Complete Monster: The Corpse Makers: Mark Hooper, head of Central City's Energy Department, seeks to mine the unsafe Crimson Coal mineral for a massive profit. Injecting chemicals into the homeless and derelicts to fake their deaths, Hooper has them turned into brainwashed slaves so they may work for free, with the deadly gasses placing them at risk of death, which Hooper disregards callously. Consumed by Greed and targeting the most vulnerable, Hooper is one of the Spirit's most vile enemies.
Harsher in Hindsight: In 1941 (after Adolf Hitler had established himself as a tyrannical conqueror, but before the true scope of the Holocaust had become public knowledge), the story "The Dictator's Reform" had a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of Hitler get taught a lesson by The Spirit, who showed him that people who have lived under free regimes will never stop fighting against oppressive conquerors. Hitler's response? "I ... I never thought of it in that way ... I ... I would have to kill all the once free people in the world before I can be absolute master!!" In 1941, this is supposed to signify Hitler having an epiphany about how futile his goals are and pulling a Heel–Face Turn. To later audiences, it seems uncomfortably close to what Hitler actually tried to do. Nice Job Inspiring the Holocaust, Spirit.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Ebony White in the reboot, due to removing the racist stereotypes surrounding his character.
Tear Jerker: Many, most are obvious, others can be with reflection. Hell, with some thought, stories like 12/8/46's story "The Killer" can be heartrending, especially since it can actually happen in real life.
The "Gerhard Schnobble" story, especially the ending.
And so, lifeless, Gerhard Scnhobble fluttered earthward. But do not weep for Schnobble. Rather, shed a tear for all mankind. For not one person in the entire crowd that watched his body being carted away...knew or even suspected that on this day, Gerhard Schnobble had FLOWN
In the early strips, Ebony was a rather... broad stereotype. Fortunately, when Will Eisner joined the army, he realised he was being unfair to blacks, and Ebony was Put on a Bus, and when The Bus Came Back, he was toned down a lot. Interestingly, Ebony White is—if you can make it past his accent—actually pretty consistently shown from the start to be very intelligent with good street-smarts, just not well-educated... which makes perfect sense once you consider he's driving a cab at odd hours and is very likely supporting himself that way. When is he supposed to be attending school, anyway?
Also, The Spirit didn't really have much trouble over fighting or hitting women. Even worse, sometimes it was played for laughs. The reboot seems to have the unwritten rule that The Spirit can beat up any woman so long as she throws the first punch. Considering most of the women he meets are criminals and routinely try to kill/kidnap/sexually harass him/others, and most are far from defenseless, this comes off to some as more him avoiding Double Standard. The hammer of justice is unisex, after all.
Vanilla Protagonist: The Spirit himself, even in the comic's most experimental phase under Eisner, never really developed much personality beyond being a generally nice heroic sort. Most fans of the comic don't consider this a bad thing, though, seeing him as less a character to be explored and more of a straight man to anchor the story no matter what.
Film
Ensemble Dark Horse: Rookie officer Morganstern has less than 10 minutes of screen time, but, despite her frequently stilted dialogue, is very well-liked for her Adorkable interactions with The Spirit, her use of a BFG in the climax, and her performer (Stana Katic).
Fridge Brilliance: In the scene with the Octopus' failed clones of his henchmen, one in particular should be of special interest to him, being just a head on a foot. Why? Because octopodes are cephalopods, Greek for "head-foot".
The Spirit even asks The Octopus if he was looking for Thor's Hammer. Sure enough...
A superhero movie where the hero has a super-healing power, frequently breaks the fourth wall to monologue, and has over-the-top fights? What does that sound like?
There's a scene where Silken Floss (played by Scarlett Johansson) is inexplicably wearing a kimono and using a Japanese umbrella while ordering a henchman to commit Seppuku. She would later be criticized for playing a Japanese character in the live-action Ghost In The Shell movie.
Then there is another scene where she wears a Nazi uniform. Johansson went on to star in Jo Jo Rabbit where she plays an anti-Nazi mother of Hitler-obsessed German boy.
Narm Charm: Given that the film lives and breathes with Narm, it is not surprising that it composes for many people an overall feeling of awe.
Retroactive Recognition: Morgenstern, played by Stana Katic, is frequently told that she'll "make detective in no time." She went on to play Detective Kate Beckett on eight seasons of Castle.
Spiritual Successor: To some, it feels an awful lot more like a movie of The Tick rather than that of The Spirit, what with his running around narrating about "MY CITY!" and tortured metaphors.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The movie actually has very decent scenes concerning Denny Colt's death and the impact it had on his loved ones. They are unfortunately rushed and ruined by near-fatal instances of Mood Whiplash.
