#and that's not even getting into big elseworlds crossovers | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ultrahpfan5blog · 2 years ago

Text

The Flash Season 5 - Retrospective Review

Well, I finally made it to the Eric Wallace era in my rewatch. The Flash season 5 is in the rearview, but there are still 3 seasons left in the rewatch. I probably won't be caught up until like a month into the new season. In any case, season 5 rewatch was interesting. To me, season 5 is filled with a lot of faults. There are issues with the character arcs with almost every arc. In spite of that though, I quite enjoyed season 5 as a whole. Its definitely a significant uptick from season 4 because it is at least never boring to me.

I think what season 5 got right was tone. The Flash traditionally has always been the strongest when leaning into emotions. Season 3 struggled a bit with the doom and gloom tone, and season 4 especially struggled with the oscillating tone with trying to humorous and then also having some pretty dark elements. Season 5 gets the balance right, being closer to what seasons 1 and 2 were in tone. And a big part of that was the refocus on bonds between family, blood or otherwise. This season felt like the entire Flash family was very much united and at ease with each throughout the season. Obviously the center of the show was the introduction to Nora and her relationships with both Barry and Iris. The WestAllen family dynamic is one of the strongest aspects of the season. It isn't without its issues from a writing POV, but it certainly gives a lot of emotional drama and there are some good arcs for each of the characters and their relationships. Even the side characters have emotional arcs. Caitlin/KF also has a refocus on her family, with both her mother and her father coming back into the mix. Ralph feels more integrated into the team Flash dynamic as compared to season 4, Joe and Cecile have an arc of becoming a working couple together, and Cisco too has a self reflective arc about what he wants with life and about finding love. These arcs largely play to casts strengths and so they are more emotionally involving then they might otherwise be. Even the Cicada storyline is a family based storyline and there is a bit of a mirror reflection between Orlin and Grace with Barry and Nora. I also think the new Wells worked fairly well as he had his own active storyline where he investigated Nora and discovered the Thawne secret.

I also think the humor is a lot more consistent this season than it was in season 4. In season 4, it felt like the cast and writers were overdoing due to the criticisms of season 3 being too dark. Season 5 feels like the humor and heart were more smartly balanced with emotion. Certainly the Elseworlds crossover was one of the funniest crossovers because it really utilized the comedic chops of Grant, Melissa, and Stephen quite well. There are some pretty strong episodes. The show celebrated its 100th episode in this season with 'The Past is Prologue' which was an excellent episode apart from the ending result of the Cicada fight. The scenes with Barry, Thawne, and Nora are excellently acted and play a key role in the finale of the season. It was actually pretty clever. The Time loop episode 'Cause and XS' was also pretty good. The show embraces its goofy roots with 'King Shark vs. Gorrilla Grodd' which was a blast, with surprisingly decent effects for a show of its budget. I feel the finale was quite strong and emotionally moving, with a nice tease for COIE. There aren't any episodes that I particularly disliked this season, despite my issues with certain character arcs.

There are definitely some big issues with the season and the various character arcs. Starting with Nora, who has the most major character arc. While the character is overall likeable, there is an inconsistency in how she is portrayed. While she is a late 20's adult, the characterization often feels like that of someone in their late teens, early 20's. That is sometimes a little grating. She is also shown to be impossibly naive at times. Iris benefits greatly from having moved out of team Flash leader role, even though she is nominally called that a few times. But this season does feel like Barry is back in the role of leader of team Flash as he should be. Its good to see Iris being more of a journalist and establishing the CCC. However, she does have moments towards the end of the season where she again throws Barry leaving her to go into the speed force in his face and not understanding Barry's distrust for Thawne, which makes her seem a bit callous. Cisco's self reflection arc, although well acted, feels out of character for him. I didn't really buy him deciding to let go of his powers because the show didn't really convince me, in this season or the next couple, that he wanted to let go of the team Flash life. I think this story arc was partially because Carlos was thinking of leaving so they made this as a contingency plan but it didn't really work. I liked seeing Caitlin's KF origins gets explored with the re-emergence of Thomas/Icicle but what should have been a multi season arc is wrapped up in 2 episodes. And there is a tease for Caitlin's mother which never panned out to anything. Sherloque has this random romance with Renee Adler which is extremely throwaway. The character also didn't quite have the bonds with team Flash that previous Wells' did. The show struggled at times on what to do with Ralph. I think Sherloque filled the shoes of what Ralph may have otherwise been doing. So it does feel like he is in the background for large parts of the season. He is involved in the beginning, when investigating the identity of Cicada, and towards the end, when he figures out the connection between Thawne and the dagger. In between there are episodes like 'Goldfaced' where he is prominent but there aren't too many of those. Then the show also got into this bad habit of having Cecile constantly promoting realizations due to her abilities. It gets a bit annoying. Joe is absent for about half the season due to Jesse's back injury and he is missed. Barry's character is largely consistent and more matured this season. He does feel like a dad. There are times where it does feel like he cedes the lead character role to Nora this season.

I think the biggest issue with this season though is Cicada. On paper and in theory, a meta human serial killer is a great idea. It makes perfect sense to flip the threat. The idea of Cicada being an uncle who is going after metas due to what happened to his niece is also a good idea. However, the show unfortunately didn't execute the character well. For one thing, the dagger becomes an OP device and it renders team Flash consistently useless against Cicada, barring KF. So again there is a sense of repetition of Cicada constantly beating them and getting away. The show oversells the character by saying that none of the heroes across the multiverse could stop Cicada, which became quite silly given that the dagger is only supposed to work on dark matter. Then there is a Cicada II/Grace, who is not given any depth at all because she really only turns up for the last third of the season. Unfortunately, both Chris Klein as Cicada/Orlin and Sarah Carter as adult Grace/Cicada II, ham it up way too much. The background villain, Thawne, ends up being more compelling, but that is not surprising given that Thawne has been the best villain in the show's history so far.

But overall, despite my criticisms, I think the season overall retains a pretty strong emotional core and at the center of that is Jessica Parker Kennedy, who was just inspired casting to play Barry and Iris' daughter. We saw teases of her in the previous season, but here she is an absolute delight and she looks so much like what Grant and Candice's daughter would look like. Its quite funny to think that she's older to both of them but she definitely doesn't come off that way in the show. Grant and Candice both get to play more matured and emotional roles as parents this season and the WestAllen family dynamic is key to the success of the season. As always, Carlos, Danielle Panabaker, Hartley, and Jesse bring a lot of heart and humor to the table. Tom Cavanaugh now delivers his fourth iteration of Wells, and despite an unnecessary french accent, is great as always and his is at ease when playing Thawne. Its his signature role. Danielle Nicolet blends into the team and is likable. Overall, season 5 is like a 7/10.

4 notes · View notes

macbethz · 9 months ago

Note

I dont know if it counts as an elseworlds but more as a non canon story? But I absolutely love the green lantern story willworld and I wish it was mentioned or used in some way in canon cause its so trippy and has such fun with the rings beyond the emotional spectrum which i dont really care for. I also love the kinda standalone universe of Captain Marvel in Shazam! And the Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith which is what made me a fan of Billy Batson and has always made me disappointed that the main universe is nothing like.

As for Marvel, I'm a big fan of the punisher and I always hate the newer interpretations of him that take away the fact that he reads political theory or he's kind of a weirdo, but like on a more human level beyond the killing. I hate that by getting rid of his human side they reduce him to some stupid meat head killing machine rather than a man pushed to his limits and sees this path of death as his only option even if it's an ultimately illogical one simply because violence and death is the means through which he was taught to deal with these things

holy shit a fellow green lantern fan who dislikes the emotional spectrum AND monster society of evil enjoyer?? anon can we kiss on the lips?

I am definitely reading Willworld because it seems awesome and exactly what I love with Green Lantern stories which is that kind of weird trippiness. You've probably already read the 2001 Spectre run but if you haven't I definitely recommend as it does similar fun weird stuff.

I have similar mixed feelings on Shazam because he is one of my fav characters and has sooo much potential that is just not utilized by DC at all and his best stories end up being Elseworlds imo. I think the Superman/Shazam crossover is similar in tone to monster society so you may enjoy that as well.

I am unfortunately not punisherpilled but I've been meaning to get into him for a long ass time...really enjoy the idea of him as a weirdo political theorist with with that kind of twisted moral code so I def need to read more of him if you have any recs <3

#warlock wartalks

0 notes

venus-of-the-hrdsell · 2 years ago

Note

Ok so I’ve got a few questions! So I like the character of John Constantine but I will admit I don’t know as much about him as a should. Like most I know about him is from the CW and comic book fans who right fanfiction and timblr blogs like you. I’ve a read few hellblazer comics (barely touched the new 52) but what hellblazer stories would you suggest I read? Should I just start from the beginning and read? I would just read the whole thing but I have ADHD and struggle to read. I think the only full hellblazer arc I’ve read is the one with John’s three demon children. My other question is what fanon things about John Constantine do you hate the most? I know you and MilfZatanna don’t like John being a slutty bisexual, but what else as well?

Hello! Also I don't blame you (fellow ADHD person here), the comic is super long and it has hit or misses when it comes to writing at times. It took me long time to complete the whole series so I think you could test the waters first with a few stories. It's a horror book, the original run is dated in a few bits, so proceed with caution. If you need any specific trigger warnings you can ask me!

If you want to get into classic Hellblazer, there are a few essential arcs I can remember

For Hellblazer (1988)

- Original Sins (#1-#9)

- The Devil You Know (10-13, with tie-ins with Swamp Thing 76-77 (tw for Sexual assault on these last two mentioned, though, I personally dislike those tie ins even if they bring context, so you can just read Hellblazer and skip them)

- The Fear Machine (14-22)

- The family Man (23-24, 28-31)

- Dangerous Habits (41-46) (I started in here, it's easily the most famous storyline for John, this was the base inspiration for Keanu Reeves' Constantine in 2005. After I finished this one I jumped back to the start of the comics).

Bonus short stories inside the run I loved:

- Early Warning/How I Learned To love the Bomb (#25-26). Good horror story by Grant Morrison. Very anxiety inducing and fucked up, a big social call out to nuclear weapons and it's very worth the read.

- Hold me (#27) by Neil Gaiman. Easily one of the best stories for Constantine ever. Very heart wrecking. If you enjoyed the Sandman, you will like this story.

