(GRAPHIC/Carson Brown)
By Devin Smith
Cardinal Rule Editor
I understand the obvious appeal of being a superhero with legitimate superpowers.
I would have loved to have been born with the ability to fly. If nothing else it would have saved me thousands on gas.
For those who are familiar with “Injustice: Gods Among Us,” the DC comic turned console juggernaut, it’s pretty obvious that, given the right (or wrong) motivation, Superman could wipe out anyone with a punch.
While I love the idea of the Man of Steel raging on the DC universe in its entirety, does having all those powers really make him a better superhero?
He may be more powerful, but I think there is an underlying reason why the box offices booms when Iron Man or Batman grace the silver screen.
The three Iron Man movies have raked in $1.4 billion, and the last several Batman films have made a combined $2 billion. The entire collection of Superman movies has made $809.2 million dollars, and the Superman franchise had a head start.
The original Superman movie hit on Dec. 15, 1978, long before the superhero craze made an impact on theaters.
Superman was the flagship hero during the Golden Age of Comics, when a insanely overpowered alien like Superman was fresh and different.
In the modern age people want a hero they can relate to.
A hero with powers has to rely solely on his life story; a hero without has his life story coupled with the human aspect of mortality that we all deal with.
The reason I’ve been an Iron Man fan since I was very young is the same reason I would assume most children don the mask or cape of any given superhero, because I wanted to be him.
Much like now-famous Georgia Tech sophomore Nick Selby, I wanted to build an Iron Man suit, and I believed it was legitimately possible.
That doesn’t mean that Iron Man’s suit would be easy to replicate by any means. My point is that superheroes without powers are basically just like us.
Granted, Stark and Wayne each inherited a small fortune, but there is something unmistakenly unique about the distinction between having powers and finding the means to level the playing field yourself.
The argument could be made that many with powers live with the same burdens as those without, but apart from those who gained them later in life (Spider-Man, Fantastic Four) it isn’t reasonable because they are superhuman.
Being raised with powers is not the same as having to adapt without, which is usually preceded by loads of adversity that he or she had to face without the advantage of powers to assist them.
Iron Man can fight gods and there have been rumblings among fans for decades that Batman could beat Superman.
Superheroes with powers are the ones we wish we could be. Superheroes without powers are the ones we believe we could be.
Those without powers must use cunning, intelligence, grit and even human intuition in order to protect and save whatever happens to need that hero’s services.
Also, I’m pretty sure that if Lex Luthor can build a suit to fight Superman, then Tony Stark could figure out a way to do it in a much more efficient and effective manner.
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