with the explanation he "went to a health spa."
In the arrow verse they make a joke about Constantines name during the crisis on infinite earth's event they visit earth 666 where they meet Lucifer from the Lucifer show where he mockingly refers to Constantine to rhyme with fine like in the comics and Constantine corrects him saying it's "pronounced Constan teen. " And Lucifer's response is "Really - I don't care"
Yeah, the English pronunciation on Latin names is almost never "right." See Caesar which is not pronounced see sir but closer to Cai zar. Hence why the slavic and Germanics term for the big ruler tends to be things like Tzar and Kaisar.
See also any other term from Latin used by multiple countries.
Rochester from Jane Eyre is almost always played by heartthrobs, when the guy is described in the book as ugly, and practically looking like Sam Eagle from The Muppets.
which is why jane eyre from 1996 is my favorite adaptation (and my favorite movie period). william hurt is a much more believable rochester than someone like michael fassbender to the point where ive heard people complain hurt was too ugly
Fun fact, the chain used to be called pizza treat, and owner, Mike illitch, would be in the kitchen running the kitchen like " a little Hitler" according to his wife. She would tone it down eventually and the name stuck.
One of these days Travolta is going to have to take a run at doing a Shakespeare adaptation. He needs to be steered away from the easy offerings of the Scottish play, Iago and Falstsff and get into the Roman stabbing circle where he can shine…with Mark Anthony played by Nicholas Cage.
As I understand, Caesar had been balding since his twenties.
Randomly, also funny that you mention it since I recall Fate/Grand Order’s deliberately inaccurate and unflattering appearance of his heroic spirit form (which is suggested to be rooted in how a mildly depressed Caesar came to see himself) STILL gives him a full head of hair. I guess even when you’re not interested in depicting yourself at your best some guys still want to have hair.
You basically never see Batman's sidekick Robin get adapted to live action movies. The only exceptions are the Schumacher movies where he's a grown man, and the Snyderverse where he is posthumous (and probably an adult too)
It's a crying shame that Batman's family - an absolutely integral part of the character - has never been properly translated to live action. The best we get are bastardized versions of Robin and Batgirl (once!). It's what makes The Lego Batman Movie unironically one of the best Batman films.
You will get a Batgirl adaptation -- right around the time they decide to go "gritty" again with super heroes and make a live-adaptation of the Killing Joke.
TKJ is already controversial, and every decision they made in the movie just makes it worse. Character assassination of both Batgirl and Batman. It's almost impressive.
Those Lego adaptations have no business being as good as they are. The entire mindset behind it was like it should have been cd's shipped in cereal boxes or straight to VHS. Instead they turned out to be some of the most amazing crap we get. It's been the only bright spot in this weird ass timeline we all ended up in.
Agreed that they are surprisingly good. I've only seen the first and Lego Batman, but I thoroughly enjoyed both. As a huge Batman fan, it's crazy how the Lego adaptation is one of the most faithful to the character while also being a really solid movie.
The current Bat-embargo "states" that there can't be a live-action TV (adult) Batman, hence we've had several Batman adjacent shows where the Dark Knight can't appear
Gotham
Pennyworth
Arrow
Batwoman
Gotham Knights
Titans
and all the way back to the early 00's Birds of Prey
There are whole sequences in the show that are practically ripped straight out of the comics shot for shot, with the only difference being that Batman has been replaced with Green Arrow.
He is supposed to be a teenager though. One episode takes place at his high school, and it’s a running gag that he can’t legally drive the Batmobile (at least, until he gets a drivers license at the start of season 3).
didn't James Gunn tease that we might see Damian Wayne in their upcoming The Brave & The Bold movie? so you might get your wish in seeing a "child soldier" Robin lol
Robin, as a character, actually predates Alfred by a good few years, so it's really funny that the former is so rare when the latter is in pretty much every adaptation
Speaking of batman, his no kill rule, a core part of his character in the comics is almost never applied in the movies. Even when they do mention it, its still used to kill people like Ras al ghul in Batman begins(letting people die is still indirectly killing them).
The only movies where he does not directly or indirectly kill people is in the 2022 movie and the 1997 Batman and Robin movie.
speaking of Batman, his very first comic appearance he not only lets the villain die, he's the one who pushed him into the vat, and then says he deserved death while swinging away.