- Forty (#63): John's 40th birthday! A very fun issue. You will see Swamp Thing, Zatanna and other friends on his birthday party, one of my favourite issues from the run.

Now these are personal favourites. People usually recommend Jaime Delano's and Garth Ennis' runs for Hellblazer, but I get that reading so much can be tiring. If you really want to fully into John, I'm dropping my friend's reading list here, she lists all the good runs + the essential arcs on each one of them.

Comics outside the main run I would recommend

- Constantine: City of Demons (mini). It's an elseworld if I remember right, but it's a fun read.

- Constantine: All His Engines (graphic novel). Written By Mike Carey, easily one of my favourite writers for John. It's a stand alone story and it was the base inspiration for the City of Demons animated movie.

- Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman (1990) + Hellblazer/ Books of Magic (1997, crossover). Both recommendations focus on Tim Hunter, but John is a big player on both titles. The second one focuses a lot on John's troubled past and it's a good character exploration.

- Dark Entries by Ian Rankin. Graphic Novel. John is lured to get into a closed set reality show and he soon realises he has been lead into a trap among the other contestants. He's now stuck on a demon lead reality show and has to find his way out. This was like watching a horror movie, I really enjoyed it.

Recommendations post Vertigo

Constantine: The Hellblazer (2015): New 52 wasn't a good period for Constantine. Going from mischaracterisation to boiling him down to essential traits at the point of seeming cartoon-y. BUT this comic in particular felt a bit closer to the old John. It's not Vertigo Constantine, but it's a good read and it feels like a modern reinvention of the old John. This is the first time his bisexuality is addressed in a decent way, too.

- Sandman Universe presents: Hellblazer (2019) (One shot) + John Constantine: Hellblazer (2019) by Si Spurrier (should be read together).

So this comic is easily the best run Constantine has had since his Vertigo days. It's basically the original Constantine, perfectly adapted and translated to modern days. Criminally short but it's great and I recommend it for beginners too.

I'm sorry if got a bit carried away by the recommendations, I hope this helps because I understand it's a lot of material so it's great to test waters first.

As for the fanon things, I think I mainly don't like how they've boiled down John to very simple traits now? It's a topic I could talk all day, but that's basically it. Everyone knows him as the "asshole, quirky magic man who is unbelievably powerful, the go-to Wizard of the DC universe"

Which is wrong because, John has been the odd man out most of the time. He either doesn't get called by the big magic leagues because of his untrustworthy reputation or because he himself doesn't like to be grouped with big magicians. Right, he can make his way on wealthy circles when it's beneficial to him, but he is basically the embodiment of the working class.

There's also the misconception that he is a "bad magic user". Don't take me wrong, he's not as powerful as characters like Zatanna, Doctor Fate and Co., but his magic knowledge is huge. He's a self taught occultist and he spent years perfecting his craft. He can use magic, but he will use it as a last resort. (Biggest examples of his magic is the use of hypnosis, illusions and Synchronicity manipulation, I will have to explaine the last one later).

John doesn't always get his love interest killed either. This has been used as a excuse to not give him a well rounded (and long lasting) male love interest, but truth is that John does indeed messes his relationships up, but they do not end up in deadly fates 100% of the time. If anything, at least 3-4 of John's female love interests have had main roles on the original comic runs (Zed, Kit, Dani, Angie).

Don't get me wrong, John is very open about his sexuality, but the notion of him flirting with every person he meets is...weird. He is a charming man, he has chemistry with people, but that's it. He has mainly been on monogamous relationships as much we are told, and his interactions with threesomes have been one night stands and so on (I'm ignoring the existence of Nick Necro💗) . In summary: he's confident on his sexuality, but he isn't as promiscuos as people paint him to be. He has had stable relationships.

Another misconception: John isn't mentor material, I'm sorry to break the headcanons. He has said he doesn't feel comfortable or likes kids, but he is an unreliable narrator. He is kind to them, but his trauma related to Newcastle and Astra makes him tag himself as someone unsafe and unworthy of being around them (also linked to the past domestic abuse done by his father, Thomas). As said before: he's scared of commitment in every aspect of his life for this reason.

There's also a misconception and also weird thing that people have about saying "Constantine doesn't care anyone but himself, he doesn't have any friends nor he loves anyone" and "Everyone he loves die"

That's the thing about him. He's a very social person. He actually has friends, he has relatives, he has had a lot of partners. But John is self destructive and has fear of commitment and his magic background doesn't help. He builds bridges as fast as he burns them. He cares about people a lot and for that reason he self sabotages his relationships because he either feels unworthy of love or "I better mess this up before they get caught on my magic bullshit and end up dead".

So yeah the situation with John on this case is more nuanced. He experiences a lot of lost on his life, a lot of it's self sabotages, some of it is sacrifice, and the part left is a casualty of collateral damage of his plans.

I got a biiiit carried away but I hope I could help a bit with this 🙏

#I'm sorry for taking long I've just got back home but im happy to help any time #johnstantine #answered #long post #u can rb

15 notes · View notes

thevindicativevordan · 2 years ago

Note

Weekly reviews?

Damn what a packed week. Lot of great books came out:

Detective Comics #1064 - Probably the most straightforward issue yet but still solid. People who were hoping Ram was going to make Talia a hero again are probably disappointed, she's still firmly in gray leaning towards black.

Action Comics #1047 - Strong start to the new arc. I thought I was ok with Federeci leaving, much as I love his art this run would benefit from having someone more consistent drawing issues, but then he turns in some of his best work yet here. Now I'm sad he's leaving yet again. Initially I wasn't very happy about Lex being involved, love Lex but he's as overused as Joker, but damn if PKJ doesn't write a perfect Lex. Man walks into a killer robot's prison cell and delivers a classic villain monologue, not even caring that said robot is glaring hatefully at him and spamming "GET OUT", on how Lex is the solution to all of Metallo's problems. He's such an arrogant prick here and he's got all these awesome gadgets, I guess I'm on board for him being the big villain of the crossover after all. Metallo still has his military background thankfully, what PKJ is setting up for him sounds promising, I just hope he gets to have an arc to himself where he's the sole villain. Hoping whatever he looks like after Lex rebuilds him is finally a design I can get behind.

X-Men #15 - Remember the Vault and the Children? Well they're finally doing something again!

Superman Space Age #2 - When I finally accepted that Russell isn't writing a "Superman" specific story as much as a DCU story with Superman as the main protagonist, like Kingdom Come or how Hal was arguably the main protagonist of New Frontier, I am not as annoyed at Batman getting so many pages. Plus there's still enough great Superman and Lois moments to keep this in my good graces, even if I no longer see this as potentially entering into that All-Star Superman ranking of "greatest Superman stories of all time". Saving a deeper dive until the series is finished but I do think this will sit alongside Kingdom Come and Red Son as a great Elseworld Superman story. One thing that stood out to me which I'll mention here: I love how Brainiac is in the position of Jor-El and Superman is in the Science Council's position. Brainiac is saying the Earth is doomed and drastic measures need to be taken which Superman dismisses as insane ranting, because Superman is an optimist! It's never hopeless right? Wrong. Shit's fucked and Clark is walking straight off a cliff because of how idealistic he is, he's not treating the situation as seriously as it deserves. Such a great way of examining the nature of "hope" and showing how it can be a negative.

DC vs. Vampires #9 - Mostly reading for Steel and Kara interactions at this point, and Steel getting to kick ass. Mera as Black Manta is the kind of crazy twists that makes these Elseworlds worth reading.

DC Mech #3 - Much like the title above and Jurassic League this remains a very solid and entertaining twist on familiar storytelling.

Human Target #7 - I love it. The reveal isn't really shocking however, there's got to be another twist coming right? Otherwise it feels like things are too straightforward for a King story.

A.X.E. Avengers #1 - Gillen manages to write an Iron Man story that isn't just beating the dead horse about what a shitty guy Tony is. Pleasantly surprised that Tony passed where Steve failed. Now if only Gillen could swallow his pride and undo the stupid adoption retcon.

The Nice House on the Lake #10 - First of three Tynion books! Remains excellent but I confess I don't know where the story is going at this point.

The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country #6 - Heh Tynion sure likes to roast himself with all these stand-ins appearing in his work. He's been talking about how he's had some great talks over in Hollywood, but I guess maybe he's also feeling like he's selling out for money?

The Department of Truth #21 - Either we're entering this book's endgame or the entire status quo is about to shift in a major way. I could see this book turning into a Shadow War between Cole and his husband, paralleling what happened with Lee and his Soviet opposite. I feel like an idiot for not recognizing until now that Baker is meant to be Steve Bannon.

#weekly reviews

6 notes · View notes

takaraphoenix · 3 years ago

Note

supergirl for the fandom ask game?

Oooh, so fitting considering the season picks up again today! Thanks for playing! ^-^

favorite character: Kara! My girl! *^*

least favorite character: Lena, easily, hands down

brOTP: Kara-Ollie-Barry!

OTP: Kate Kane and Kara Danvers ALL the way <3

OT3: Cat/Kate/Kara, because Kara deserves two gorgeous billionaire wives ;D

NOTP: definitely Lena/Kara, but also really do not like Mon-El/Kara

favorite storyline: mmmh, good question. Honestly, probably Elseworlds? I love Kara-Ollie-Barry and then it also gave me the Kate/Kara <3

least favorite storyline: I dunno how far it counts, but I greatly dislike how Lex Luthor has basically become Kara's greatest enemy like... Lex is Clark's nemesis, which gets even more ridiculous considering Clark got his own show now. But Kara has her own villains, she has her own comics for crying out loud. To make it all about Lex, and for so long now, he's not even a one-season long Big Bad, it's... it annoys me a lot. Kara is not just female!Superman, she is her own hero

what I wish had happened but didn’t: CROSSOVERS WITH SUPERMAN & LOIS.

what happened that I wish hadn’t: The Super Friends just... accepting Lena back in like nothing happened, no consequences for what Lena did :/

Fandom Ask Game

#DC Comics #Arrowverse #Fandom Ask Game #send me asks #Supergirl TV

3 notes · View notes

afaimsarrowverse · 4 years ago

Text

Top 30 Arrowverse Storylines we never got to see:

30. Ray and Barry as Friends hanging out and superheroing together (The Flash/Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

I am not really sure why this never happend. Grant wanted it, Brandon wanted it, the fans wanted it, but somehow Ray ended up not even getting invited to Barry’s Wedding, while Sara, who never even interacted that much with Barry before, did. „All Star Team Up“ did work very good and showed that Ray was quite a good fit for Team Flash, but when „Legends“ came along letting those two character interact outside of Crossover became a problem, but still the writers could have them have interact more during the Crossovers or at least, you know, have Barry invite Ray to his Wedding!

