I'm wondering whether the drama is an Asian cultural thing. From a technical standpoint, both Western and Eastern superheroes have drama, but drama is defined very differently for both.
A long time ago I heard the difference between Western and Eastern pop media expressed this way...
Western media is "dry." The writing overwhelmingly prioritizes plot and making events seem logical. Plot twists and difficult concepts are valued for their own sake in the story. Characters may be treated as, essentially, chess pieces to be moved around as necessarily.
Eastern media tends to be "wet." The writing overwhelming prioritizes the emotional mood the story wishes to convey. Wrenching emotional responses from tears to laughter is valued for its own sake in the story. Characters are meant to be very appealing to the audience, whether hero or villain.
The logic behind this comparison is that Western societies tend to be individualistic, so audiences often want entertainment that makes sense out of the very different ways individuals will act.
Eastern societies tend to be more class-based, in that how you behave is largely dictated by things like gender, age, social stature. Many people are not in positions where it's socially acceptable to express feelings openly, so audiences enjoy very emotional stories that can offer a sense of catharsis.
This is all just broad stereotyping, of course-- both cultures offer lots of major works that would be exceptions to these rules of thumb. I find these guidelines useful on the whole, though. It explains why the US makes Star Trek while Japan is making Ultraman.
Keep the discussion going, lots of good things to think about here.
