When heroes work together

So the Man of Steel and Batman are to team up and fight crime together.

 

Or are they? Are they, as some have suggested, about to become enemies and not a dual fighting force? Superheroes fans are a little anxious at the moment. Personally, I will watch the film which ever way it turns out. But I know there are some serious fans out there who really do not want a 'versus' situation.

 

Two heads are better than one, even if one of those heads is the Super head of an alien Man of Steel. But this is not my area. My area is the Dark Ages, and it led me to consider some partnerships in the past. 

 

The first that came to my mind is one I have researched intensively: Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon of Gwynedd. An unlikely pairing, Penda was a pagan and an Anglo-Saxon and the enemy, in most cases, of Christian Britons, which Cadwallon was. But they did form an alliance and fought together in a number of battles. The most famous of these was against Northumbria and the king there, Edwin. Edwin was defeated during the battle at Hatfield Chase, in 633 AD. The result certainly put Mercia and Penda into the history books.

 

Originally my book Gulfyrian was to start at this point and I had planned to develop the relationship between Penda and Cadwallon. Cadwallon was the senior king at this time and Penda must have been serving his apprenticeship as a successful warrior. There was so much information as well as a huge timescale that I eventually decided to drop this part of Penda's life in Gulfyrian. However, all the information - research, ideas, plot lines - are still saved on my pc to be brought out another day. And they will.

 

Other notable duos include Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Lennon and McCartney, Starsky and Hutch, Pierre and Marie Curie and some not on the good side such as Bonnie and Clyde, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Thelma and Louise. Famous adversaries are David and Goliath, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide and Dr Who and the Daleks. Duos are the way forward, one way or another.

 

I will conclude with two quotes. The first is from the actor Tommy Lee Jones: "Partnerships are good engines for narrative."

 

Second, from English footballer Wayne Rooney: "Perfect partners don't exist. Perfect conditions exist for a limited time in which partnerships express themselves best."

 

So on that basis, Superman and Batman can work together for a while. Unless they are enemies. Either way, it will make a good film. I think.