29. Jacob finding out thaz Kate is Batwoman at a point where it still matters (Batwoman)

Seeing how Anti-Batwoman Jacob was, it would have been a very big moment when he would finally find out that Kate is the one wearing the mask. One can argue that is was still a big moment, but Alice telling him flat out when Kate is not around anymore does not have the same impact or consequences this storyline was supposed to have. It would have been interesting to see if he would have changed his tune (probably) and how much. In the comic Kate’s Father is actually one of her biggest supporters Batwoman-wise, and while I don’t think that we would have gotten to this point quickly, it would have been interesting to see the Crows working with the real Batwoman with Jacob’s grudging permission and what impact this revelation would have had on his relationship to his daughter.

28. Laurel Lance Lives (Arrow)

Laurel was never supposed to die, but the writers were pressured into killing her of, so Oliver could be with Felicity instead. But you can’t just kill of the Black Canary! She is arguable one of the most important female superheroes of DC Comics, maybe the most important one right after Wonder Woman. Which is why we got a whole line up of new Black Canarys after her death. But the Original One (not counting Sara, who never actually called herself that on the show, I mean we don’t refer to Shado and her father as Green Arrow either, do we?) was the best one and was the Female Lead of the show and would have deserved to go to amazing places after Season 4 and would have gone there if she had had the chance. Too bad shipping is more important than storylines, characters, and legacy to The CW, Warner, and DC.

27. „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ Spin-Off (Arrow)

We waited almost a year for the news that this is not happening after all, after everyone pretending it’s a go for a very long time. Which is a major disappointment. Not so much because the show would have been that great - the Backdoor Pilot did not look like it - but because many storylines remained unresolved and will probably continue to remain that way because of the cancelation, inculding William’s abduction, the question who gave JJ his memories back and why, the whole mystery about Dinah and the Black Canary, and the question what Laurel is really up to. It’s said that not the whole show would have taken place in the future and there would have been a Laurel Storyline in the present, but in any case it would have been „Arrow“s Legacy Show, where many of the characters from the old show could have popped up, not only those features in the Backdoor Pilot, and it would have finally given the Canaries the spotlight they deserve and the Shadowhunter-Fans another show to watch, so in short: Why make false promises for over a year, if you are not willing to deliver? Not cool.

26. Kara‘s and Kate’s friendship replaces Barry‘s und Oliver’s after Crisis on Infinite Earths (Supergirl/Batwoman)

Marc Guggenheim promised us this when „Crisis on Infinite Earths“ aired and the world was still sane. Things were looking really good for the Arrowverse, and no one had any idea the world’s newest health crisis would turn life into „mere existing because suicide is bad“. At this point pregnancy, Shut-Down, unfinished seasons, Melissa not extending her contract, and Ruby Rose exiting hers were unthinkable. We should have at least gotten one more Crossover which would have delivered on this promise – in the current season to be exact. But someone decided not to recast Kate Kane because of their Super Ego, so no .. this only happend Off-Screen in Season 1 of „Batwoman“ and that’s it. I am not even sure Kate will be mentoned in the final season of „Supergirl“ at all, however even if the „Whatever happend to Kate Kane“-Storyline should get resolved in Season 6 of „Supergirl“ rather then in „Batwoman“ that would be the end of that and in no way be a worthy heir to the epic seven years spanning Olivarry Friendship.

25. „Supergirl“ and „Superman& Lois“ airing side by side

That was the dream. Has been the dream for fans since Season 2 of „Supergirl“ when Tyler first appeared, and has been the plan of the producers since around „Elseworlds“ when they started planning the Spin-Off. Now, Covid and Pregnancy combined and pushed Season 6 of „Supergirl“ backt to who-know-when, while „Superman & Lois“ got a much shorter season then it would have gotten under normal curcumstances, so they won’t air on the same night or even during the same period of time. Which also means that all those mini-crossovers we would have gotten – remember back when „The Flash“ first started and how many Characters from „Arrow“ ended up crossing over into the new show? – won’t be happening now. Which is a shame and very frustrating.

24. „The Atom“ Spin-Off (Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

Now, this one was fist mentoned when Ray Palmer showed up in „Arrow“ back in Season 3. Instead we got „Legends of Tomorrow“ with him as the de-facto Male Lead in it. Which was probably the better Spin-Off then, but now Ray has left„Legends“, they did introduce Ryan Choi, and yes, if I could pick the Spin-Off I would want to see right now, it would be „Atoms“ starring both Ray and Ryan along with their wives. I have no idea how Fairy Godmother Nora would fit into „The Atoms“, but I am sure if one tried, one would find a way. But of course there is no way this is happening anytime soon or anytime at all. Not only because Brandon is now in „The Rookie“, but mainly because someone behind the scenes is clearly pushing for baggage-less Spin-Offs like „Wonder Girl“ or „Nomi“. We did not get „Green Arrow and the Canaries“, might not even get „Painkiller“, and are most definitly not getting an „Atom“-Spin-Off. Which is just wrong and missed opportunity in the size of the Moon.

23. Harry and H.R.-Team Up (The Flash)

I never expected the Arrowverse Shows to be „Orphan Black“, but until recently they had all those Doppelgangers and hardley ever did something with them. Now Harry and H.R. are the only Main Characters ,with whom the writers actually did something with the fact those two are Doppelgangers and around at the same time, but to be honest, this makes it even worse, the carving for those two to meet, interact, and riff of each other. Because they actually worked well together, and it’s a shame they never got a storyline o rat least en episode where they had to team up and so something together. The Council of Wells is nice, but mainly just for fun. H.R. is the least Wells like Wells, and Harry everyone’s favorite Wells (Eobard does not count), so why did no one ever write something great for those two before they went and killed H.R. off?

22. Sam sacrifces herself tos top Reign and Alex adopts Ruby (Supergirl)

First of all, I do like Sam, I didn’t want her to die. But the problem is that literally everything about Season 3 was building toward this. Normally everyone bitches about the writers killing off characters, but in this case, it was a grave mistake not to kill off someone. Sam’s Guilt about Reigns crimes, Alex’s bond with Ruby – all of this was literally for nothing and stopped dead with Sam not dying. Somehow getting rid of Reign magically solved everything for Sam (or not, because she was written out between Seasons, we don’t really know if she ever got over her trauma), while Alex’s Adoption Storyline went nowhere and was put on indefinite hold after that one episode in Season 4, where she almost got a baby. Worse, the writers actually admitted that they had planned this, but then changed their minds because they did not want to take a mother from her child. Which just means they were and are cowards – if you compare „Supergirl“ to the other Arrowverse Shows, there is one major difference and it’s exactly that one – only villains and side-characters die on „Supergirl“ (and M’yrnn whose storyline bascially was dying), in other words less heartbreak but also less courage is found here.

21. Nora dates Spencer Young (The Flash)

Spencer Young was conceived as Nora’s Love Interest, who was to lure her into the Young Rogues at a later point of this season, but something went awry behind the scenes with the actress it seems, so the storyline was pushed back and back, and Spencer was replaced in every episode she was meant to be in after the first one by other characters, until she was eventually dropped alltogether and Bug Eyed Bandit got her gadget, so that a least some of that storyline could get a pay off. As for Nora’s Rogue Love Interest Weather Witch ended up getting this role, which just about works, but given that there is no real foundation there, the romance was only implied and never took off, which is too bad for the shows‘s Queer Record.

20. Cat remains Kara‘s boss (Supergirl)

„Supergirl“ has changed so much over the years, that is actually kind of impossible to say how the show would have turned out, if certain elements would have sticked around. One of the biggest casulties of the change in style and tone was the loss of Cat Grant as a regular character, and it’s hard to say what the show would have looked like after the first Season, if she stuck around, but it would sure looked have very different. Now I am not so sure we would have gotten Lena Luthor the same way into the show we got her in reality, if Cat wouldn’t have left, but there is no telling, after all Lena quickly went from a kind of mentor character to a female friend, so maybe not much about this would have changed. However James‘ Storylines and all the back and forth with who is owning and running CatCo would of course not have happend like that either, and I think „Supergirl“ would in the end have been a more coherent show because of that. Plus Cat was the best character in the show and having her around would have made everything better anyways.

19. Anissa meets the other Heroes of the Arrowverses (Black Lightning/ The Other Shows)

This could still happen in the next season or so, if the actress is willing to go to Canada and come back to Anissa Pierce after the end of „Black Lightning“, but even if it happens, it wouldn’t be the same. Due to curcumstances „Black Lightning“ ending up on Earth Prime was just for cosmetics, which is sad, because what’s the point of a Shared Superheroes-Verse if your characters can’t interact? Am I the only one who would have wanted Anissa to meet Kate (never going to happen now), Sara, Barry and Kara? I don’t think so. Sadly it wasn’t to be.

18. Iris and Kara have a Journalist Team-Up (The Flash/Supergirl)

This is the one thing fans have been asking for, the producers pretended to listen to, but still ignored. It could happen during the current season, but I have my doubts. The window has closed, and no one knows why this never happened. We did have Iris team up with Lois and Clark during Crisis though to recrut the Paragon of Truth, which was a Journalist Storyline, if you will, but all the fans always wanted both Iris and Kara to have actual Journalist Storylines, but we rarley got them. Yes, teaming up on an Inverstigative Story was always difficult while they were living on different earths, but it would haven been possible nevertheless. And on Earth Prime even more, but no, it was more important to do that endless Mirrorverse Storyline than to have, I don’t know, Iris and Kara break an Investigative Story about Lex to bring him down. Well, maybe we will get another Iris/Lois-Team Up with Journalism rather than Multiverse Saving Topics instead at a later point, but we sadly won’t get a Iris/Kara/Lois Team Up like that.

