A lot of cape heroes seem to work better when they're presented

>>87135266
they become unhinged and usually have little regard for consequences, so you can finally get to see them reaching the true extents of their power, which is usually fun

>>87135266
Because attempting to keep the status quo is a boring motivation compared to wanting to change the world.

One of the reasons that they work this way is because they build on years of stories as a hero. Red Son for example literally depends on knowledge of the canon versions of its characters for resonance, without the history of Superman, Batman, etc. it would lose much of its weight.

>>87135266
in superman's case its because the character isn't allowed to take an actual stance on anything besides a generic 'be good'

>>87135339
>>87135321
This. Status Quo is Superman's greatest enemy

>>87135266
because it's different and people confuse different with better

File: EARTH2_17a.jpg (101KB, 578x878px) Image search: [Google]

101KB, 578x878px

>>87135266
It's fun to see an otherwise restrained character break all his boundries.

I know he wasn't the real Superman.

>>87135266
They're not. Comic readers are just edgy faggots who think dark and evil is "deep".

>>87135266
Seeing familiar characters in a completely different light is usually fun, but it's largely the novelty factor so it's best suited to Elseworlds and ones-shots rather than as the basis for an ongoing

nerds and their power fantasies

I thought about this. I think maybe the reason why I like villains and anti heroes is because a lot of the time they're proactive and they seek to change the status quo. They push the plot.
Even though their goals are often petty and/or destructive.

In the case of Supes, it's more entertaing to see an unstoppable villian than an unstoppable hero

>Red Son
>villain
I also disagree with you on the whole "works better as a villain" thing. Many times, the heroes turned villains or them are villains in another universe is barely ever explored. Literally Superman's the only character who's done it quite differently or at least good enough to make you doubt he's a villain or is evil, like in Red Son or Overman in both Final Crisis and The Multiversity. When he's pure evil, it's either boring ass mind control or fucking Ultraman and he's pretty boring. Superman works best as a hero or an antagonist who isn't evil but has different morals and ideals than the reader or the other characters.