This document provides a compare and contrast essay analyzing the superhero films The Dark Knight and The Avengers. It outlines differences in the heroes, villains, and storylines between the two films. The Dark Knight focuses on Batman working alone to protect Gotham City from the Joker, while The Avengers features a team of superheroes defending Earth from an alien invasion led by Loki. The villains employ different methods, with the Joker emphasizing psychological attacks and Loki seeking power. A key difference is The Dark Knight highlights an interpersonal love triangle, while The Avengers emphasizes the challenges of teamwork among disparate heroes.

1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME: LIM CHIN YI
STUDENT ID NO: 0315627
FILMS SELECTED: SUPERHERO (THE DARK KNIGHT & THE AVENGERS)
WORD COUNT: 986
ENGLISH 2 (ENGL 0205)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION DATE: 18th
APRIL 2014

2. The superhero films that I would like to contrast is the Dark Knight and The Avengers.
They are both high grossing movies that had received positive reviews from the viewers. The
Dark Knight is a superhero action film based on the DC Comics, the Batman. There are a lot of
fantastic action scenes in the movie where the hero fights with the villains. On the other hand,
the Avengers is a science fiction action film that was released on 2012 based on the Marvel
Comics, the Avengers. The film was directed by Joss Whedon, starring Robert Downey, Jr, Chris
Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner as the
superheroes. The differences between both movies can be compared from three aspects, the
heroes, the villains and the focus of storylines.
In the Dark Knight, Batman works with Lieutenant Jim Gordon and the District Attorney,
Harvey Dent to wipe out the criminal organizations in Gotham City. Their plans went
successfully at first but they soon find themselves becoming preys to a mad criminal
mastermind known as the Joker (The Dark Knight, 2008). The Joker then turns Gotham City into
chaos and Batman as the silent guardian of Gotham has to fight his enemies to protect the city.
However, the Avengers is a movie about six superheroes which consist of Ironman, Captain
America, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeyes who have their own special
abilities. They have to team up to defend the Earth from Loki and the Chitauri Army from outer
space who plan to invade the Earth.
It is obvious that there will be heroes saving lives in the Dark Knight and the Avengers
since they are superhero films. However, there are some differences between the superheroes
in term of their working structures and styles. In the Dark Knight, the ability of Batman to play
his role as the hero of Gotham is depended on technology most of the time. He uses advanced
technology to create his suit, vehicles, weapon and other gadgets that are essential for Batman.
Without those items, he is no longer a hero but an ordinary human, except for the fact that he
is a billionaire industrialist. Moreover, Batman is a solo hero, which means that he does not
work with the other superheroes. Since he does not work for any legal institutions or agencies,
Batman is considered as a vigilante by the authorities and he is chased by the police. In short,
the citizens are not really pleased by the existence of Batman despite what he has done for the
city. Unlike the Dark Knight, the superheroes in the Avengers work in a team under the
‘’S.H.I.E.L.D ‘’ Agency. The abilities of the superheroes are more unrealistic because they
contain the elements of futuristic technologies, superpowers, living creatures from outer space
and God. For an example, one of the Marvel’s superheroes, Thor, actually comes from other
planet called Asgard. He possesses the power of lightning that enable him to project powerful
blast of lightning towards his enemies and he is basically known as a God and protector of the
Earth (Mjolnir, n.d.).
The existence of superheroes will be pointless if there are no villains in the movies. The
Joker is the main anti-hero in the Dark Knight. In fact, he is one of the most famous villains
among the Batman series. He is feared by most due to his craziness while committing crimes.
The Joker emphasizes on psychological attack that will create chaos in mind of his victim.

3. Besides, he does not really stick to a specific method while carrying out his well-planned crime.
For example, he uses all sorts of weapons like dagger, knife, gun or even explosives to kill his
target. What makes the Joker unique is that he does not commit crime for money or power, he
just simply enjoys watching the whole world falls (Synopsis for the Dark Knight, 2008). On the
other hand, the main antagonist in the Avengers, Loki has different ways to achieve his wild
ambition. Due to his dissatisfaction for always living under the shadow of his brother, Thor,
Loki’s greed for power grows greater day by day. Therefore, he plans to attack and conquer the
Earth with the help of Chitauri Army. Furthermore, Loki does not have much variations in his
weapon. Most of the time, he uses his sceptre that channel destructive energy blast that could
cause catastrophic damage to the object that comes into contact.
Apart from that, the Dark Knight and the Avengers have different focus of the storylines.
In the Dark Knight, the love triangle between the main characters is highlighted. Racheal as the
female protagonist is in dilemma between Batman and Harvey and this has led to the further
development of the story. The death of Racheal in an explosion set up by the Joker has hit
Batman and Harvey real hard. Following the death of Racheal, Harvey turns mad and decides to
revenge Racheal by killing people. Hence, Batman now has to fight Harvey who was once his
ally from committing further sins. Unlike the Dark Knight, the Avengers emphasizes on the
teamwork among the superheroes. After realizing the world crisis caused by Loki that might
create mass destruction to humanity, Nick Fury, the director of “S.H.I.E.L.D” immediately
assembles the Avengers from great heroes around the world. In the beginning, the team
members do not work well with each other thus causing disagreement and dissatisfaction
among the team. The situation gets better eventually when the members start to co-operate
and tolerate with each other for greater cause.
In conclusion, the Dark Knight and the Avengers have quite a lot of differences in their
heroes, villains and focus of storylines. However, these differences are the factors that
contribute in the success of these movies. If all superheroes movies are having the similar style,
there will be no uniqueness in the movies any more.

4. References
Mjolnir. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2014, from Comic Vine:
http://www.comicvine.com/mjolnir/4055-40971/
Synopsis for the Dark Knight. (2008). Retrieved April 13, 2014, from IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn
The Dark Knight. (2008). Retrieved April 13, 2014, from DC Comics:
http://www.dccomics.com/movies/the-dark-knight-2008