17. Amaya meets Charlie (Legends of Tomorrow)

I don’t know why they did not do that. After all Charlie pretend to be Amaya in Season 4 so often, it kind of would be obvious to have them meet at some point. It’s the same actress for God’s sake! But I guess the main reason we never saw that was that „Legends“ has short seasons. Season 4 had only 16 episodes and Season 5 only 15, of which one was the Crossover, so only 14 they could use, and they just ran out of space to insert a meeting between those two ladies that would have had any reason to happen beyond the fact that fans would have wanted it to happen. I am normally all for things happening for storyline reasons and not only for them to just happen, but in this case, I would just have taken it happending without any compelling reason.

16. Leo meets Leonard (The Flash/Legends of Tomorrow)

I would have payed extra-money for this to happen. But I do get why it didn’t happen, because if you come right down to it, we only had Leo for five episodes across two shows, two of those episodes being part of the Crossover, which left three episodes, that really had other things to do than to bring back Leonard just to have him meet Leo. On the other hand those two were so different, it should have been an obligation for the writers to make it happen somehow. Maybe at least in a vision or a dream or something like that. Gah, I wish Wenworth Miller would just come back in the flesh as any of those two to our shows….

15. Joe and Cecile as Older Parents for a Newborn (The Flash)

This Season 5 Storyline was cut short, when Jesse L. Martin had to take medical leave from the show. Which is too bad, because it was the very reason why Cecile became a Main Character in the first place, and was an important part of the original Seaon 5 plan, which would have three sets (or rather two and a half sets) of parents: Barry and Iris, Joe and Cecile, and Orlin. Now we got a sort of aimless Cecile for the most part of the season, and the very problem the show actually wanted to avoid in the first place: Jenna merely existing, but not being there for most of the time (but this got way worse in Season 6, if we are honest). Real Life can really be a bitch sometimes.

14. A Flashback about Sara joining the Legaue of Assassins (Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

We were promised this before Season 3 of „Arrow“ aired. Of course the only reason we were promised this was to obscure the fact that Sara would be killed of in the premiere. Same for all those fotos featuring her a part of the main cast and all that jazz. Still, Caity was contracted for Season 3 and showed up in a handful of episodes, but all we got was Maseo saying that he joined the League around the same time Sara did. Since then Sara came back to life, and we still have not gotten that flashback. Why? I know the initial statement was a purposeful lie, but that does not mean we did not want to see that. On the contrary we have been waiting for this since Season 2 of „Arrow“! And we are still waiting. But it does not look like we are ever going to get it.

13. Oliver meets Jefferson (Arrow/Black Lightning)

I am kind of miffed about that. I wanted Oliver and Jefferson to growl at eacht other, showing us who is better at it. Jefferson only came into Crisis after Oliver was already dead and did point out in Part 5 himself that he never met the man. But he should have. The two oldest Arroverse-Vigilantes apart from the Bat should really have met, just because they are the first ones. But now it will never happen, even if Oliver comes back somehow. (Unless the the new Crossover Strategy is bringing back the characters from the shows that are not around anymore, and future Crossovers will feature Oliver, Kara, Jefferson and his daugthers in the still existing shows instead of having characters from the still existing shows meet, which I kind of doubt, but if that leads to them meeting, I will take it.)

12. Pay Off for the Tommy Elliott Storyline (Batwoman)

Given how much of Season 1 built that storyline up, an actual pay off would have been nice. But instead the storyline got killed off in the first episode of the new season. And now, before you argue: no, that was not Pay Off. Pay Off would haven been someone other then Luke, who was close to Bruce and knows he was Batman (like his loving cousin called Kate, you know) interacting with Fake Bruce. For episodes. Tommy actually knew Bruce pretty well, so he might have been able to pull a long con. Maybe Kate would have believed him, but Luke would have gotten distrustful, or the other way around, and this would have lead to friction between those two. And maybe this storyline would have eventually even led to the real Bruce Wayne or at least to a clue of his whereabouts. Like I said: Pay Off and not Kill Off. Wouldn’t that have been something.

11. Laurel comes back (Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

Everyone got resurrected in the last episode of „Arrow“, except for Earth-1 Laurel because of the whole „There can be no more Doppelgangers“ business. Now I really don’t see why we can’t just have both of them, but the real kicker is, that the main reason Laurel-1 was not brought back is the Spin-Off, that never was, „Green Arrow and the Canaries“, that was supposed to star Earth-2 Laurel. Now that Spin Off was not picked up after all, and Marc Guggenheim stated that they probably would have brought Original Laurel back in the Finale if it weren’t for the Backdoor-Pilot. Now of course Laurel 2 was the MVP of Season 8, so it would have been a mistake to let her cease into nothingness in the Finale. But they could have just shown her alive and well on another earth in a scene and have Earth 1 Laurel in the other scenes instead. But why did they never bring her back before that? I mean, there was a whole subplot around that in „Legends of Tomorrow“ which ended with Sara not bringing her back, which would be alright, if it weren’t for the fact that another lost sibling that couldn’t be brought back came back on „Legends“, namely Zari’s brother Behrad, which yes, deleted Zari from the timeline and replaced her with a new version of herself, so it wasn’t a cheap fix, but it is just one more reason to be miffed about the fact that Laurel obviously was not important enough to anyone to be brought back anywhen in „Arrow“ or „Legends of Tomorrow“. But maybe there is still hope, I mean two alternate Versions of Laurel were introduced in „The Flash“, so maybe she can still come back there, or at some point in „Legends“ as long as the show is still around.

10. Ralph and Sue get together and become Partners in every sense (The Flash)

This could of course still happen sometimes down the road, if they do recast Ralph after all, or if Hartley is allowed to come back at some point. Or they could just say it in a random episode that only features Sue. However, it won’t be in the way the the show has beeing building toward since Season 5 (actually 4, but that’s not the point). Back when Sue was introduced, we were blown by the chemistry between those two, dreaming about their own Spin-Off etc. and what has become of it? 2020 destroyed so much….

9. Two Zaris for Good (Legends of Tomorrow)

Tala wanted that, the fans wanted that, even the writers kind of wanted it and thought about doing it, but in the end, like I mentoned before, „Legends of Tomorrow“ is not „Orphan Black“. „Legends“ already is the most complex Arrowverse Show to shoot, having Tala do double duty for good would have complicated the shooting process even more. Still we love both Zaris, and while it’s understandbale and even right to focus on Zari Tarazi for now, Zari Tomaz is better not gone for good. We might get two Zaris at the end of Zari’s storyline anyway, but until then the best we can hope for is a Caitlin/Killer Frost situation, which might be a problem for both Nate and John, and also is not likely to happen soon, so, yeah, that would have been great, but we are never going to get it.

8. Ronnie and Eddie return from the Singularity (The Flash)

Well, yes technically Eddie is dead, but his body was sucked into the Singularity, which did not need to happen, if they just wanted to kill him. And Ronnie never actually died, he just was sucked into the Singularity, never seen again, and assumed to be dead (well, without a Partner to replace Martin to merge with him, he should have died by now, but let’s ignore that for a moment). Anyhow the fact that those were sucked in, but Jay’s Helmet came through it, led to the believe that there would be consequences to those two being sucked into the Wormhole. But nothing ever came from it. Not even for one of those two. Season 2 did go down a very different route, and while we are still waiting today to learn what actually happened to those two, it does not look like we are ever going to find out. Which is strange, considering how much time was spend emphasizing this stroryline in the earlier seasons.

7. Chas returns (Constantine/ Legends of Tomorrow)

It’s still not confirmed „Constantine“ took place on Earth-1, but we always assumed it. And also Chas was refered to in Season 5 of „Legends of Tomorrow“, and let’s face it: John Constantine without his Chas is just not right. Aside from the fact that Chas‘ „Constantine“ Storyline is still unresolved, John need his oldest friend in his life. So not only fans of the „Constantine“ Series would really love to see Chas Chandler on „Legends“. But sadly I doubt this will ever happen - with any actor that is.

6. Lois and Clark as Parents of Baby Jonathan in „Superman & Lois“

This was after all the initial promise. That the show would pick up where „Lois and Clark“ ended, with the pair as parents, but as parents of a baby not of teenagers. And it was set up this way. Of course we know all the reasons: The claim that Action Series with Leads who have a baby do not work, the problems revolving around Babies and Little Children on Set, the need to write for actual characters instead of mute crying little things, and the fact that storylines for older kids are more interesting than for younger ones, but while we understand all of that and recognize „Superman & Lois“ will be the more interesting show with Teenage Sons in it, the fact remains it is not the show we were promised.

5. Sydney Palmer (Legends of Tomorrow)

This was set up in Season 1, Brandon did talk about it with the writers and was expecting it to happen as much as we did, and then … nothing. Now he is gone from the show, and we will never get to meet his illusive twin brother. Everything concerning Syndey is strange, starting with the fact he never seemed to be around, even when Ray was a kid. Of course this might be because the Palmers had a „every parent takes one twin“ situation going on, but even if you consider the fact that Ray und Sydney obvioulsy weren’t on good terms, the fact remains everything about him is weird. There even is fan therory that Ray does not have a brother, and Sydney actually is his alternate personality. Which at least makes more sense than the fact that we never got to see him.

4. The „Whatever happend to Mon-El“- Flashback in Season 3 (Supergirl)

Normally, if a main character disappears for a certain amount of time, and then turns up again, and the stuff he or she had beeing doing in-between is important for the current storyline of the season, we are told what he or she has been doing, and I don’t mean in words, we are talking about television after all, it’s show not tell. This is why I did assume that we would get at least one episode in Season 3, that would show us what happened to Mon-El in the future. At least a flashback subplot in an episode. Something for God’s sake! But I waited and waited and waited – and nothing, not a single scene. Now they did have the Legion Cruiser, they could just have used that set, and they could have only shown us Imra and Brainy, if there was no other way, but we did not even get that. I never understood why we have never ever gotten to see a single scene in the future, where three of our main heroes have spend a significant amount of their time in, why we never got to see someone from the Legion who isn’t Mon-El, Winn, Brainy or Imra (at this point we never even got to see Nura!), but this particular storyline was teased and actually essential to Season 3, and it still never happened via images, and that I really never understood. There is just no excuse for it.

