My idea for a super-hero genre - It is time to retire the "good guy" trope.

We are all familiar with the superhero trope. It goes something like this

• The hero of the movie discovers a hidden talent (superpowers)
• The hero uses his superpowers to save the world from evil

Some creative movies turn this into a commentary on human culture as it stands currently

• There is a group of individuals with special talents
• They are either ostracized or privileged because of those talents
• Since different characters have different motivations, there is conflict.

The movie Bruce Almighty was a bit more creative, by turning Bruce into God and having him realize that his ordinary human life was great all along.

Here's where my idea is different

If I were to write a screenplay or a novel based on this genre, I would take the story in this direction

• The hero starts out as a regular guy
• He has his own struggles, pre-conceived notions and ideals
• One day, he discovers superpowers
• He uses his superpowers, to go about imposing his ideals
• His imposition poses unintended consequences
• He imposes his will even further, which leads to more unintended consequences
• The cycle of imposition of will and consequences continue.

This idea can be further built upon, based on the various choices our main character could take

• This superhero imposes isolation upon himself in an attempt to stop this futile cycle. A large amount of time later, the world will have emerged in new and interesting ways
• Maybe, the world as we know it, is a result of such a superhero possibly having been active a long time ago in actual human history!

The climax could have a dystopian twist

• The superhero, in an attempt to impose what he thinks is right and just, ends up destroying the world. All that is left, is himself and an empty world around him.

This dystopia could be milked really hard

• This superhero of ours, has outlived humanity, the environment, the planet and even the stars. He's now just a husk of his former self, floating in the voids of space; fully conscious, but nobody to talk to.

Or we don't even have to get this far into the dystopia. Maybe, the dystopia exists within his mind. Our superhero is so powerful and so unconstrained by rules of the physical world, he doesn't even know what's real anymore!

Ultimately, I guess the idea behind this genre is to examine the ideas of right and wrong more deeply. We all have this innate desire to acquire power so that we can shape the world as we see fit. Some of us wish we had superpowers to save the world. But what would really happen if you did the save the world the way you wished? I think this new super-hero genre would give its patrons a deeper understanding of cause and effect.