Star Wars & Sc-Fi Talk

solarz

solarz

Brigadier
kwaigonegin said:
A

The Golden Age of comics came about during WWII ... in some ways as propaganda machines and later fuel in popularity by our boys serving overseas. Real life villains like Hitler/Nazis are often used as templates for comic villains as well. Heck in many comics the Nazis themselves were the antagonists especially in the Marvel universe.

There is really no need for China to 'copy' Superman or have an Asian superman. Not only is the origins story not matched up but China already has many 'superheroes' themselves like the mythical Monkey God etc.

China's 'Hollywood' needs to make a 'Marvel' universe of their own based on these mythical characters. I think it will become very popular just like it is in the US.
Click to expand...

Superheroes have always been part of the sci-fi genre, set in the modern age. China's mythological stories are always set in the past, and belong to the fantasy genre.

Where Sci-Fi is more popular than Fantasy in the West, the reverse is true in China. Western Sci-Fi is built upon a solid foundation stretching back almost 200 years to Jules Verne, while sci-fi is still young and unknown in Chinese culture. If you were to uproot mythological characters and put them in a modern setting, most Chinese would not like it. These kinds of things have been done many times before, and aside from some children's stories/cartoons, few serious attempts have been successful.

There's still a long way to go before China's own Sci-Fi culture matures.
 
solarz

solarz

Brigadier
I think a better way to evolve the Superhero genre in Chinese culture is to go back to the vigilante/crime-fighter theme. There's already a pretty good kung-fu crime fighter tradition to build upon (ex: Jet Li's Black Mask).
 
kwaigonegin

kwaigonegin

Colonel
solarz said:
Superheroes have always been part of the sci-fi genre, set in the modern age. China's mythological stories are always set in the past, and belong to the fantasy genre.

Where Sci-Fi is more popular than Fantasy in the West, the reverse is true in China. Western Sci-Fi is built upon a solid foundation stretching back almost 200 years to Jules Verne, while sci-fi is still young and unknown in Chinese culture. If you were to uproot mythological characters and put them in a modern setting, most Chinese would not like it. These kinds of things have been done many times before, and aside from some children's stories/cartoons, few serious attempts have been successful.

There's still a long way to go before China's own Sci-Fi culture matures.
Click to expand...

It doesn't have to be in 'modern 21st century setting' You can still make a superhero/sci-fi movie based on that period of time or some mythical time in the past or heck maybe do it on some other worlds. Heroes like Thor etc are not from this world.
 
M

mr.bean

Junior Member
that chinese superman is going to suck so bad. it shows how desperate DC is to get into the chinese market. it's like making a ''Captain Poland'' movie or comic hahaha. it's not going to work.
 
AssassinsMace

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
The superhero phenomenon is more American culture than anything else. The closest thing to "superheroes" the Chinese have is like Wushu stories. Just get rid of the wire fu and use some special effects.
 
vesicles

vesicles

Colonel
AssassinsMace said:
The superhero phenomenon is more American culture than anything else. The closest thing to "superheroes" the Chinese have is like Wushu stories. Just get rid of the wire fu and use some special effects.
Click to expand...

I think Wu Xia stories are exactly the Chinese version of the superheroes. We are talking about a whole punch of guys and gals with actual supernatural abilities, superhuman strength, flying, healing almost any wounds, "iron shirt" (having "qi" to flow through your body to protect you from any kind of weapon attack), the ability to move stuff without touching them (not telekinesis, but using "qi" to remotely move stuff, kinda like magnetism).

All these novels are essentially the origin stories, where the main guy eventually achieves his/her full potential in the end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top