3. General Eiling hunting Meta-Humans (The Flash)

Whatever happened to this storyline? I guess the Singularity sucked it up. I don’t think they even picked it up in Tie-In Comics or Novels. It went away when Clancy Brown declined to come back, I guess, but I am not so sure they even asked him. You see, even if the argument was, that he was too traumatized from Grodd to go after Meta-Humans any more (which he wasn’t, we all saw the last scene with him), some underling could just as easy have taken over. I mean Eiling knew about at least two Meta-Humans personally, Barry and Martin, and had kidnapped Firestorm in the past, and cleary did not learn anything from his run in with Grodd, which only came about because Eobard thought he was too dangerous and knew too much to be running around freely, but Barry and the others did set him free at the end of Season 1. Even if he would have been too thankful to come after Team Flash, why wouldn’t he come after all the criminal Meta-Humans out there? This storyline was cleary set up for Season 2 and then dropped like pretty much almost everything else in Season 2 that had been set up to be continued before. Lazy! I know it’s kind of X-Men, but the military going after Meta-Humans kind of was a Must Happen that never happened. But there might just be something along those lines happening in Season 7. However it does not invovle General Eiling or anything else related to the Earth-1 storylines, I fear.

2. Green Arrow and Black Canary as Street Fightning Hero Partners – with an without masks (Arrow)

This was the initial promise of the Pilot and all of Season 1 and still remained a promise until that episode of Season 4, I guess. Everyone who knew anything about Green Arrow was expecting this from the show, instead we got what we got, which has not very much to with the actual Green Arrow or DC Comics. I mean. we kind of got a brief glimps at it in Season 2 with Sara and Oliver, but that didn’t last very long. However the writers were still fighting for that end-goal, when Season 5 rolled around, because it sure seemed like Dinah Drake was considered as a Love Interest for Oliver at the beginning. But nothing ever came of it, and Dinah even gave up the Black Canary inbetween, so … no, we never got this, only ever on Earth-2 with Adrian-2 und Laurel-2, where he even called her Pretty Bird. In the end this is the initial broken promise, the first lie of the Arrowverse, and it would be the gravest one, if it weren’t for a certain other Arrowverse-Show that bascially died between Season 1 and 2.

1. An actual proper Season 2 of „Batwoman“

Do I even have to say it? I can’t even blame Ruby Rose for that, if I were in her shoes, I would have left too. The person I blame is Caroline Dries. Not only did she not recast Kate Kane, no she also refused to make an established character into the new Batwoman. Politics is only one reason. Sophie Moore is black after all. The other reason is an oversized ego. She wanted to create her own superhero. Which is fine, if you make your own show, but not if you replace your main hero, who your whole show revolved around, after one Season with an Original Character and in the same instance kill off your own story. It would have been better to cancel the show than to do this. I mean, what’s the point? It’s not like Alice can’t function without Kate, but why should we care about the things she does anymore, when her main nemesis is just gone?( Ignoring the fact that she is going to be replaced by Black Mask as the main villlain of the show in this season anyway.) Literally everyone in the show was defined by their relationship to the Wayne-Kane-Family and/or the two Bats. Bringing in someone from the outside does just not make any kind of sense. I mean Luke has a sister in the comics, who actually was Batwoman in an Alternate Realitiy, just saying. So yes, this is the gravest broken promise of all the Arrowverse: The promise that we would actually get a second Season of „Batwoman“, which we did not get, no matter what The CW and Caroline Dries and even Greg Berlanti the traitor are calling the Adventures of Ryan WhatsherFace Wilder.

#Arrwoverse #Top 30 Storylines we never got to see #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #legends of tomorrow #Batwoman #Black Lightning #superman & lois

7 notes · View notes

ufonaut · 4 years ago

Text

okay like. i’m mad about many things tonight but i sincerely don’t get whats with all the whining about the end of metal/the set up for infinite frontier. just saw a post with screenshots from an article about it with the caption “oh i hate dc comics” like...alright. why? because they’re bringing elseworlds back? because they’re resurrecting what might very well be cult or fan favourite characters? the multiverse is a good thing, elseworlds titles have been historically off the freakin charts when in the hands of good writers (see: batman creature of the night, jsa the golden age, etc) and the fact that they’re not rebooting the current canon but rather leaving the door open for more creative possibilities is, again, a good thing. you hate future state? great! it’s not set in stone, it’s consciously marked as nothing more than one alternative of many!

i hate to give scott snyder any credit on account of him being an atrocious writer but if nothing else, the fact that -- as stated in the aforementioned article -- he specifically chose to say “characters that have died before recent events have come back to life” without specifying which characters is legitimately exciting because the point of it is to leave it to writers undertaking future projects to pick and choose who they want to be alive and for what purposes. the whole infinite frontier thing is an initiative that lets dc move away from the image of dc as a whole/as a company (and god please let it cut down on endless complaints of “i hate dc” as if its some sort of hivemind) to a focus on individual creators, which is how the very best comics should be anyway. even the actual infinite frontier #0 issue is an anthology made out of introductions of upcoming series, you’d think the sort of “fans” who complain endlessly about Big Events would appreciate the fact that its not remotely that. hell, i’d prefer a million books like mister miracle (2017) and strange adventures (2020) if it meant moving away from endless meaningless crossovers. what dc is doing now is undoubtedly a step in the right direction

#personal #u can rb if ur not dumb #i read comics if theyre good by themselves or written by authors i like. i dont read em cause they adhere to some weirdo notion of canon #WHICH BY THE WAY. STILL EXISTS.#THIS ISNT A REBOOT. THIS IS BRINGING BACK ELSEWORLDS.

5 notes · View notes

ranger-report · 4 years ago

Text

Opinion: DC and Marvel’s Multiverses Are Crucial To The Future of Superhero Film

Alright, buckle up kids, this is going to be a long one. Get some soda and some popcorn, or some green tea and avocado toast.

Back in the long-distant year of 1989, a little film called Batman released into theaters and became the film of the Summer. Directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson as Batman and the Joker respectively, it was a cinematic triumph that heralded a new wave of superhero films taking their source material seriously. Followed up in 1992 by Batman Returns, a sequel which increased the fantastic elements but was criticized for its darker tones, Batman’s role in movies was cemented in place by continued success. Of course, Keaton and Burton would leave to be replaced by Val Kilmer as Batman with Joel Schumacher directing for 1995′s Batman Forever, with George Clooney stepping into the cape and cowl for 1997′s Batman and Robin, a wild disaster of a film which nearly destroyed Batman’s chances in movies. But then, in 2005, Christopher Nolan brought a gritty realism to the caped crusader in Batman Begins, and continued this successful experiment with 2008′s Best Film Of The Year, The Dark Knight, and 2012′s The Dark Knight Rises (which was....fine). By this time the DCEU was beginning to get started, so a new Batman was cast for Zack Synder’s 2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and this role went to Ben Affleck. He reprised the role in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad and Joss Whedon’s Justice League, but bowed out of the opportunity to write and direct his own solo Bat-flick. So director Matt Reeves was tapped to direct a new Batman film starring a controversial choice of Robert Pattinson as Batman. With all of this, the question of the past 30-odd years is: which is your favorite Batman? Which one was the best? And how do these films fit into an increasingly convoluted canon in which a film series is rebooted every ten years or so?

What if the answer is: they’re all great and they all fit into canon?

Now, before we think too hard about that, let’s take a look at Spider-Man’s cinematic installments, which is almost more convoluted and in a more compressed amount of time. Beginning with 2002′s Spider-Man directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, the amazing wall-crawler enjoyed a fantastic amount of success on the big screen, followed up by one of the best superhero films of all time, 2004′s Spider-Man 2. But Spider-Man 3 in 2007 took all of that goodwill and smashed it into the ground with a failure almost as bad as Batman and Robin a decade earlier. Plans for a Spider-Man 4 were scrapped, and eventually in 2012 director Mark Webb and star Andrew Garfield would bring a brand new Spidey to life with The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014. Both films were lively and energetic, but criticized for trying to stuff too much into their films -- especially the second one. Sony Pictures was attempting to ramp up a cinematic universe much like Marvel Films was doing at the time, but it was too much too fast. 2017 brought another reboot of the moviefilm version of Spidey, this time directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland, with Spider-Man: Homecoming, this time under Marvel Film’s banner (thanks to backdoor dealing), and another cinematic triumph in 2019′s Spider-Man: Far From Home. But, unlike Batman, Spider-Man’s dealings behind the scenes are nearly as convoluted as his series. Sony Pictures owned the rights to make Spider-Man flicks for years, until Marvel managed to make a ludicrous offer after Amazing 2 failed to catch on the way producers hoped. So Spidey came to the MCU under a joint production, which is how we got Homecoming and Far From Home, but also maintained a different universe with the Amazing films, and then 2018′s Venom, and a little animated motion picture also in 2018 by the name of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

Class, this is where I would like to direct your attention to the origin of the extraordinary events we are discussing today. Or is it the origin?

Into The Spider-Verse successfully proved that not only is the idea of multiple universes all connecting on screen a good idea, it’s an Oscar winning idea. Spider-Verse is hands down the best animated superhero film ever, and one of the best superhero films period. But here we must take note of certain ideas. The film provided much setup for a world where young Miles Morales begins to emerge with spider powers, but then Spider-Man is killed right in front of him before he can learn how to use them. Enter a Spider-Man from a slightly different parallel dimension, who not only turns Miles around, but find himself inspired to realign his own life. Spider-people abound through the film, all of them having equal weight and the possibility of spawning their own franchise without having to worry about impacting the canon of other universes. This is something comic books have done for literal decades, but Spider-Verse did it with such care and devotion that it won Best Animated Picture and became a mainstream smash hit. Marvel and Sony both sit up at attention; could this work with the major mainstream films they’ve been producing? So the experiment begins: we have a teaser trailer for Morbius, based on a vampiric Spider-Man villain, which features a cameo from the Vulture character first seen in Homecoming. And after dropping hints that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man could cross over with Tom Hardy’s Venom, Jamie Foxx recently posted about being cast as Electro -- a role he played in Amazing Spider-Man 2 -- for the third Tom Holland Spidey flick. Pictures went up on his Instragram seeming to confirm that not only was this the same Electro, but that all three previous Spider-Men -- Maguire, Garfield, and Holland -- would team up for the film. Multiple universes collide, a live action Spider-Verse, where everyone is crossing over with each other. Now, this lines up perfectly with Marvel’s MCU plans, as Doctor Strange has established in his film that multiple universes exist, and his announced sequel is even titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It’s here. It’s happening. Every Spider-Man film is canon, they’ve all happened, and we don’t need to worry about which of them make sense or belong. They all make sense.

