You don't like me very much. See, I'm a comic book nerd, one of those people whose purchase of movie tickets enables you to make lots of money. I've seen a bunch of your movies, and enjoyed most of them. I wonder, though, if I've enjoyed them because of or despite you. I wonder this because I'm not sure that anyone as arrogant, dismissive, and intellectually in-curious as you seem to be is capable of writing a movie I'd enjoy. It occurs to me that all of your best work (Blade 2, the Batman films), has come when you're paired with a director who's an immensely powerful personality, someone who re-writes all of the things I'm increasingly certain you'd fuck up if left alone. You've been solely responsible for one movie, Blade Trinity, and, well, we know how that went.
I thought for two days before sitting down to write this piece. I went through lots of words, lots of phrases, looking for the right ones. And, ultimately, I came to realise that arrogance, my first choice, is indeed the right word. You're a writer, so I'm sure you understand this struggle. Or do you? I ask because someone who knows how to choose words probably wouldn't have referred to She-Hulk as a sex fantasy designed so that Hulk could have someone to fuck. Likewise, a person who considers before speaking might not have chosen to insult the people who, quite literally, contribute ticket by ticket to his oversized paychecks. I know I'm not a Hollywood insider, but that seems like poor business practice.
Let's be honest, you and I. You have a superiority complex the size of Godzilla. You wrote a movie about an alien, very nearly the last of his race, arriving on Earth and growing up to be a superhero. And yet, the Martian Manhunter stories, which revolve around an alien, very nearly the last of his race, arriving on Earth and becoming a hero, are "goofy." Why are they goofy? Well, clearly, because David S. Goyer didn't write them.
I don't give a rat's ass if you hate comic books, even as I question whether someone who's just in it for the money is even capable of doing your job well. People have different tastes, and you've every right to form an opinion. I don't care if you change a hero's origin story to fit a movie. They're your movies and you have the artistic license to make changes. Go nuts. But what you need to understand is that these stories, these goofy stories, are important to some people. I am 25 years old. In my childhood bedroom is a stack of comics a foot thick. Martian Manhunter is in some of those books, She-Hulk and Hulk in others. As a boy, I was shy and lonely, and often angry about those things. So was Bruce Banner. And in time, I came to realize that his anger, the rage I took to be a symptom of his isolation, could be channeled into productive and heroic pursuits. Do you understand what a powerful lesson that is for a pissed-off teenager?
If you need to change a story to get it on film, go right ahead. But show a little fucking respect for something that's truly important to much of your audience.
Quick lesson: She-Hulk is Bruce Banner's cousin. There's zero sexuality in that relationship. None. Zip. Bruce feels horrible, crushing, guilt every time he looks at her. What a turn-on, no? Oh and….. I'm 25, don't live with my parents, have a girlfriend, worship the Martian Manhunter, and am quite thoroughly not a virgin. You, Mr. Goyer, are the one who can go fuck himself.
Sincerely,
Chris
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