Why are superhero shows so afraid of their source material?

Superhero movies, on the other hand, don’t suffer from nearly the same hesitation. The movies take advantage of the masks and use them to push their stories forward. The first Iron Man movie and this summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming both used their characters’ masks to enhance the core pillar of each character. The pulls of Tony Stark’s guilt pushes him to create Iron Man, but his ego compels him to reveal his identity, giving purpose to both his masked and unmasked identities, ensuring that both are allowed pivotal moments in the movie.

Spider-Man’s adventures, meanwhile, revolve around the conflict created his drive to use his newfound abilities for good and the danger that could bring upon his loved ones if his life bleeds over into his daily life. In both cases, the mask itself – and the need to conceal one identity with another – is the story.

Further, the people creating these movies seem to understand that the masks themselves are as iconic as the symbols so often emblazoned on these character’s chests. Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker are both just brown-haired white guys. The same way that comic books can swap out artists from one issue to another without losing readers, moviegoers know exactly who Spider-Man is, across different directors, actors, and costume variations. Spider-Man’s eyes, the ears atop Batman’s cowl, and the lightning bolts on Flash’s mask make them instantly identifiable even if the actor in the suit changes.

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/10/29/superhero-shows-color-masks/