But just before this announcement, a month or so ago DC let slip that their plans for an upcoming Flash movie are taking cues from the Flashpoint comic books, in which Barry Allen goes back in time and accidentally creates a brand new timeline that he has to correct. Michael Keaton has even been cast as Bruce Wayne, the same Bruce Wayne that he played 30-odd years ago, a casting choice many fans have been clamoring for for years. On top of that, once word was put out that Keaton’s role would be similar to Samuel L. Jackson’s role as Nick Fury in the MCU, Ben Affleck was reported to be joining the picture as Batman also, a team-up no one saw coming. Even Christian Bale is being courted to join the universe-spanning flick, but reportedly only if director Christopher Nolan gives his blessing. Multiple Batmen teaming up together in a Flash movie to combat crime? Of course I’ve already bought tickets. Batman is the biggest box-office draw outside of The Avengers. And this concept opens up plenty of opportunities for DC, who’ve done Elseworlds stories in the comic for years. Joker with Joaquin Phoenix proved that DC films not directly tied to the DCEU can and will do well on their own; The Batman with Pattinson will no doubt further confirm that. But now Batman Returns is once again a viable film mixed into a comic book cocktail of wonder and excitement? And what’s wonderful is that this isn’t DC’s first big attempt at this. Slowly and surely, The CW’s Arrowverse TV shows -- Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow -- have been doing multiverse crossovers for years, building up to 2019′s mega-event Crisis on Infinite Earths, which saw Brandon Routh reprise his role as Superman from 2006′s Superman Returns, which itself is a sequel to Christopher Reeve’s Superman and Superman II. And for one wonderful scene, TV’s Flash, Grant Gustin, got to interact with the DCEU’s Flash, Ezra Miller, confirming that these TV and film universes are indeed one big cocktail of parallel lives and dimensions that all interconnect while still being separate. Hell, we even saw Burt Ward, Robin from the 1966 Batman show, alive and well an in his own little world. Batman ‘66 is part of the wider DC Multiverse! How crazy is that? And we even got a small tease that Batman ‘89 is part of all of this as well, when we got to see reporter Alexander Knox look up to the Batsignal in the sky as Danny Elfman’s iconic score played. In one fell swoop, in as few as a casual couple of cameos, DC made all of their live-action properties canon in the multiverse, meaning no matter which version you like the best, they all work together and work from a franchising and audience standpoint. The 1978 Superman and the 1989 Batman both existed in worlds that ran sidecar to 2019′s Joker and 2011′s Green Lantern. It’s wild, unprecedented in cinematic history, and wonderful for fans of all ages.

Why is this the future of superhero flicks, though? It ought to be simple: no matter what movies come out, no matter how wild or crazy or outside “canon” they seem to be, they all can work and they all can coexist without having to confuse fans. Many people were feeling the reboot fatigue as early as 2012′s Amazing Spider-Man, and while there was a huge tone shift between Batman Returns and Batman Forever, the Bat-films were considered all part of the same line until Batman Begins started all the way over. Now we have Batman 89 and Returns in one world, Forever and Batman and Robin in another (which was already a fan theory, mind you). Sequels that don’t line up with their predecessors can just be shunted into a hidden multiverse timeline and left alone without the convoluted explanation of having to “ignore” certain sequels. Superman III & IV were ignored when Superman Returns chose to connect only to the first and second films, but now we can say that they definitely happened....just somewhere else. There is now a freedom of ideas and creation that can once again occur when making big-budget films based on superheroes. No longer do creative minds need to be restrained to the canon and timeline and overarching plots defined by studios years in advance; “creative differences” don’t need to drive frustrated directors away from characters or stories they truly love. Possibly -- just possibly -- good ideas can become the gold standard once again for comic book films, not just ten-year plans for how to get Captain America from scrawny Marine to Mjolnir-wielding badass. Remember when filmmakers decided to make Joker the same person who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents? Or when they decided to give Spider-Man the ability to shoot webs from his body instead of technology? That certainly wouldn’t fly these days; studio mandates would require adherence to previously established guidelines, or at least what has been seen in the comic. What if now we could get a three-episode limited series on HBO Max of Gotham By Gaslight? Or a big-budget adaptation of Marvel’s 1602? Simply trying to wedge old comic book storylines into existing Cinematic Universes no longer need be a thing! We could get some of the wildest interpretations of superheroes this side of Superman: Red Son. At least, that’s the hope, anyway.

When comic books can step away from canon for just a few minutes, worlds open up and expand. An entire multiverse of ideas can become a feast of entertainment for many. And when there’s already so many beautiful, well-told stories set in alternate universes as comic book precedent, so too can there be beautiful, well-told stories set in alternate universes for film. And the best part? Now they all matter. And I think that’s the future.

12 notes · View notes

allimariexf · 5 years ago

Text

crisis on infinite earths

so I haven’t been able to face tumblr for months, for a lot of reasons including the fact that Arrow after 8x05 sucked SO HARD that even the idea of looking at gifsets from 8x06 and 8x07 was really painful to me.

And then I refused to watch the first three episodes of Crisis until yesterday. Regarding those first 3 episodes, I have two lines of thought.

The first one is what everyone already knows: I HATE IT ON PRINCIPLE because it RUINED Oliver's rightful conclusion, it RUINED Arrow's direction and rightful conclusion.

I HATE that Crisis is the reason they made Elseworlds, and that preparing/justifying Elseworlds and Crisis basically took over and ruined season 7 and 8.

I HATE that Crisis is the reason Oliver left his family, that they're giving us tragedy porn as Oliver's ending rather than the culmination of his humanity.

I HATE that they repeatedly subverted and perverted Oliver's own show, his own story, to prop up the other shows, the Arrowverse, and the crossovers - to expand the franchise and appeal to a fanbase that was never going to be happy unless they turned their back on everything that made Arrow what it was in the first place.

So I HATE IT ON PRINCIPLE because it is the culmination of that subversion of Oliver's show and story, and the culmination of appealing to that audience.

That being said, the second line of thought is that as a story it's somewhat entertaining, and so far the plot mostly makes sense. Which is WAY more than I could say for the shitfest that was Elseworlds.

And then here are my thoughts on the ending of Crisis:

(TL;DR: FUCK THAT SHIT)

1. Though the Arrow portion was the most interesting and I appreciated the “walk down memory lane” (especially the Oliver/Ray scene about Felicity’s trust in Oliver, from 3x17), nothing can make up for the fact that the wrong people were there for Oliver's death. And nothing can make up for the fact that the wrong people were shown grieving for him.

I appreciate that Sara, as the one main hero with a connection to Oliver, at least did the heavy grief lifting (way more than Barry and Kara), and it was truly meaningful. But it was unforgivable that Diggle and Mia (AND FELICITY) were not involved.

I appreciate that Lyla and Dig got to mourn, but again it was unforgivable that they didn't show OR EVEN MENTION Felicity. Like. THEY NEEDED TO MENTION FELICITY MOURNING. THEY NEEDED TO MENTION HER GRIEF. EVERYONE NEEDED TO MENTION HER. THEY ALL GRIEVED OLIVER SO SELFISHLY (with the exception of John); THEY BARELY KNEW HIM RELATIVE TO FELICITY. GODDAMMIT SO MAD. Also THEA!? GAHHHH. I NEEDED TO SEE A SHOT OF FELICITY AND THEA AND BABY MIA TOGETHER MOURNING among those shots of the randos mourning. I don’t care that it’s “impossible” because they’re not on the show; they should have made it possible.

2. While I appreciate the return of Sara Diggle, I HATE the "EARTH PRIME" solution.

the Arrowverse spent YEARS selling us on this multiverse idea, making us care for multiple versions of characters as entirely different people

which ones of those people are "real" now, and which never existed (or are dead - depending on ... what actually happened)??

For example Harrison Wells, Harry Wells, H.R. Wells...which one is real? Also LAUREL!? Is she dead? Is she alive? Which one is she?

they spent YEARS building events in our heroes' lives based on the existence of multiple earths

and so many of the events in "our" heroes' lives were shaped by the existence of the multiverse:

for example, Oliver and Felicity's wedding happened at the end of Crisis on Earth-X; in this reality, when did they get married?

Similarly, I think the entire plot of all the seasons of the Flash depend on the existence of multiple earths?

they spent YEARS selling the idea that things turned out majorly different on different earths due to major and minor changes in each reality. Of everything, I think this is the most egregious issue with “Prime Earth”

if we bought into the idea that each earth, each doppelganger, was uniquely defined by the circumstances of their lives, then literally NONE of our characters survived.

Because as we knew them, they were all heavily shaped by the existence of the multiverse (either firsthand or by proxy), and if suddenly there never was a multiverse, then it doesn't make sense that they'd turn out the same.

Like, even if we say Earth-1 people are defaults (which there’s no reason to say that at all other than “because that’s how we want it to be,” but anyway) then maybe most of Arrow characters that originated in the first 3 seasons will be unchanged. But everyone else is basically fucked.

3. All things considered this isn’t even a big deal, but GOD the combat is just so fucking stupid, like it makes no fucking sense.

wtf are "shadow demons"? they were never properly explained.

why did the anti-monitor come back?

why were they trying to fight him, like, in human form? (seriously, the comic book need to put problems into human shape so that they can be dealt with through one-on-one "combat" is so stupidly unforgivable. I get the appeal of one-on-one combat; it's why I liked Arrow to begin with. No fucking magic or metahumans, just mostly-realistic problems that manifested in realistic ways...and it made sense for humans to fight them when fighting was the appropriate solution).

Speaking of: wtf did the paragons actually *do*?? "Beam of pure love/hope/truth/courage" etc. (which itself is so cheeesy and ridiculous and I only allow it on Legends) but...okay, what?? Where? When? How? Like, I didn't need a carebear stare or laserbeams, but at least showing Oliver being affected in some way would have been nice.

4. And of course, the whole fucking utter terribleness that Oliver had to die.

Oliver Queen spent the majority of Arrow learning the lesson that SELF SACRIFICE IS THE EASY ANSWER.

He spent years learning TO FIGHT TO LIVE.

He spent years learning that he has a responsibility to the people who love him.

It was a betrayal of his character, his growth, his story for him to leave his family to go die.

