The Lone Ranger

I think they should have made the Lone Ranger movie really dark like a few of the good Batman movies were made. That would have been super cool!

Maybe, but I do expect the Lone Ranger and Tonto to be ultimate good! 

But they sure could go darker with the villains. 

Are you into revisionist westerns? 

The Lone Ranger is VERY different. When the creator Fran Striker was first writing the character for the radio show back in the 30s, he made it clear ... Part of the show's guidelines that no Native Americans nor minorities are ever to be portrayed as villains.

In some episodes, the Indians are on the brink of a warpath, but it is always because of a corrupt Indian agent, or outlaws posing as Indians that caused the tension. The Lone Ranger and Tonto are always shown being counseled by tribal elders with cooler heads about to keep the peace while they figure it out. For a TV show from 1949, it's ahead of it's time.

It's not perfect by today's standards, it is over 70 years old, but it is truly wholesome.

Oh, just a bit about Tonto. Tonto 'talks funny', but English is a second language for him. Although the Lone Ranger gets top bill, Tonto is very much an equal throughout the series. Sometimes the Lone Ranger forms the plan, sometimes Tonto, sometimes the both of them together. Tonto just as often saves the day when the when the Lone Ranger is captured as the other way around.

When Tonto is sent to get help, the western characters often think of him as a 'dumb Indian', but the good characters quickly come around while the villains underestimate him. This isn't too far off the mark for historical attitudes from the 1870s (sadly). 

In the show he is played by Jay Silverheels of the Mohawk tribe, though I don't think Tonto's tribe is ever named. 

As a kid & teenager I used to watch the old Lone Ranger show and thought it was fun to watch for what it was back then. As for the movie remake with Johnny Depp I felt it was ok for what it was and still have my bluray dvd of it.

Lol, one of those blurry DVDs that comes without a label?

I dunno, the way the Depp movie treated the characters and material left me thinking "Why can't have nice things!"

Just started watching the new Bass Reeves mini series, it's looking good so far! 

For thems that are interested, here's the Lone Ranger's creed:

"I believe...

That to have a friend, a man must be one.

That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.

That God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself.

In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.

That 'This government, of the people, by the people and for the people' shall live always.

That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.

That sooner or later ... somewhere ... somehow ... we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.

That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.

In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."

Here's an old radio episode! 

One version I hadn't mentioned in the OP was the animated series. Two, in fact. One from circa 1966 and one from circa 1980. Here's an episode from the latter. 

Not crazy about the voice actors, but it wasn't too bad