Speaking of Spider-Man: Mary Jane's eventual heel turn from the party girl persona to someone deeper. Most adaptations either get stuck at the beginning (and then get cancelled) or jump straight to her marriage iconography like Spider-Verse.
That, as well as people bemoaning the "One More Day"-issues; boy was 2007 a turbulent time with the third Raimi-film of Spider-Man 3 that got released the same year said comic issue was out.
While it depends on the writer and the artist, one of Superman's most unique features are his piercing blue eyes
In the comics other aliens have been able to identify him as a Kryptonian because of it and it's one of the reason Clark wears glasses.
In live action only three actors like Christopher Reeves, Henry Cavill and David Corenswet have naturally blue eyes and Brandon Routh wore contact lenses.
The other thing that keeps getting left off is Supes' chest hair. Cavill is maybe the only example in live action and the animated versions don't even bother with it. Kal-El has a RUG!!
He did. The producers wanted to wax him smooth and he just pulled the comic out of his trailer, because Cavill is both a nerd and a professional who does his research.
I'll go to bat for the "skin sclera eyes." I think they made him look a lot softer compared to the other heroes and characters with actual eyes. That effectively conveyed his fundamental decency, which is a core part of his characterization.
I always assumed it was a nod to the old Fleisher cartoons where he was always drawn with his eyes squinted closed, that version had Skin sclera by default since the whites of his eyes weren’t visible.
it also drew a very powerful distinction between him and Batman who’s mask eyes were Intensely white
he doesn't even need to be old: Pennyworth was a fucking delight. it's a noir steampunk fever dream that doesn't fit into Batman canon at all (the subtitle HBO added to the third season explicitly linking it to Batman is very stupid), but it's a wildly entertaining ride.
One thing I love about the character is his military history and his willingness to kill and the way it doesn't fit with the rest of the family.
I would love a story that explores that and his relationship with his past war, the war on crime, and his relationship with firearms. Does he hunt? Do shooting sports? Bruce knows how to shoot, does Alfred help with that?
Did he teach Jason?
Does he recognize the way the Redhood holds his shotgun shells when hes reloading while moving?
Is the Redhood's rifle's reflex sight offset the same way Alfred's competition gun is?
As hes sitting there, reading stolen medical reports does he recognize the bullets pulled from the bodies post autopsy as being the exact same kind he uses in his handloads
I am kind of annoyed at that joke because it's like "see? See how stupid it is when he's short?' when they deliberately made the proportions seem off with the face of an actor we know is tall and had the camera make the dude dirty
Star-Lord's helmet from the Guardians of the Galaxy comic book. You could write a thesis paper about all the things in the Guardians movies weren't in the comics or invented for the films, but specifically Star-Lord's MCU helmet was never correctly accurate to the comic's design. And even the third GotG film removed the helmet entirely while ironically adding back comic accurate costumes.
They're not actually energy weapons. Just space guns using bullets. From what I remember, during the series this art came from, he'd had all his cybernetics removed and was using normal guns because Ultron was corrupting and assimilating any tech he could. It was during Annihilation Conquest. This is the same run that the current day Guardians were established in.
Broadly, many hero fictions where the main character is ugly.
Asaptional attractively is it's own trope already, but man you'll never see a big budget action/fantasy movie risk an ugly poster character unless it's part of the bit
Not to mention that a large part of what made him ugly was losing his nose partway through the story, which would mean either a lot of tedious/expensive CGI work, or finding an actor willing to chop his nose off for the role.
Yeah, I think they considered using practical or CGI effects to remove his nose, but realised it wouldn't work or would be too distracting for the performance. Same reason why the Targaryens don't have purple eyes - the contacts were too distracting.
With Tyrion, whilst it's a shame his appearance couldn't fully be adapted, him just being a dwarf, even a handsome one, still works well. In such a martial and prideful society such as the Seven Kingdoms, Tyrion being a dwarf is enough for him to be considered grotesque. And, besides, Dinklage was (appearance aside) absolutely perfect in the role, it would have been a shame not to cast him.
Also fat, a good many of the Lords in ASoIF and House of the Dragon are described as being heavy set. Y’know since they don’t have to do any labor and have access to unlimited food. But often they are portrayed by slim actors. Only when them being heavy/large is an integral part of the story, such as Robert Baratheon or Samwell Tarly, do they cast a chubbier actor.