ALSO narratively speaking, Oliver’s story began in tragedy and the narrative demanded that it end happily

Essentially, the Crossovers (and the last few seasons, since they completely revolved around the crossovers) UTTERLY BETRAYED Arrow and the character of Oliver Queen

Oliver Queen did not deserve to die

The “living as a hero is the hard part” is utter fucking BS

Arrow began as a “grounded” show, and began to slide into comic book nonsense (where rules of the universe are inconsistent, and consequences for actions lose their sense of meaning) in season 4; after that it just got worse with each crossover and each show added to the Arrowverse. Arrow became a workhorse, subservient to the expansion of a franchise. It was adding insult to injury that he died in support of such a fucking ridiculous, ungrounded story that would have been unrecognizable to the audience that first fell in love with Arrow.

So basically I’m devastated. But also not. Because though I did cry, I was also not nearly as moved as I should have been. The travesty of it all is what I grieve the most.

Those were just my jotted down thoughts. Probably will have more later. Love you all so much. 💗😘💗😘💗

#allimariexf meta #my thoughts #arrow spoilers #arrow meta #crisis on infinite earths #my meta

103 notes · View notes

jaytheredbird · 4 years ago

Note

🌞 and 💫 for the ask meme! :D

🌞 Do you have one canon character you love that not many have heard of? What do you like most about them?

@javechan_

Hmm I don't know if he's a lesser known character or if I 'love' him, but from a purely character design perspective: I liked Dane of Elysium (Earth-11) because DC chose to put him in a skirt instead of pants :B. I did not like his personality/characterization that much but I appreciated that DC designed a male version of Wonder Woman & stayed true to the actual WW costume, unlike Wonderous Man (Earth-11).

@wajjs

I do! He's from a kind of forgotten Elseworlds comic, Thomas 'Tom' Wayne aka Robin 3000. But actually, I also like Moon and Aki from those same comics. I think what drives me to them is the potential they all have as characters, plus the good stories that could come from Tom being the last of the Waynes and the last of the Robins. Moon is a very sweet and innocent character, and Aki is very loyal but also very human.

@glaciya

I really want to have an answer for this but I cannot for the life of me think of a decent or relevant one Dx

@spartanbunjess

Henry Adams from the Arkham Knight game. He manages to convince Bruce and Tim that he’s immune to Joker’s infection which leads to them losing control of Panessa Studios for a time. Plus he manages to get Harley to work with him before he’s even captured by Batman showing just how calculating he can be.

@firefrightfic

At first I was struggling to think how to answer this because pretty much all of my favourite DC characters are pretty well known already, but then I remembered the Sandman Universe stories I've been reading, House of Whispers and The Dreaming. HoW focuses heavily on an Hoodoo goddess called Erzulie, who is triple natured, big and beautiful, and has three husbands who adore her! She's also a certified badass who cares deeply for her charges and husbands and goes through some real challenges over the course of the story to keep them safe.

Meanwhile in The Dreaming, you have Dora, a monstess woman searching for her true identity, who is brash and brazen and unapologetic, and I really love her design and personality. Both need some more love from fans

💫 If you could make the crossover teamup of your dreams happen, which characters would you have working together?

@javechan_

I don't have enough comic knowledge to answer this. But, I have occasionally entertained thoughts about a team-up between Deadpool & Red Hood because I think the banter between the two would be interesting.

@wajjs

I'd actually really like a crossover between Spiderman (Peter Parker) and Nightwing (Dick), but! with adult Peter and not his teen self. Their dynamic could be very interesting and I think they have quite a few things in common when it comes to how they approach crime fighting. And Peter already has a crossover with Bruce, so I don't see why this can't happen.

@glaciya

Oh Wade Wilson and Jason Todd for sure! They are two of my favorite fictional characters and I feel like they have the potential to bring out both the worst and the best in each other depending on the situation. Both are two dudes that have been through lots of hardship(including torture and death) but both of them have kept their hearts throughout it all. I think the want to be the ideal hero and the need to ruthlessly kill all evil is at war in both of their minds and they could definitely bond over those conflicting feelings and their previous experiences. 10/10 for two wonderful men with bloody pasts not afraid to Get Shit Done.

@spartanbunjess

If I could make any crossover happen it’d be with Blue Team (Halo), Tom and Lucy (also Halo) and the five Outlaws. It’d be interesting to see how much of a headache they’d give Fred-104 as he is the unofficial dad of Blue Team. Master Chief John-117 would be excellent with Jason as his planning seems to be ‘save as many people as possible no matter the risk to myself’ and he understands the difference between spending lives and wasting lives. Kelly-087 is like Halo’s version of a speedster and id love to see how quick she’d be with access to the speed force. Jason deserves to have his own speedster and she’d be excellent at it. Especially as she’s known for flipping off the enemy and just generally winding them up/snarking at them. The Outlaws would be excellent parents to Tom and Lucy. They’ve been through so much trauma that Jason et al would be best suited to helping them heal and find ways to cope. They need that family atmosphere to flourish. Plus every member is badass. Linda-058 would take both Roy and Jason in a shooting competition and Floyd/Slade would pale in comparison to her.

@bloodthirstymerc

A lot of crossovers come to mind, but my favourite that involves DC would have to be the Teen Titans with the Young Avengers. My main reasoning might be a little controversial and biased, but my boyfriend and I both love TimKon and Wickling and often talk about them meeting and it very quickly became a fave of mine with the four of them together. But I think that all members of both teams would find little factors about each other that they'd get along with.

(I also think that Roy Harper and Clint Barton would have a blast together, obvious reasons why that pairing would be a good idea aside. They're both just messes that I adore wholeheartedly.)

(And wouldn't object to Wade Wilson (Deadpool) meeting up with a vast majority of DC characters either.)

@firefrightfic

Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd. Both have similar elements in their stories. Both are former sidekicks who died and struggled to find their way in the world after, out of the shadow of their mentors. I think they'd be really interesting together!

I'd also adore a series where Deathstroke and Deadshot are forced to work together long term. There'd be so much snide commenting and bullying, and also I'd love comparisons of Floyd as a villainous parent to Slade's... uh... practices. It'd be great fun.

#group 3 #ask game #ask meme

12 notes · View notes

davidmann95 · 5 years ago

Note

Thoughts on the leaked Superman TV suit redesign?

Assuming this is real - and I’m inclined to say so, that’s a real assistant costume designer on Arrow and a concept artist credited, both people who would be assigned to do this sort of thing but finding their names would take more work than I imagine the typical dude with photoshop would put in for this - while probably not final I actually like it a lot! It’s not the truly correct answer of putting the classic s-shield on Routh’s Crisis suit, but next to that it addresses all my issues with what Hoechlin’s had so far: the belt’s better (and visibly functions as a belt) and does the missing trunks’ job of breaking up the colors, the boots are streamlined, the texture of the cape is better, and the cape clips are placed so that the cape drapes over him as it should while still providing the apparent comfort of that compared to tucking it in. Not wild about the red cuffs or the two-tone on the bodysuit, and if the lighting isn’t deceptive it needs to be more colorful, but as if nothing else a representation of where the creators’ heads are at I find it very encouraging, and the suits have always been tweaked over subsequent seasons on the CW shows anyway.

The truly big thing however is that this is hot on the heels of Superman & Lois being officially picked up as a series rather than waiting for the pilot to be judged - obvious as it seemed, it would have also seemed obvious that they’d pull the trigger on this 3 years ago, and also there was always the worry that the movie division would either pull themselves together or simply chicken out and pull the plug on this at the last minute. But now it’s official, and having been 3 years since I first gave thought to how a Hoechlin Superman series could work (Tulloch and Cryer weren’t even in the mix yet), many of my assumptions as to what would be in play have been dashed, and it’s ended up with distinguishing features going in I never would have guessed. So as is, my primary hopes for the series:

* For the first couple years, keep things relatively simple and streamlined in terms of season arcs. Todd Helbing’s in charge, and from what I’ve seen of his past work as showrunner of Seasons 4 and 5 of The Flash (where I jumped on, which is a shame since it sure seems like there was a drop in quality compared to what I’d been seeing before) he had a really hard time juggling the substantial cast of characters it had built up by that point alongside a season-spanning threat…but he also wrote or cowrote excellent individual episodes, including easily the best episode of the entire CWverse to my knowledge “Enter Flashtime”, and it’s arguable those seasons were generally casualties of having used up the obvious threats and buying time until Crisis. Going into this I don’t see much need for a sprawling supporting cast from jump, so if the overarching villain can be managed appropriately I don’t see him being a poor choice for shepherding the first season or two.

* Keep the soap operatics largely confined to the sons. Whether it’s Chris or Conner or Damian joining Jon, I’d imagine half the point of bringing in a pair of teenagers to a show with a pair of leads who have moved past the figuring-out-life-and-love travails of your average CW protagonist is so that *they* can do that stuff instead. Let Lois and Clark focus on reporting and superheroics and as advertised “the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today’s society”, along with assorted character journeys and challenges tailored to them that fall outside the typical arc of CW series leads. Meanwhile, the teens can contend with burgeoning love lives and deciding who they want to be alongside figuring out how to become heroes.

* Maybe break it up across multiple timelines? I know they did a lot of this sort of thing with Arrow with the flashbacks and flash-forwards as series-spanning anchors; maybe there’d be something to be mined here with present-day sections, past sections of Superman’s earlier years in Metropolis before he and Lois got together or Lex turned on him, and future events. Heck, the latter could get the super sons as teens without any need to age them up in the present, and permit easy crossovers with Legends or the upcoming apparently future-set Green Arrow and the Canaries.

* Lex obviously has to be in the mix, but shouldn’t be the sole villain of the first season when he was already the bad guy for the last season of Supergirl. Given his amazing new status quo of being Silver/Bronze/Modern-Age Lex masquerading as Byrne’s Luthor, taking him down would be the obvious centerpiece of the Daily Planet chunk of the series, especially for Lois since that’s presumably going to be her primary domain. Once he’s exposed though totally go all-out supervillain with him.

* Can’t believe I’m saying this, especially on the heels of that last note, but maybe don’t get too political. I know Supergirl has made efforts, but everything I’ve heard about the execution sounds incredibly mixed, between a black Machester Black being told not to kill Nazi stand-ins, and the first preview for the current season basically opening with Supergirl narrating “We deposed our corrupt Trump analogue, so I thought people would be committed to fighting for social justice…but they’re obsessed with their Facebook gizmos instead!”, a truly bizarre instance of trying to appease all sides. Totally have instances of Superman taking some lefty or at least liberal stances as is tradition, but it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to try and build a season around a given message given both the track record and that all the extra eyes on this will mean it being subject to even more extensive pressures.

