More Traditional Masked Heroes in the Marvel Movie Universe?

Happenstance

I've just been rewatching Amazing Spider-Man to get ready for 2 and it made me realise that something I think the Marvel Movie Universe is missing is kind of the traditional masked hero. Someone like Spider-Man who isn't working with SHIELD or the government etc and whose identity isn't known. As much as I love The Avengers and those movies I think that universe could really use some characters that aren't as accepted by the public or the police. Someone to give a bit of a different perspective to things. Yes we already see that in the other movies but its always in their own bubbles where the characters in question are the only heroes out there.

Obviously its not going to be Spider-Man given the usual movie rights issues but he would be the one I would like to see in comparison to say Captain America. The vigilante and the living legend. Maybe we'll get something like that with the Netflix shows that will be coming but I think its just a shame that at the moment we only really have one end of the spectrum.

WetRats

I do think the Netflix series will introduce that element.

The post-SHIELD environment should make that type of hero more viable, as well.

WetRats

However, now that I think a bit further, the prospect of maintaining a secret identity in the era of surveillance & forensics is pretty damned daunting.

I doubt even the most fastidious man on Earth could fight a gang of thugs and not leave some DNA behind.

David_D

WetRats said:

However, now that I think a bit further, the prospect of maintaining a secret identity in the era of surveillance & forensics is pretty damned daunting.

I doubt even the most fastidious man on Earth could fight a gang of thugs and not leave some DNA behind.

Well, fighting a gang of thugs can be very exciting...

WetRats

David_D said:

WetRats said:

However, now that I think a bit further, the prospect of maintaining a secret identity in the era of surveillance & forensics is pretty damned daunting.

I doubt even the most fastidious man on Earth could fight a gang of thugs and not leave some DNA behind.

Well, fighting a gang of thugs can be very exciting...

=))

You're so dirty-minded!

I was thinking blood & hair, skin from scraped knuckles, stuff like that.

Happenstance

WetRats said:

However, now that I think a bit further, the prospect of maintaining a secret identity in the era of surveillance & forensics is pretty damned daunting.

I doubt even the most fastidious man on Earth could fight a gang of thugs and not leave some DNA behind.

That does seem to be how it goes in comics and their shows/movies as well I guess with government agencies like SHIELD or ARGUS knowing heroes identities but doing nothing about it. I think it would probably work well enough though if the public and police where still in the dark about who these characters are and as you said earlier, with SHIELD being gone it changes things up a bit.

SolitaireRose

Masked heroes does not work as well in movies, as the actors and the people who PAY those actors want people to see their faces. You can just put a stuntman in a costume, so if the character is in a costume all the time, why give Joe Actorguy a huge salary?

Me, I think a FEW characters should have secret identities, but in the current Marvel Universe, it's pretty damn rare that a character does something in their civilian identity...so why have it?

matchkitJOHN

I remember when they were developing the first Spider-man that they wanted the mask to be where you could see Peter's eyes and mouth. I said that was stupid because you're not suppose to see Spidey's face! Three movies later...oh well I guess you are.

Whirlwind

That's a big reason why they put the Green Goblin in a half-transparent mask, and chose Dr. Octopus for Spider-Man 2 - because it would allow Dafoe and Molina to use their expressive faces. Same goes for why Spider-Man had his mask ripped off in every climax, why Venom and New Goblin kept de-masking for effect, why Sandman was there at all, and why you'll most likely never see Mysterio without him undergoing a major helmet design change first.

David_D

Whirlwind said:

That's a big reason why they put the Green Goblin in a half-transparent mask, and chose Dr. Octopus for Spider-Man 2 - because it would allow Dafoe and Molina to use their expressive faces. Same goes for why Spider-Man had his mask ripped off in every climax, why Venom and New Goblin kept de-masking for effect, why Sandman was there at all, and why you'll most likely never see Mysterio without him undergoing a major helmet design change first.

As well as why Iron Man flips up his face plate a lot. (And why they developed that 'inside the cockpit' close up of his face convention of seeing him inside the suit).

matchkitJOHN

But it's soooooooooo distracting. No issue with Iron Man though.

mwhitt80

David_D said:

As well as why Iron Man flips up his face plate a lot. (And why they developed that 'inside the cockpit' close up of his face convention of seeing him inside the suit).

The cockpit view of tony's face was genius; I'm so glad they came up with that view. One of the best other mediums to comics in a long time.

spid

WetRats said:

However, now that I think a bit further, the prospect of maintaining a secret identity in the era of surveillance & forensics is pretty damned daunting.

I doubt even the most fastidious man on Earth could fight a gang of thugs and not leave some DNA behind.

The thing about most forensics data is you need to have a record for it to solve a case. If you have never been arrested or need to have your fingerprint taken none of your dna is tied to you. Most surveillance and general is aimed at the ground level so if you have a super power that allows you to easily get to the rooftops you are out of most prying eyes. Of course the camera phone is the biggest challenge to keeping your activities secret as well as your identity.

The Spider-man comic solved the issue with not showing your actor a long time ago by giving the old split screen view of the mask and the real face whenever Pete's spidey sense went off. I am not sure why Hollywood have not introduced this gimmick for the movies.

WetRats

spid said:

The thing about most forensics data is you need to have a record for it to solve a case. If you have never been arrested or need to have your fingerprint taken none of your dna is tied to you. Most surveillance and general is aimed at the ground level so if you have a super power that allows you to easily get to the rooftops you are out of most prying eyes. Of course the camera phone is the biggest challenge to keeping your activities secret as well as your identity.

Given what we've learned of SHIELD's activities in the MCU, I'd guess there are some pretty broad-based DNA archives.

As soon as villains and vigilantes started taking to the rooftops, surveillance would follow.

Whirlwind

I contend that the Marvel Universe has much better construction technology, training, and procedures than we do in our universe, while we have far more effective police procedures than their universe does. If you buy that theory, it may explain why their forensics teams can't figure out what we think of as obvious.