#they truly did give him the oliver queen from arrow treatment

[hallikset]

the babygirl has returned <3

[kitkatt0430]

6, 10, and 16 (for the flash) from the salty ask list?

6.) Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

Hmmmm... certainly fandom has made me enjoying pairings I was ambivalent about or come to enjoy characters that I didn't initially like. (Oh, Harry Wells, I just needed to get to know him better...) But a pairing I hated?

Nothing really springs to mind, really.

I think fandom has helped validate my dislike of certain ships, though. Like... I'm not weird or alone for disliking Olicity after a certain point in the Arrow. And while I'm glad some people still managed to enjoy that ship as the show went on, it's very nice to know I wasn't alone in feeling like they worked better as flirty friends than as date mates. Or that I'm not the only one seeing Chester/Allegra on the Flash now and going 'why???'

Fandom did help me with liking Barry/Iris. Those first few seasons the show's treatment of Iris was... like she was a prize for Barry to win or that she had to be with Barry because Destiny and not because it's what she wants. But while Candice and Grant's acting helped eventually move me past the show's bad writing... I think I'm always going to like comics Barry/Iris over the show's version.

10.) Most disliked arc? Why?

I can't say I've been too thrilled with a lot of the recent story arcs on the Flash. Armageddon was particularly bad for having Eobard running three contradictory plots simultaneously, an amatonormative and aphobic rant from Alex, and the worst pacing problems the show has ever suffered from (and it's had some really poorly paced episodes). But the end of S8 having Caitlin's response to Frost's death be to essentially commit suicide was incredibly insulting. Way to confirm that no one ever really knew what to do with Caitlin on her own on that show. How many characters do they have to kill off by suicide on this show before someone in the writer's room considers that's a super shitty message to send?

Eddie. Barry's first time remnant. HR Wells. E90 Barry. Nash Wells. Caitlin Snow. And I'm sure I'd be able to list more if I put more thought into it. I've spoken about it before and it's frustrating that the trend has continued. Characters exiting the show via suicide is the worst repeating arc on the show.

(Over on the Arrow making Ollie Queen basically an honorary cop - Ollie Queen, the loudest voice shouting ACAB in the comics O_O - in the final season. Oh wow. That was bad. That was insulting. That should never have made from the writer's room to the screen. Like... tell me you don't know the first thing about Oliver Queen from the comics without saying you haven't paid attention to a single Green Arrow comic ever.)

16.) If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

I think I'd start with immediately post the Red Skies Crisis. Play up the differences in Earth Prime from Earth-1. Reorganize the episode order and pacing so that Iris' mirror arc didn't drag on so badly and that the Speed Force dying didn't seem to come out of nowhere to become a plot tumor. The mirror arc would truly be Iris' arc, not something that left her a damsel in distress the instant Barry was ready to save her. The Wells characters given a send off that respected their place on the show instead of the insulting it. Give Cisco and actual story arc in the first half of S7 so that him leaving the show truly celebrates his character instead of looking like a last minute joke episode.

Basically everything post mid-season of S6. There were a lot of good ideas in there, but the execution grew increasingly sloppy with twists more for the drama of it than because they made sense. And one day I do intend to write a post Red Skies Crisis fix fic that implements some of those ideas.

[hope-for-olicity]

Understanding

Post 5x15 fic Oliver needs to talk to Felicity about Thea leaving as she is the only one who understands him. Also on AO3.

Still working through my 5x15 issues...hope you enjoy :)

After the team meeting broke up Oliver headed downstairs to his living quarters to change out of suit. It had been a long day. That was an understatement. Despite the positive spin and thank you he had given his team, he wasn’t feeling positive at all. Thea had left. Another woman he loved had left as she needed space from him. He really didn’t know how to process what had happened. He needed to talk to Felicity.

He quickly went back upstairs expecting to find her on the landing at her computers. He was a little surprised to discover she wasn’t there. The computer we stilling sorting through the petabyte of data they had retrieved from Prometheus’ mother's house but she would have shut off the monitors if she were gone for the night, maybe she had just stepped out. He decided to wait for her, he took a seat in Felicity’s chair and waited.

