Irredeemable — The Future of Superhero Deconstructions
Superheroes are all the hotness nowadays, not just Marvel and DC, but other standalone contenders, such as The Boys and Invincible, and these two are among the hottest shows. You can tell that the superhero genre is expanding beyond its conventional formula of pure-hearted superheroes and delving more into deconstructions, mostly the kind that revolves around corrupt superheroes. Speaking of corrupt superheroes, there is one particular comic book series that still hasn’t received an adaptation. Should it have one? Definitely! And I can’t wait to watch Irredeemable when it comes to my favourite streaming service (no names mentioned).
Irredeemable is a blast of a read (and that’s appropriate considering that the publisher is called Boom! Studios). It tells the story of the Plutonian, a superhero who became a villain after realising that humanity just isn’t worth saving anymore. So, he kills a bunch of people (millions!) and strikes fear into everyone on Earth. Now his former allies are uniting against him to take him down and restore peace to Earth. This is just a flavour description, as the story in the comics unfolds much more spectacularly when you flip through the pages.
As I said, the comic book is great; although the dialogue is a bit off sometimes with the choice of words, and its conclusion seems a bit rushed, the characters are interesting and complex. I’m not much of a comic book reader since I only read them once every seven years or so, but this one was interesting enough for me to keep reading it until the end. But what elements didn’t work well for the comic book series?
I’ll call it now: a new Amazon Prime TV show in 2023
The archetype of the corrupt superhero stems from the hypothesis that Superman can do virtually anything he wants, and humanity is lucky that he chooses not to obliterate them all. Of course, Superman would never betray humanity because he’s pure-hearted, but you can’t say the same about Homelander, Omni-Man, or the Plutonian. All of these are satires of the incorruptible superhero archetype, in that they have all the power and abuse it in every way possible. In such scenarios, humanity is pretty much screwed because not even praying to God will save them from the hissy fit of an all-powerful being. That’s why Irredeemable is great. It does an awesome job at portraying the despondence of an emotionally volatile superhero who expected too much from the human race.
Despite the novelty of the superhero-gone-bad theme, the comics are not original in their use of tropes. You got aliens and advanced technology and the smartest guy in the world who can virtually solve any riddle mathematical equation out there. These are some classic superhero-culture archetypes. But the honest criticism I have, aside from the rushed ending, is that some bits in the story seemed like complete asspulls or retcon, although the former is more likely. I would go into specifics, but that would be spoilers, so unless somebody tells me directly that they don’t care, I can’t do it.
Regardless, it’s a fun read, but when the TV adaptation comes, I won’t be surprised since I read the entire series. But it’ll be a fun watch on my favourite streaming service (no names mentioned), and I can’t wait to watch it.
Did you read Irredeemable?
Hey, so… I’ll keep this article short since there’s nothing to solve like I usually do. Be sure to give your thoughts about the comic book series about a corrupt superhero that still didn’t receive an adaptation. I know that there will probably be a lot of changes in the adaptation because, unlike anime, adaptations of western cartoons tend to be loose, and it shows with The Boys and Invincible. I wonder how loose the Irredeemable adaptation will be.
In Conclusion…
Irredeemable is a good read if you’re into comic books, and it’s considered one of the good ones, so read it before it appears on your favourite streaming service (no names mentioned).
I wanted to talk more about the cause and effect of comic book adaptations and how they affect today’s culture, but I just can’t find the right words recently. It’s kind of buggin’ me, and it’s a problem I plan to solve. Until I fix things, be sure to read Irredeemable if you haven’t already.
I found out that Netflix allegedly acquired the rights for a made-for-TV movie. So much for that Prime Video adaptation…