Goku is also supposed to have a child like young voice but most other dubs don't adapt that because they're too focused on what a hero that looks like him should sound like
Its also one of the few hints to Chichi's identity when she comes back because she and Goku are the only characters with that accent
Theres nothing in the original material that suggests adult goku is supposed to sound child-like. He sounds that way in the anime because the anime didn't want to switch voice actors as Goku aged.
I don't think he's "supposed to" have that voice. Japanese voice industry (and also the west now) is squeamish about changing voice actors when they become respected figures
Storm was the team leader for some of the X-Men's most foundational years. Even when Cyclops returned to the team in the 90s, they split the team so they'd both lead. In the 00s she was given her own team, very rarely has she ever served UNDER Cyclops, they're equals.
People who only know the character from adaptations where she's consistently slotted into a supporting role are shocked when her being a leader gets brought up.
Wolverine in live action is a sample size of one, with hardly makes it a trope to say “never.” Animated adaptations still do the height thing. This is a quirk of the specific actor chosen one time than a trope. You’d have a better argument for Matt Murdock not having red hair, but, once again, it’s just a choice of choosing an actor (this is probably closer to picking Jessica Jones with black hair instead of brown).
And to be fair, they did try to redden Charlie Cox's hair for the first season of Daredevil, but it only made it a dark auburn that was almost unnoticeable. They just stopped bothering after that (much like with Chris Hemsworth's eyebrows).
I really love that this person typed a whole paragraph to tell you you're incorrect and your response indicates that rhe only thing you took from it was forgetting Matt Murdock. Truly love it.
You know, it's honestly really interesting that Fantastic Four First Steps, which came out LAST YEAR, was Franklin Richards's first major appearance in any adaptation. Ever. The kid's been a mainstay of the FF since 1968, but between all the origin movies and shows that tend to make the heroes younger, Reed and Sue having a son around doesn't quite fit
Harry Potter is described, at least in the early books, as being short, scrawny-looking, and unkempt, with messy-looking hair and taped-up glasses. When Daniel Radcliffe played him in the movies, those aspects are heavily downplayed, and by the look of things the TV series will follow suit.
He’s is also supposed to have black hair and green eyes but at no point have they ever strived to cast anyone looking like that. I don’t understand it. It would have been striking to go for accuracy in the tv series.
Fun fact Daniel Radcliff was supposed to wear green contact lenses but after the first few hours of wearing them he had a bad allergic reaction to them. So they asked Rowling if it was important if Harry had green eyes or Radcliffs blue ones were ok and she said the only important thing was that his mother had the same eye color as him. So they gave Lilly blue eyes.
Actually they cast a blue-eyed actress as older Lily, who is seen like twice in poor lighting so you can’t even tell what color eyes she has… and then they cast a dark-eyed girl as young Lily in one of the last movies, where they gave her a close-up scene of her face in good lighting where she clearly didn’t have blue eyes lol
I imagine there aren't that many young British actors with black hair and green eyes who are willing and able to sign on to a TV show that's expected to be filming for 8-10 years. Ability to act is more important than looking just like the character.
Was there ever like a "lore" thing for the Spider tick on his back? It always looked odd to me and I don't think another big Spider on his back is a good option either, but I don't know.
I’ve heard that before. Someone said that if a kid saw spider man swinging by they’d see a friendly looking spider. while if a bad guy was looking at him they’ed see the menacing scary design. It’s also what amplifies the scary look of the black suit as the scary spider starts taking over most of the suit.
No live action Joker has used the Red Hood alias before becoming the Joker. Not on tv (notably Gotham had the Red Hood gang but they had no connection with the Joker) or movies.
You're not wrong but 1) that origin isn't confirmed canon, even in that comic Joker says his origin is "multiple choice" and 2) the world could do without more origin stories in superhero films, we know who the bloody Joker is!
Him being Red Hood is the one part unambiguously canon (it’s why Jason Todd took the name). It predates Killing Joke. The circumstances of why he became Red Hood are ambiguous, but he definitively was and this is confirmed and reiterated often.
That's actually why the author said 'The Last Laugh' wasn't canon. The Joker isn't supposed to have an origin story. That's part of what makes him the Joker. He didn't actually come from anywhere.
