I haven't seen Disney's Wish because, I'll be honest, it didn't look appealing to me. I have though listened to a lot of critiques by people that have. Beyond the general ‘it isn’t what it could have been' consensus, one thing I saw as a common complaint was that Wish missed a golden opportunity to have Disney's first villain power couple.
If that is true (that the evil king doesn't have his evil queen to do machinations together) then I agree that it's a real loss. The power couple is one of my favorite tropes and one that I generally feel is not very used. Often it's because the sum of romantic plots (whether the main story or the B plot) is ye olde ‘will they won’t they' pre-couple shenanigans with the end goal of getting the male and female (or any other combination) leads together in the end.
But even afterwards, if there is a sequel, we are robbed of enjoying them as a power couple: ok, you had your ‘will they won’t they' trope in movie (or book or season) 1. Where is them being amazing together, kicking double the ass and taking double the names? Instead, through some flimsy excuse we're thrown back to square one, the couple has broken up, and it's back to ‘will they won’t they' for a second time.
I don't know whether this is because writers generally don't know how to write healthy couples or whether they fear that if there isn't emotional friction and opposition between the romantic leads that it somehow will be less interesting.
There's nothing more delicious in seeing a couple that delights in they they do, have each other's back, are madly in love, and face the world together. In fact, they can be so iconic that people love them so much they still make stories about them decades after their first appearance:
A couple that is healthy to each other doesn't mean that they're going to be the same to anyone else. They can be domineering and murderous:
Felons:
Scammers (and generally disgusting human beings):
Supervillains (at times):
Bucking the social norms:
Just as much as they can be ethereal and at a pedestal for everyone else to look up to:
What makes a power couple is simply that they are on the same page, have the same goals in life, and are stronger together than apart. That's all. Everything else is game about who they are, what they do, and how villainous, heroic, or non heroic they can be.
It's just wonderful to have examples of how a couple might communicate to problem solve and to hash out issues that arise in their relationship, and just have each other's back without the constant emotional toil and friction and complications of being at each other's throats, constantly connecting then breaking up like a tape is looping. That's how you get a toxic couple, not a power couple.
Have you got a power couple in your webcomic?
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The Power Couple
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 24, 2024
5 likes!
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Banes at 8:16AM, Feb. 25, 2024
I love a power couple too - Even though my comics have mostly been in the "romantic yearning" or possibly "will they won't they" area, there may be the makings of a power couple in Kaiju Valentine. Their relationship is pretty new, but I think they're pretty much on the same page (if not the same scale). Gotta love Morticia and Gomez! My favorite power couple for sure!
PaulEberhardt at 7:16AM, Feb. 24, 2024
I've got no idea why writers seem to shun power couples, I think they're really cool. It can't be about emotional tension or conflict, because that's reasonably easy to get into these plots, and if it's only by adding more characters. It's probably some really stupid B.S. reason, like a feeling that having to write two protagonists with distinct personalities when one will do is inefficient use of creative resources, or something. So why haven't I really created one in my comic yet? Because I have different plans for that, but I'm certainly not ruling it out for some future project when I actually get going again.
Ironscarf at 6:19AM, Feb. 24, 2024
I think you can have a great power couple and still have some problems between them, but the 'will they won't they' is so prevalent, people must like it I guess. I made a point of starting my comic with 'they just did', so I can get past that and straight into the more interesting ( to me at least) aspects of building a strong relationship between the characters. You can't top Gomez and Morticia for a power couple, but I do like Bogey and Bacall - that one seemed to spark on and off screen, despite the 25 year age difference.
JohnCelestri at 5:10AM, Feb. 24, 2024
One of the real life creative power couples was Betty Comden and Adolph Green. They wrote the book and lyrics for Leonard Bernstein's Broadway musical "On the Town" and its movie adaption, as well as the movie "Singing in the Rain" and many more iconic shows.
Tantz_Aerine at 4:02AM, Feb. 24, 2024
I edited the article to add a Thernadiers from Les Miserables gif, because how could I not!? Props to my mom for reminding me of them. :D Also, agree with both Used Books and Bravo!
usedbooks at 3:38AM, Feb. 24, 2024
I love couples in fiction that are really well established and long past the courtship phase. (Romance side-plots are done to death.) I wish I could write couples better, tbh. I grew up reading Tommy and Tuppence books. Loved them. Tbh, I don't really need the romantic aspect to enjoy a duo. I guess power couple is in the same category as buddy cops or sibling teams. It serves the narrative in the same way. I love the bond and synergism in whatever form it takes.
bravo1102 at 1:11AM, Feb. 24, 2024
They used to be able to write power couples. The Thin Man series is a prime example. Some of the great scriptwriting teams were themselves power couples, but you don't see that anymore.