Let’s face it. Everyone at one point or another has wanted to be a villain. Whether it was during a Halloween Party, or because a person cut you in line, you have had the inkling to let out the evil side that lurks within us all. It is no wonder that DC Comics decided on not only doing a month long tribute to their roster of villains, but they also created a documentary titled, Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC. In fact, this documentary was a long way in the making, even before they decided to start the villain’s initiative. It just so happen that they coincided together. Talk about perfect timing.
Visitors of this year’s New York Comic Con were treated to an exclusive, first look of this awesome documentary before it hit worldwide. I, for one, was really intrigued with the notion of it. Not only am I a big fan of the Joker, but I truly believe that a hero can only be as good as his or her rogue gallery. Heath Ledger’s Joker summed it up well in the last scene of The Dark Knight. When he’s hanging upside-down he says, “You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won’t kill you because you’re just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.” A truer statement has never been said. Numerous times, the Joker has caused unimaginable damage to Batman and the ones he loves, but somehow, Batman never gets rid of him. And neither can we. We need the Joker as much as we need The Batman.
This thought is seen throughout the documentary and even connects to the old question, “What came first? The chicken or the egg?” In this case, what came first? The hero or the villain? The question is a hard one to answer. Would the hero come to life without the presence of crime and violence? Would the villain appear without the emergence of a hero to defeat?
DC, with the help of Christopher Lee as narrator, explores this and is able to put their villains front and center for all to admire. Throughout the documentary we hear from veteran DC staff members like Jim Lee, Geoff Johns, Brian Azzarello, Doug Mahnke, Dan Didio, and more. In addition we get interviews with the people who help bring some of DC’s famous character to life or who are fans just like us. We hear from Guillermo Del Toro, WWE’s CM Punk, Zach Snyder, Kevin Conroy (the voice behind Batman), and even some scientists to help decipher why we love these villains so much.
In addition to interviews, there are numerous clips from movies, TV shows, and comics that help present all the villains in DC’s vast collection. Of course we see Joker, Lex Luthor, Catwoman, and Sinestro, but we also see member from the Suicide Squad, Legion of Doom, and many other villains who deserve some of the spotlight. We also get to see what it would be like if some of our favorite heroes turned to super-villains and take the form of Ultraman and Owlman from the Crime Syndicate of America.
During the viewing, I kept asking finding how similar the hero and the villain are to each other. It is as if they almost need each other to co-exist in the world. I’m taken back to one of the first comics I ever read, The Killing Joke. In it, the Joker says, “All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once, am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed. Why else would you dress up as a flying rat? You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everybody else… Only you won’t admit it!” For being such a crazy person, the Joker sure has wisdom. The hero is just a villain who handled their bad day, in a better way. The villain took a different approach.
All in all, the documentary was a nice treat to a long day at the show on Thursday. I highly recommend it to anyone who roots for the villain to win at the end of a story, or at least on some occasion. Sometimes, it’s good to identify with the bad guy. At the very least, it lets us know who the heroes are.
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