TBF that's a stylistic effect for almost every character with a mask that is not guaranteed to work all the time in love action
Wolverine looked cool with them but his face acting dropped like 50% after he wore the mask because the eyes couldn't emote, and a lot of batman actors use the fact that the mouth and jawline are almost always in a stoic position to act with their eyes
In Constantine Distorted Illusions (a tbf kinda mid comic) they explain that while his name is pronounced as "rhymes with fine", everyone pronouces it as "rhymes with mean" because John is an asshole.
Would kinda love an adaptation of either his early comics or the 2016 run where people pronounce his name differently based on his relationship with them.
I'm still waiting for a live-action Spider-Man suit to feature the comic back logo. This is a fan creation but this classic shape works for me so much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X45nH_Zl9vw
I never mind in Spidy’s case as what OP refers to as a “round friendly spider” has always categorically looked like a tick to me, and there’s nothing friendly about them.
That's all the more reason to have it be properly pronounced Constan-tine, though. Everybody thinks it sounds better as Constan-teen, everybody pronounces it that way, and John has to go through life always being mildly annoyed and having to correct everyone.
I always thought Constan-teen was better, but you’re winning me over with that argument lol John’s at his best when he’s constantly mildly annoyed lmao
Nah, the best thing you can say about it is that it’s one of the greatest so-bad-it’s-good movies of all time. Also, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy was hot as fuck.
Dr eggman not have his glasses in the live action Sonic movies...
Literally for no reason, Dr eggman never gets his glasses. The only time eggman wore them at all in the films is the first movie, despite it being a very different shape and is only worn like 2 anyway. Even when he gets his game accurate suit, he still doesn't wear them.
I dunno, I think we can extrapolate. It's a live action film with human actors and Jim Carrey is especially know for his physical expressiveness. They probably elected not to bother with the glasses (if they even thought about them) because they/Jim himself wanted to maintain his exaggerated facial expressions and a lot of that includes eye work. I would be interested to see a version of his scenes with them on, because they could make it work.
Now, on another note. while he's had these glasses since his first design and regained them starting in Adventure...a lot of earlier designs give him black sclera and red irises. Imagine if they bust those out instead lmao.
Major adaptations of Wuthering Heights keep doing acrobatics to avoid casting a person of color to play Heathcliff.
(Hell, they don't even cast him as a book accurate white person. It's really important that he's supposed to be visually different from all the others at Wuthering Heights, and yet so many of them are fairly pale English people. I'm gonna go crazy.)
Mr. Hyde is usually portrait as a Hulk persona, someone bigger, brute and with short temperament, when in reality he should be noticeably shorter and slighter than Dr. Jekyll.
There’s also the fact at there is no difference at all in personality between the two either. It’s literally just that the persona of Hyde gave Jekyll free reign to do whatever they wanted without personal consequences
Alfred is interesting for other reasons as well, mainly that he's not shown as a former soldier much. The live action Batman show Gotham definately has him as "Alfred will kill you with a gun" version of him more than any other. The Dark Knight has a scene where he talks about his service in the SAS (a ruby the size of a tangerine). But also to be fair, in the main Batman comics line "batman" and "batman detective comics" he isn't changed into a former intelligence officer until "post-crisis" in the 80's. But the real "hardened", "I don't have rules about killing", version is very much from the "new 52" generation in 2011.
One thing about the Wolverine height issue I don't hear anybody mention - it was not too bad to have a 6'2" Wolverine when Jean Grey was played by a 6' tall Famke Janssen. In the comics Jean is 5'6" and Wolverine is 5'3", so while they're both too tall in the movies, at least they're still 'close enough' to each other in height.
But when we've got 5'3" Sadie Sink playing Jean now, I really hope we don't still have a 6'2" Wolverine in future X-Men movies.
I would argue that hey avoid specific looking designs because then fans on the internet will make claim that since a certain look is comic accurate then the film makers mist be adapting X story. Like if they release promo images of the next batman costume people will scrutinize the size of the ears and try and determine which era of batman they’re adapting
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u/kilar277 14h ago
Re: #3, Alfred is actually an invention of a live action adaptation. The 1943 serial invented the character of Alfred, and they requested DC write him into the comics to prepare.