There are few things that get me more excited than a new superhero movie. The vibrant nostalgia tied in with my vicariously living out my super-power fantasies are enough to regress me to my twelve year-old self; to the days of Saturday morning cartoons, action figures and Luke Skywalker playing The Joker.

Yet, in the past decade, superhero movies have moved beyond mindless violence and managed to actually create some ground-breaking films. Tapping into the child-like glee of action and fantasy, while also managing to adapt the scripts to accommodate their audiences growing mature sensibilities.

I’m actually more terrified of it being good than I am of it being bad. Don’t get me wrong; I would love to see Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark playing off Thor and the all-American boy-scout. Plus, Mark Ruffalo is replacing Edward Norton and I fucking love Mark Ruffalo.

What I’m afraid of is that this movie will be fantastic; it will be successful and Marvel will feel damn proud of themselves, as they should be, for pulling of such an experimental feat.

But then DC will want their share.

What I’m afraid of is the inevitable Justice League films that I predict will destroy the superhero genre for a very long time. A slew of rushed, poorly-scripted, defective, heartless, CGI-riddled pieces of shit that could hardly be called movies. If you think this is just hyperbole, then go and see The Green Lantern.

And, hey, I read comics, I watch superhero cartoons, and while I’m not spending each night in forums debating if the Hulk could beat Superman or how The Invisible Woman can see if light doesn’t hit her eyes, my knowledge is extensive. So, although this film would be considered unbearable to a regular viewer, I found this film to be a spit in the face to an entire community.

The Green Lantern was like the drum roll, leading our anticipation to the greatest team-up of all time. You know that it’s coming, because otherwise they would never release a Green Lantern movie. Sure, he’s a popular comic character but he’s hardly famous to the collective mainstream consciousness.

But, to me, this was a taste of the moment where Superman and Batman were finally going to be sharing a silver screen. Watching this movie was like being a child on Christmas, waiting to open the present you know is the action-figure set you’ve been asking for all year…only for it to turn out to be one of those weird mish-mashed superhero packs you get at the cheap markets.

Dear Comic Book Movies,

Listen to your fans. They are the ones buying tickets, they are the ones who are reading the comics and they’re the ones who will go online two seconds after the movie is over to bitch about every single detail that was wrong. Honestly, there isn’t enough space on the internet for all that could be said about your quote-un-quote Green Lantern movie.

I say this with love and respect for what you people do. But stop trying to take everything so seriously. Have fun with these movies, explore the characters for who they are, not what is successful. Not everyone who is charming has to be like Tony Stark, not everyone who has a dark past has to be like Batman.