When it comes down to it, DC Comics pretty much singlehandedly invented the superhero genre. Their movies, however, have been all over the place. Some are amazing. Others are so bad it’s criminal–which seems like something one of the heroes should really address. Interestingly enough, people are fairly polarized on their opinions about these films.
Those born under the astrological sign of Cancer are known for being sympathetic, imaginative, and a bit moody, all of which influences their outlook on the media they consume. These are five DC movie characters that Cancers will relate to and five they won’t understand:
Relate To: Batman
Batman is pretty much the best superhero there is. Without any powers, he has overcome superpowered villains, Machiavellian mortals, and every form of crime and corruption around (though in fairness, his inhumanly large amounts of wealth are a power most heroes live in envy of).
One thing about Batman is that he can do almost anything, so just about anyone can relate to him. However, Batman’s brooding dissatisfaction with the world makes him particularly relatable to the pessimistic suspicious side of many Cancers, while his gadgets and grit play to their own stubborn determination and huge imaginations.
Won’t Understand: Hal Jordan
The first human to be incorporated into the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan is a former Air Force test pilot with a cocky attitude and a winning smile. His bravery and stubbornness are legendary. However, as Batman has noted, Hal can make anything that he can imagine with his ring, and yet he uses it to conjure giant staplers, suggesting Hal is only marginally more intelligent than the staplers.
Cancers are incredibly creative people. Given their imagination, Hal Jordan’s unoriginal constructs make no sense. Hal’s emotional immaturity and overconfidence also are alienating for many Cancers.
Relate To: Wonder Woman
The Amazon princess from Themyscira is the ultimate warrior, a champion of those in need who has mastered the arts of war without ever allowing them to taint her character. She quite literally loves everyone on the planet but understands the necessity of using force. She also believes in truth, forgiveness, and redemption, invoking the divine powers of her gods to embody their highest ideals.
Considering how sympathetic and emotionally attuned many Cancers are, they will relate to Wonder Woman’s compassion and commitment to all of humanity. More than this, the persuasive powers of Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth are similar to Cancers’ own persuasive personalities.
Won’t Understand: Cyborg
Cyborg is an interesting character who the movies have only begun to explore. His struggles with his disability and his strained relationship with his father make him a compelling nuanced character, but all too often, he comes off as little more than as a plot device whose alien computer prostheses become more important than his personality to the narrative of events surrounding his arc. In the Justice League live-action film, he walked a thin line between these two.
Cyborg’s been hurt before, and so has pulled back from people to protect himself. While Cancers understand this behavior, it is very different from how many of them interface with the world. Additionally, Cancers tend to love being in or near the water–not something that someone can do if their body is filled with heavy alien metals.
Relate To: Amanda Waller
Amanda Waller is no hero. She is a cruel, calculating tactician willing to callously sacrifice just about anyone or anything to get her way. She also is more than willing to play on people’s emotional vulnerabilities, manipulating them for her own aims.
For all that, Amanda Waller understands people and there is nothing she will not do. The darkest aspects of some Cancers can be seen to relate to these qualities, using their understanding of others’ emotions and their stubborn tenacity to achieve their goals through brutal tactics. Additionally, Cancers are creative, and Waller’s strategic approach to situations is creatively unconventional, despite its cruelty.
Won’t Understand: Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn has risen in recent years to become everyone’s favorite anti-heroine. Her comedic antics and the fact that she has survived dating a madman like the Joker make her both fun and interesting. She’s also totally nuts, which means her stories can be zany rollercoasters of fun one moment, only to sharply transition into dark brooding tragedy the next.
Because of how wild Harley is, Cancers can’t get a grasp on her. It’s not that they dislike her. They just don’t know how to relate to her. Which, to be fair, few people do.
Relate To: Aquaman
The DC Expanded Universe finally gave Aquaman his own film in 2018–something long overdue. This version of the character, played by actor Jason Mamoa, has the long hair and swarthy looks of the 90s comic interpretation of the King of Atlantis, but a youthful vigor and excitability reminiscent of the flashbacks seen of a young Arthur Curry through The New 52‘s Aquaman stories.
What does all that mean as it relates to Cancers? Basically, the movie version of Aquaman takes from all the most fun parts of the different ways he’s portrayed in the comics, making for a lighthearted upbeat character whose stubborn tenacity, readiness to smile, and commitment to helping others are not part of the comics–but are traits Cancers can empathize with.
Won’t Understand: Captain Boomerang
The villain Captain Boomerang is both a comedic character and a tragic one. His greed and willingness to kill make him an unambiguous villain, but like his signature weapon, no matter how far out into the darkness he flings himself, the Captain always somehow returns to being a laughably funny character good for some comic relief.
It is probably a good thing that Cancers don’t relate to this Rogue. His selfishness and his mercurial nature are just not in keeping with how most Cancers operate.
Relate To: Mera
Mera may have only a small cameo in Justice League, but she really came into her own during the Aquaman movie. Mera is caring and compassionate, but she is also a fierce uncompromising warrior who can kick butt, take names, and drown her enemies in an aquikinetic flood.
Mera’s emotional honesty and her imaginative use of her aquikinesis are Cancer qualities at their best. Her suspicion of others and her loyal commitment to Arthur Curry also embody traits that most Cancers know all too well.
Won’t Understand: Riddler
The Riddler is the smartest man in whatever room he is in. And on the rare occasion he is outsmarted (usually by Batman), he becomes volatile, throwing a fit to give voice to his insecurities. His death traps are basically just him trying to prove his intelligence to a world too dumb to appreciate his genius.
Cancers aren’t stupid. Nor are they completely without guile, insecurities, or manipulative tendencies. But most Cancers are more imaginative than to repeat the same gimmicky obsessions that Riddler has and have a better grasp on their emotions. They know the answers to the biggest questions are found within.
