Reflecting Heroes & Villains

I wanted to share two of my favorite comic book characters in this entry.  This is partially due to the popularity of superhero movies in the last decade.  These successes have come from the Marvel and DC brands.  There is one villain and one hero I feel paranormal connection to from each.  Though I cannot really explain it, I will try my best to say what I like about each.  The sentimental significance of these beings are predetermined with the labels assessed to them.  So it is easy to want to see the hero win and the villain lose.  What happens when we begin to want the opposite instead?  What happens when the momentum shifts or never starts in some ways as we root against the written nature?  It’s disorientating but it is still entertaining at the end of the day.  Who knows maybe one day I could portray one of them in a movie which has not been done in a full-length film to date. 

The hero is Cable from the marvel universe.  Cable has many powers including superhuman strength, telepathy and time-traveling capabilities.  Now I do not have any of those abilities per se but that is not the whole story.  Cable is the prototype of the antihero.  The troubled individual with an obligation to do good even if it requires bad actions.  He also battles a techno-organic virus which has already complicated him by disabling some of his body.  But the disease has not defeated his evolved martial arts and weaponry skill which is used so masterfully to combat his enemies.  My favorite attribute of Cable also includes baby hope.  Hope is a character who has mankind’s fate placed upon her at a very early age.  Cable sees this potential and protects her by keeping her close.  At times, he evens places her in a sachet of sorts on his chest.  The symbolism of this is the “hope” is always near and constantly growing with us.  We have to nurture and shield her to allow her to reach her predefined destiny. 

The villain is different in every way from Cable except for my belief in his core persona.  Brainiac from DC and Superman comics is who I speak of.  Brainiac, as you may deduce, has superior intellect that separates him from nearly every character in his presence.  He is an expert of almost every science known to man and human behavior.  Its a moiling mystery to ponder whether mental capacity led to his evil nature or if the sequence was in reverse.  Villain roles are more intriguing as you have to reveal why someone chooses the other side.  The hero usually experiences something that makes them want to stop anyone else from going through or feel senses to perform good given their unique abilities.  Villains however use their greater prowess to reinforce the idea of inferiority in their quest to conquer.  The dichotomy alone is captivating.  Brainiac is very advanced and has several forms that appear throughout his tenure as an adversary.

The two characters chosen have few things in common as previously stated.  Cable is far less known than the likes of Wolverine, Spiderman or Ironman just to name a few.  However as in all comics, he is the sun of which his universe revolves.  In his world he is the featured main character and plays a lesser or secondary role for others as a special guest in theirs.  To break down the character in real life may show a person with great resilience, the power to read thoughts or another way of saying it is an enhanced value for anticipation.  Time traveling can be translated into directing the future and defining or encapsulating the past.  And we can always protect those close to us, those we believe in and those we connect to.  Brainiac is the nemesis of one of if not the most popular character ever.  His supreme intellect is a perplexing balance to all of Superman’s gifts.  Speed and strength can be counteracted with genius.  But more than anyone’s competencies or proficiencies are their desire to assist or destroy at heart.  That is essentially defined as good and evil until we place a mirror at the scene and you can finally see the other.  It gets comedic in a sense when all your plans for world domination are foiled by some annoying being who’s always there.  Or when you have nothing to do as people can handle their own issue.  You are reduced to just having fun with your mutated powers.  Both sides need each other but the decisions that play into the division are the most important story to tell.  And every iteration of the contrast of forces is something to write about.