Oliver wasn’t sure how long he had been waiting when he heard the elevator doors open and the familiar click of Felicity’s heels on the floor. He looked up. “Where have you been?”

“Out with friends. Did something happen? Did you need me? I had my cell.” she hauled her cell out of her pocket to look and see if there were any missed calls. There were not.

“No, nothing happened. Well, something happened but nothing I needed to call the team in for.” He took a breathe as he rose from Felicity’s chair. “Thea left.” Oliver ran his hands through his hair.

“Oh. I know she called me. It’s for the best Oliver. If she needs time to find herself you have to let her do that.”

“I know but I feel like I pushed her away.”

Silence. Felicity said nothing because it was true, Oliver’s recent treatment of Thea was part of the reason she left. She watched run his hands through his hair. Oh how she wished she could do that. Woah. Where did that thought come from?

“Oliver listen, just be patient. She will come back.”

“So it was me? Why do I push all the women I love away? I’m try my hardest and yet they all leave.”

Felicity could see Oliver was really upset and wanted answers but really she couldn’t do this right now. With everything going on she wasn’t strong enough to deal with a rehash of their relationship especially now that he had chosen Susan.

“Oliver, it’s late. Maybe you should get some sleep and it will look better in the morning.”

“I don’t want to sleep, I want to talk about it.”

“Well, I don’t. Maybe you could call Susan. I fixed the hack, she got her job back. I’m sure everything is good with you guys now.”

“I don’t want to talk to Susan.” He sounded like a lost little boy. This was the version of Oliver that Felicity found hardest to resist. It was the vulnerable side that he sparingly revealed, in fact she might be the only one to see it.

“Susan is your girlfriend Oliver. I’m sure she would be happy to talk to you.” Felicity started to walk away, she hated saying Susan and girlfriend together. She knew it was childish, she had told him to move on she couldn’t be mad that he did.

“Susan doesn’t understand me.”

“Well, talk to her. Get to know her better than she will.” Felicity was getting frustrated now. It was one thing to be okay with Oliver having a girlfriend, another to be forced to encourage said relationship.

“No she won’t. She will never understand me. There is only one person who truly understands me.”

“Oliver please don’t do this.” Felicity could feel the tears in her eyes. She knew she no longer deserved Oliver. Not after everything she had done. She also knew that right now. Given her emotional state, she wasn’t strong enough to resist him.

“Fel-ici-ty”

“No. I’m going to go home and you are going to get a good night’s sleep.” She had almost made it to the elevator when she felt his hand on her arm. He forced her to turn around and face him.

“Oliver, you told me earlier you trust Susan. She is the woman you want to be with. You asked me to fix your relationship. Susan is who you want. Go talk to her.”

Oliver looked deep in her eyes. “We both know that Susan is not the woman I want. There is only one woman I’ll ever want. It’s you Felicity. I only want you. You told me to move on so I’m trying my hardest. But it’s not working. I know you don’t feel that way anymore. But I need you to know that you Felicity Smoak are the only woman I will ever truly want or love. You, you are my always.”

And suddenly Felicity knew she could not fight it anymore. Whether she deserved him or not she loved Oliver Queen with all her heart and soul and she simply could not resist him anymore. Before she could think better of it she reached up to pull his head down to meet her lips. At first she was gentle, tentative, it had been so long since they had kissed she was not sure he would react. She brushed her lip along his and but when he didn’t pull back she leaned in, rubbing her tongue along his lower lip, he quickly opened to give her access and she deepened the kiss.

At first Oliver thought it had to be a dream. He had had this dream so many times since and Felicity had broken up. But the tentativeness was never in the dream. Felicity was nervous. She was nervous about him. Even though he had just told her he loved only her, she still seemed unsure. Well he couldn’t allow that to continue, he deepened the kiss.

A small moan escaped Felicity as though she had craved this kiss just as much as he had. And suddenly they both needed to be closer, as close as possible. They needed to touch. Not touching had been so hard.

Felicity was up on her tiptoes trying to get closer when Oliver suddenly lifted her. She quickly put her legs around his waist. She pushed down for a minute and could feel his growing hardest. Good at least she was alone.

