How movies differ from comic books

by Natasha Christou Digital Marketing Consultant

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is huge. With such an enormous target audience and queues out of the cinema doors for midnight releases, movie makers often have to veer away from the original content to make it work on the big screen, and to ensure that they become the hit blockbusters that they are.

But, what has been tampered with to suit such visuals?

Character appearance

Hawkeye was one member of the Avengers crew who saw his outfit change significantly between books and the big screen. Originally donning a costume emblazoned with bright blue and purple fabric, by the time Jeremy Renner got into character, the bow-and-arrow wielding super hero had toned down his appearance to a rather bland and monotone suit. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver character also ‘benefitted’ from a dress-down. However, his change from a dashing metallic green comic-book appearance to the murky and dull make-under he received in Hollywood made a number of fans very unhappy.

Female characters didn’t escape a new wardrobe, either. On paper, Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch is spotted wearing a devilish red skimpy number that looks more suited at a Halloween party. However, Elizabeth Olsen’s portrayal certainly had the character looking more reserved. And, to think, they say sex sells!

Vehicles

Of course, any vehicles in the comics can’t be an exact match on the big screen; the time in between both releases making it virtually impossible. However, that has fallen perfectly into big brands’ hands. Audi, for example, have used Marvel’s cinematic presence to launch several new models throughout the Iron Man trilogy. In 2015, with Tony Stark’s appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Audi introduced new models, including the Audi A3 Cabriolet, to the public. These reveals work well for both the movie and car manufacturers as it enhances the film aesthetics while also bringing new mobiles to the attention of potential customers, driving sales of the models.

Powers

Unfortunately for comic book fans, certain super heroes – and indeed, super villains have their powers stripped back somewhat by the time they reach the big screen. The Hulk, for example, was strong enough the crack the Earth in print, but by the time the character came to life his powers had depreciated, making him more human-like. While he was still extremely powerful, certain aspects had to be removed otherwise the filmmakers could have found themselves struggling for storylines that would work in film.

Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron is another prime example. By the time the character leapt from the comic books and into theatres he didn’t have mind control powers and didn’t hold as much strength. He was, however, still able to log into different levels.

Story lines

As previously mentioned, sometimes the storylines had to differ in order to make them more appealing in a motion picture. However, sometimes they were tweaked without any real reason. If you look at The Amazing Spider-Man, several aspects of Peter’s life were changed. For example, in the comic, first release in 1962, his parents were dead, and he met Gwen in university. Fast forward to 2012’s movie portrayal and his parents were missing, while he met Gwen in high school. Other little changes, which don’t make any impact, included the appearance of Aunt May. In the comic form her white hair was always in a bun, but in the cinematic adaptation, it was only correct in the original 2012 Spider-Man film.

Thor also had differences. In the movie, Hela is the daughter of Odin. However, in the comics, she is actually the daughter of Loki.

While some changes may only be noticeable to the most avid of comic-book fans, others are more prominent, although the alterations don’t seem to cause a major knock-on effect. With movie remakes and the comic-book era set to continue and rise in popularity, it will be interesting to see how directors will tweak the scripts going forward.