Focus is the Key to Telling a Great Story: The Lesson DC Movies Keep Forgetting

There’s talk that people are getting tired of seeing superhero movies. That’s partially true but the real problem is that so many superhero movies aren’t that interesting because they fail to stay focused on the main character.

“The Flash” would sound like it would be about the Flash, but in reality, large chunks of the movie are taken up by showing Batman and Supergirl fighting. By taking the focus off the Flash, “The Flash” makes it easy to forget we’re supposed to care about the Flash.

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” makes this same mistake. Instead of staying focused on just Shazam and his relationship with others, the movie scatters its focus to cover the other characters. With so many characters to follow, the entire movie becomes diluted and less interesting.

Look at the better DC movies like “Wonder Woman”, which focuses from start to finish on Wonder Woman’s journey as a little girl to overcoming Aries, the god of war where she first becomes a true superhero. Notice there’s no part of “Wonder Woman” where the movie focuses on other characters?

Remember, other characters are simply reflections of the hero. It’s okay to focus on other characters, but only in their relationship to the hero. Minor characters should never be the center of attention by themselves, which is what “The Flash” failed to understand.

So keep your story focused on your hero. Then let us see how your hero’s story affects others. the more time your story stays focused on your hero, the better we can understand your hero and emotionally bond with your hero.

Scatter your focus on multiple characters and your hero fades in the background. Your hero should always be the center of attention who solves all the major problems with the help of the other characters. If another character starts solving major problems, then why isn’t that minor character the real hero of your story?

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