* Speaking of the number of eyes on it, god I hope this is allowed to get weird even given it’s probably going to be the flagship for the network and therefore will definitely have higher-ups wanting to make sure it isn’t alienatingly off-beat. They put Beebo and Sargon the Sorcerer in the Crisis finale for Christ’s sake! The least they could do is let Hoechlin fight Krull or go on an adventure with Calvin Ellis, and let Tulloch get witch powers and tame Titano; the last live-action Superman show in Lois & Clark was made in a pre-Morrison world and aired on ABC, and it still had a time-travelling H.G. Wells as a recurring character and an episode where he gets shrunk down to a teeny-tiny little Superman (which also just happened with this guy!). The clear All-Star influence so far is a good sign along with how odd The Flash has frequently gotten as the current center to their shared universe - including under Helbing - but this is still probably my primary concern. Give us at least a few truly high concepts per season even if I suspect the goofiness will be toned down relative to its older siblings.

* I’m not that concerned with the villains: he’s got a few established already between Lex, Metallo, Mongul, Reactron, Zod (maybe the inexplicable decision to have had Superman kill him off-screen can be undone by Crisis), Maxima, and Doomsday, it’s implied by Elseworlds he got his own Bizarro, Brainiac’s easy to introduce, and the villains introduced as specifically Supergirl’s enemies such as Parasite, Silver Banshee, and Mxyzptlk could easily roll into Metropolis. And there’s plenty of other possibilities with the likes of Solaris, Prankster, Subjekt-17, Terra Man, Magog, Ultraman, Riot, or Atomic Skull who either have tons of potential to unearth, or don’t but as a simple visual or gimmick could easily carry an episode or two. I’d still prefer the more exploration/mystery-driven angle suggested in my original pitch up above, but I recognize that’s not too likely.

* Finally, if he’s truly committed to being done after getting the little epilogue and sendoff he deserved he’s got all the right in the world, but if Routh would have any interest absolutely make him the shows’ equivalent to John Shipp on Flash as Uncle Kal from Earth 96, popping by every now and then to be the fun uncle to the boys and give Clark life advice.

#Superman & Lois #Superman #Lois Lane #Superman's Suit #Tyler Hoechlin #Elizabeth Tulloch #DCTV #Todd Helbing #Lex Luthor #Brandon Routh #Superhero Costumes #Opinion

64 notes · View notes

ultrahpfan5blog · 2 years ago

Text

So The Flash is finally ending after 9 seasons. While I would have liked it to get one more season so it gets 10 seasons, 9 seasons and 184 episodes is quite an achievement for any show, and especially a genre show. Second longest running superhero show after Smallville. I have watched the show since the premiere was released early before its official air date and I have loved watching it ever since, through the highs and lows. Seasons 1 and 2 are still among the best seasons of superhero tv for me. I think season 4 and season 7 have been the low points. I do think the show ran way too fast in the first couple of seasons and exhausted some of its best villains too early. It is regrettable that we never got a full version of the Rogues. I think The Flash really should be the show that gets credit for blowing up the Arrowverse. While Arrow definitely gets credit for being the originator of this universe, The Flash is what expanded it, introducing the superpower concept and then introducing the multiverse, which allowed for crossovers of the size of things like Invasion, Crisis on Earth X, Elseworlds, and COIE.

I do have a wish list of things I want in the final season, but I don't know how much of that is doable in 13 eps. Firstly, I really hope Cisco returns at least for the finale. I'm sure Tom Cavanaugh will make an appearance in some way or another. I'd love to see Melissa Benoist back, if she's willing. Obviously, if they can get Stephen Amell, then that would be awesome. I'd love to see Snart return one more time if possible. I have missed the Barry and Snart interactions. I would ideally like one more big crossover, but I think that is highly unlikely. Maybe an appearance from Ray Palmer again would be nice.

On another note, I find it hilarious that The Flash tv show is ending just before the movie will air, given the movie was originally announced just shortly after the show was launched and Stephen Amell was pretty pissed with WB about the timing of the announcement. Here we are essentially 9 years later and the movie still hasn't come out yet. I do wonder if there will be any tie in.

Anyways, still a long time before season 9 will come out. Hoping for a strong finish. I do think season 8 was significantly better than season 7 and maybe the best since season 3. So I hope they can signoff in a good way. I expect that it will end in a business as usual type of way and The Flash will be alive and still a hero, even though the show ends, though I expect it will end with Iris pregnant with Nora. We already know that Barry and Iris are happy and alive in the future. I don't anticipate them messing with that.

#the flash #arrowverse

4 notes · View notes

intergalactic-zoo · 4 years ago

Link

I think I've figured it out. If "Lois & Clark" was "Moonlighting" with super-powers, "Smallville" was "Dawson's Creek" with superpowers, and "Supergirl" started as "The Devil Wears Prada" with superpowers, then "Superman & Lois" is "This Is Us" with superpowers.

Spoilers ahead!

That may not be entirely accurate—I've watched maybe 15 minutes of "This Is Us"—but I feel like that's the kind of tone this show is going for, the family-centered melodrama. The kind of show that would be designed to manipulate emotions and win Emmies if it didn't occasionally feature CGI battles between Superman and an alternate-universe Lex Luthor. I thought after the pilot that the muted color palette was an attempt to visually echo the Snyder movies—and that may be a piece of it—but it also reminds me of every clip I've seen of that show where the guy from "Heroes" gets killed by a pressure cooker.

The result is a show that isn't quite like any of the other superhero shows on The CW. The closest (of the ones I've watched) is "Black Lightning," which similarly was about an older hero trying to raise a family, but even that felt more like "The Flash" in terms of cinematography and structure. You still had the Hero being directed by the Guy In The Chair to face a particular threat. Superman doesn't have the same support network, or the same relationship with his kids and the problem of adolescent superpowers.

I continue to be cautiously optimistic about this series after episode two. I can see where some of the plots could easily go sideways, and the decision to cast two black male actors as two of our antagonists when the rest of our principal cast is pretty lily-white is Not Great, but right now I'm interested in seeing how things go, and I don't really understand where some of the vitriolic fan response is coming from. At worst this show is fine.

There's a lot I like here. Every character's core conflicts internally and externally are already built at this point, and there are good points of conflict and connection between most of our main cast members.

It would be easy to fall into the trap where Clark can't do anything right as a parent—which seemed to be the direction they were going in the pilot—but it's clear here that he's doing his best, and that leads to good moments with the kids.

It's nice to see that the relationship between Clark and Sam Lane isn't all sunshine and roses; they have reason to distrust one another, and while they both clearly think they're doing the right things to keep their family safe, they have very different ideas about how to do that. It's also interesting that they're bringing in Project 7734, which I think first appeared in the World of New Krypton story.

It's interesting that the trend has been to show Jor-El with a beard since...at least Superman: Secret Origin, but maybe as far back as the Richard Donner run on Action or "Up, Up, and Away."

After years of seeing evil/corrupted/morally-ambiguous versions of Superman in the comics and prominent adaptations and pastiches—including the Injustice games, which we saw Jordan playing in the pilot—it's kind of a stroke of brilliance to make the main supervillain of this piece a version of Luthor from a world where Luthor was right and Superman was bad or went that way. It may be petty of me to appreciate that the evil Superman is wearing a black costume as in some prominent scenes by that one director with a New 52-style high collar (even if it looks to be the same costume that the evil Superman wore in the "Elseworlds" crossover a couple years back), but I'm embracing it. It's a good, simple visual shorthand.

Speaking of costumes, I think it's interesting how much Hoechlin's main Superman costume for this series looks like the costume from the Smallville Season 11 comic and Superman: Earth One, down to the two-toned blue areas.

It even has the same belt as that Smallville costume. Of the three main suits Hoechlin has worn—the one on "Supergirl," the Fleischer-inspired one in the pilot opening, and this main one—this is easily my least favorite; the muscles feel padded or painted-on (which is understandable; that visible eight-pack abs physique may be sustainable for a few weeks of film shooting, but not for the months needed to film a season of television), and it just feels more muted than even the darker blue of the "Supergirl" costume. But it's not bad, and making the belt red and yellow helps make up for the lack of trunks, and the two blue shades are one solution to the endless field of blue that most trunk-less versions of the costumes have.

It's nice that every character has a clear arc ahead of them, and I do hope that (especially since her name's in the title) Lois's story gets increasing focus over the season, despite what we've heard from the writers' room. It's one of the plots that I can see going sideways—the Big City Reporter coming in to keep the Backwards Hicks from acting against their own interests, or learning that maybe her Big City Liberal Ways just don't work in the simple lives of Rural Americans—but I feel like the way things are set up now shows a degree of awareness that might avoid those pitfalls. We see complications to the "life in Smallville is simpler" mantra here—Sam Lane rejects it outright—and Morgan Edge is a prime indication of the fact that the same problems are at play in both the big cities and rural towns.

I've lived in rural farm towns for most of my adult life. I've seen towns try to out-bid each other with municipality-killing tax breaks over businesses as small as local car dealerships, let alone big billionaires with promises of better jobs. I've had conversations with people who think the unions just have too much power these days and the owner takes all the risk so he should be able to take all the profits too. A show that's going to champion the need for independent local press when conglomerates are buying up papers and stations around the countries, that's going to argue that accepting scraps from billionaires because you're desperate is tantamount to extortion, that's a show that speaks to me, at least, and hopefully speaks to some people who might otherwise be hostile to those kinds of political messages.

It is weird that Edge is interested in Smallville's mines rather than, you know, its farms, but I can see some logic behind that story decision. I do wonder if it's going to tie into some of Edge's more comic book-style motivations. Is there Apokoliptian tech in these mines? Kryptonite? Who knows?

Overall, I think this is a pretty strong start. It's not perfect, and I honestly wish the tone were a little closer to some of the other CW superhero shows, but I understand why they'd try to distinguish themselves from the pack. I'm invested in the characters, and I'm interested to see where the story goes. I realize that I'm a cheap date when it comes to Superman adaptations, but so far I'm enjoying this one more than most.

#IFTTT #Blogger #TheFortressOfSoliloquy

1 note · View note