Paul Dano is one of the most respected and talented actors in recent times. While many know him through his work as Edward Nashton in The Batman, he has been proving himself as an actor long before he even uttered a riddle. He has worked with big actors like Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Daniel Day-Lewis, as well as directors like Craig Gillespie, Denis Villeneuve, and Steven Spielberg.
Having had such as successful career and worked with so many legends, it is safe to say that Dano knows what he is talking about. This is why it is extremely interesting to find out his theory on why superhero films, regardless of Marvel or DC, have been failing, and why The Batman worked. It would seem that in his eyes, the Robert Pattinson film was an exception.
Paul Dano Understands Why The Batman Was Different From Other Superhero Movies
Paul Dano recently gave an interview with the Independent where he went into great detail about his opinions on the superhero genre and its difficult-to-watch decline. The actor started by talking about his 2022 film with Robert Pattinson, The Batman. He believes the movie to be an exception when it comes to these films as a whole. The reason for such an outlook is his belief that it is a ‘real film’.
He elaborated on what he meant, stating that it has become rare in this genre for the audience to not know what is going to happen in the film that they are watching. This, of course, is not how movies work across every other genre and such a predisposition is considered to be poor storytelling.
“There are enough comic book movies where you just know what you’re gonna get. Reading the script for The Batman, you knew it was a real film” said Dano.
With an emphasis on this, Dano believes that the unpredictability of Batman made it stand out among the rest of the superhero films at the time, which was not a small feat in a time of superhero fatigue. Its uniqueness also helped it gain a lot of success and respect among fans.
Superhero Movies Have Lost Their True Essence
After voicing his thoughts on The Batman, Paul Dano then shifted to talking about superhero films as a whole. More specifically, why he thinks franchises like Marvel and DC are finding it difficult to gain success, despite putting a lot of time and money into the films that they make.
“It’s an interesting moment where everybody has to go like, ‘OK – what now?’ Hopefully from that, somebody either breathes new life into [comic book movies], or something else blossoms which is not superheroes.” said Dano.
He stated that the fact that the other superhero films have become so predictable is the reason why audiences aren’t as keen on watching them. Nobody wants to see something new when they know how the story is going to go.
“I’m sure there will still be some good ones yet to come, but I think it’s kind of a welcome moment. It’s a larger thing, too. As soon as the word ‘content’ came into what we do – meaning making movies or TV – it meant quantity over quality, which I think was a big misstep.” he continued.
“And I certainly don’t need that as a viewer or as an artist”I’m sure there will still be some good ones yet to come, but I think it’s kind of a welcome moment. It’s a larger thing, too. As soon as the word ‘content’ came into what we do – meaning making movies or TV – it meant quantity over quality, which I think was a big misstep. And I certainly don’t need that as a viewer or as an artist”
He also talked about how franchises have started to focus only on ‘content’ creation and not on storytelling, which is killing the beauty and art that is cinema. He believes that the moment creators become hyper-fixated on menial things like money and glory, the quality of their projects immediately depletes.
