Reading Cannoli's post has made me write about an issue that I find kind of irritating these days i.e. the 'human' Superhero, specifically the Superhero that bases so much of his existence on his relationship. It's not that I disagree with the fact that a relationship can have a stronger effect on you than almost anything else in the world - rather whether people want or need this while on a night out to watch their favourite Superhero.

It seems like Superheroes get caught up in the same plot that every other protagonist gets caught up in i.e. a fall from grace followed by a successful romance followed by a wonderful triumph.

While watching the original Superman movies the other day, I realized that this never used to be a problem. Lois Lane loved Superman and he loved her, but she never weighed him down or forced him to make a choice. Yes, he lost it a bit when she died and he broke several natural laws to correct it, but when he was fighting evil you could focus on the task at hand. You never worried about Lois/Superman issues and how it's on his mind.

Fast forward to the new Superman, and Lois has his kid, and brings out all sorts of emotions in him. He spies on them, he gets jealous etc etc. But I digress, it's hardly the worst example.

Take Fantastic Four for instance. How irritating is it that the Invisible Woman spends a large part of the second movie trying to convince Mr Fantastic to break up the team so they can have a 'normal' life and 'normal' family (and don't forget the way she abuses him with her powers whenever she gets mad, but heaven help us if he ever used his elastic arm on her). You absolutely cannot focus on the Silver Surfer and the threat he poses because Susan Storm is hysterical about every aspect of her wedding. A world-ending calamity and she won't even allow Reid to investigate it because of the big day, so he does it in secret (once again showing how things are going to be in their relationship... toxic much?)

Moving on, the Spiderman movies take the cake, and if these don't crack you up, nothing will. There's so much to be hated about Mary-Jane, but most of all its how she repeatedly brings the main protagonist to his knees because of her own insecurities e.g. he's flirting with other women. I'll remind you this actually ends with Spiderman standing on a bridge crying. Crying!

Cyclops was ruined by the death of Jean Grey, and cried for much of X-men 3. Disintegration was the only plausible cure I'm afraid. The list goes on...

There now seems to be a trend where this sort of display is going out the window, and it's making for better Superhero movies.

It's easy with Ironman, but he's a playboy. There's nothing complicated about it. He likes Pepper but he never really dwells on it because he's such a narcissist, and you can concentrate on the action and the evil at hand.

Thor also does a great job. He falls in love with Jane but its uncomplicated and it doesn't distract him or drive him to madness. She's also not psychotic and seems like someone you genuinely want to be in his future.

Captain America falls for his British lass, but she can hold her own, and they have a subtle romance that remains hidden almost until the end.

Perhaps there is something unreal about all of those examples, and it's most likely that Spiderman and the Fantastic Four are examples of real life. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning relationships or love etc... I know first hand of their great value and extreme importance in life. But do you pay to go see that?

The story surrounds a person who has powers and who usually uses them to defeat evil. Do you want to see that person pay taxes or run out of money, or suffer heartbreak or fight with their partner? I personally do not. I go there for an escape, to see a story with fantastical elements. Movies went through a slump in the early 2000's, with Spiderman 3 demonstrating the depths of the canyon to us, but they seem to be recovering and this is becoming less of an issue.

Thoughts?