#tbf I think there's a reasonable answer to that question: different creative teams working in different departments on different shows | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lord-radish · 2 years ago

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Okay so I could be wrong, but I think Harley Quinn was the first one of these big adult animated shows based on what is ostensibly an "all-ages" franchise. Like Batman can be dark and edgy and broody, but he's also a comic book character beloved by children the world over y'know. Batman is equal parts The Brave and the Bold and groundbreaking Alan Moore graphic novel.

Harley Quinn turns that into something where everyone says fuck and there are jokes about blowjobs and fucking and shit, and we got that fiasco about Batman not being allowed to talk about giving head to Catwoman. It was pretty well-received, and it did the whole "adult cartoon" thing without the trappings you might expect from Family Guy or something.

So with that established, imitators followed. Marvel tried the same format with a MODOK show (which they cancelled, possibly to make room for the CGI human head balloon in Quantumania). There was apparently a Deadpool show in the works that would tread similar ground, but it got cancelled. Masters of the Universe got a grittier sequel/reboot series called Revolution that upped the violence and the stakes of the conflict for an adult audience.

More adult spins on all-ages/kid-focused franchises have been coming out ever since Harley Quinn hit it big, and while quality is mixed (people fucking HATED MotU:R, though granted there was a bunch of dumb alt-right horseshit in the backlash, while MODOK was apparently pretty okay), there's been a fairly consistent niche of these sorts of shows since 2019.

So then Velma comes out to universal disdain, being a show that's irreverent to a fault - it throws characterisation out the window for the sake of being snarky. It feels less like a Velma show and more like a show that banks on Velma calling people skanks and incels as the source of its humor, in its reception if not the actual content of the show. From what I've seen, it's considered the nadir of this "adult animated retool" trend compared to Harley Quinn's peak.

Scooby-Doo is a franchise that's owned by Warner Bros.

Batman is also a franchise that's owned by Warner Bros.

How in the flying fuck did the same company get the same trend so right, and then proceed to get it so wrong?

#Velma #harley quinn #tbf I think there's a reasonable answer to that question: different creative teams working in different departments on different shows #it's not like the same handful of facsimiles run around every media project in hollywood making the same thing #the aim and scope of velma was different to harley quinn and the showrunners and writers and all that had different visions #you might as well ask why the pc port of batman arkham knight was such a shitshow when mortal kombat 11 ran without a hitch #but you have this trend that's come up because dc greenlit this really well received adult animated show #that's paved the way for a handful of imitators and other similar passion projects with a similar angle of appealing to adults #only for the same company to put out such a critical stinker that it might be the worst of the batch. it exists under the same umbrella #it's just one of those weird dumb fuckin coincidences that looks funny on paper

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