12 Ways Comic Book Movies Totally Ripped Each Other Off

11. The Seemingly Impossible Choice

Superheroes are invariably split personalities, balancing their home life with their public, guarded persona, and if it wasn't enough to see them almost being rumbled by over-zealous and suspicious characters, there's a very good chance they'll be faced with a choice between the two in a more tangible, dramatic way.

Both Batman, in The Dark Knight and Batman & Robin, and Spider-Man in Spider-Man AND Spider-Man 3 present a Sophie's Choice between doing the right thing, and saving the girl (or Robin in the case of Batman & Robin), and Batman faces a second type of choice with the boat sequence in The Dark Knight. And of course, there are significant arcs in both Spider-Man franchises where Peter Parker must choose between his personal life and his duty.

But of course it's fine anyway, because any time a superhero is made to make a seemingly definitive choice, most of the time, there will be a loophole that the villain didn't notice, meaning the choice isn't even there to make, like in Captain America: The First Avenger when the kid used as the distraction ends up being able to save himself. The obvious exception of course is The Joker's Rachel/Harvey conundrum that is always going to come at a fatal cost, but then Nolan's Joker is an entirely different prospect of villain.