Oliver moved them over toward a pole. He didn’t stop kissing her. Really he couldn’t stop kissing her. It felt he had to make up for all the kisses he’d missed in the last year. He didn’t know how long they had been kissing when suddenly Felicity pulled back.

She leaned back so she could look in his eyes. “Oliver. I know we have a lot to talk about and this is a big deal. But can we talk later. Right now I want to show you just how much I missed you. I need you.”

“I need you to Felicity. Let me take you downstairs.”

Felicity nodded and dove in to kiss him again.

_____

The next morning after they had gotten very little sleep. Having to make up for lost time. Felicity felt better than she had in a year. Something about Oliver’s love made her feel stronger, more powerful like she could take on anything.

Oliver sensed she was awake and turned to face her. “So that happened” he said remembering what she had said in Nanda Parbat after their first time. It was something they used to say frequently to each other when they were together. Their own private joke.

“Yes, it did and I am very glad.” Felicity smiled.

“Felicity, I want you to know that I am all in. I know we have a lot to talk about. William, why I lied, how sorry I am that I lied but I want you to know I’m here. And I’ll never lie to you again.”

“I know.” Felicity reached for his hand. “Oliver, there is something I need to tell you.”

Oliver pulling himself up to a sitting position this sounded important. Felicity joined him, pulling the sheets up with her. Someone she didn’t think she should be naked for this conversation.

“Remember when I had the information to help get John out of prison?”

“Yes, you said it was a long story.” he rubbed his finger over her hand.

“Well, it’s not that long. When you were in Hub City getting Dinah I was contacted by a group called Helix. The recognized my hacking work and offered me information to help get Digg out of prison. They have me the USB key that contains Pandora.” She looked for Oliver’s reaction but he just nodded for her to continue. “Pandora has information on everyone. I see it as a tool to help us. The people on the key are not good people Oliver. But when I told Digg about yesterday he saw it as a weapon.”

“What do you think Felicity?”

“I think it can be dangerous in the wrong hands. But I also think that Pandora and the Helix group could help us bring down Prometheus,” Felicity took a deep breathe. “Last night when I said I was meeting with friends, I was really joining Helix.”

“You were leaving the team? You were leaving me?” Oliver couldn’t keep the mild panic out of his voice.

“NO! No Oliver I would never leave you. I could never leave you.” She stroked his cheek. “You understand that right? You are my always too. No matter what.”

“Okay, I hear you.” He took the hand that had been caressing his cheek and kissed it. “So what are going to do?”

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to tell you all of this. I feel like I’ve been lying to you all this time. I’m sorry Oliver. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Hey. It’s okay. You told me now.”

“Yes,” she smiled at him. “So for now I want to stay with Helix and Team Arrow,” she winked at Oliver. “That way I can find out if they really can help us bring down Prometheus.”

“Okay, I have something to say and I don’t want you to be mad.” Oliver looked worried he had just gotten her back. He didn’t want to lose her but he had promised to be honest.

“Okay.”

“Did you ever consider that Pandora, Helix, all of it was just a trap set by Prometheus for you? I mean, maybe they aren’t but did you consider the option?”

Felicity looked ashamed for a moment. Tears came to her eyes. “No. Oliver no, I never considered it. Me the smartest person in the room never thought I was being played. Do you think I’m being played?”

“I don’t know.” He solemnly. “But we won’t let that be the case. We are both aware to the possibility now. And you are still the smartest person in the room.”

Felicity gave him a watery smile and he pulled her into his arms. “Hey, we are together now Felicity. Really together again and we are a formidable force.”

“Thank you so much for understanding. I feared you would be mad that I had lied.”

“I am a little hurt that you didn’t confide in me. But I understand why you made that decision.”

“I love you.” Felicity said as she leaned up to kiss him.

Oliver kissed her back. When they stopped Oliver looked at the beautiful woman finally back in his arms as he traced her lips with his fingers he said “I love you too. I will always love you.”  Felicity sighed.

Oliver knew that with Felicity by his side again, he was a stronger and better man and Prometheus no longer stood a chance against them. 

@almondblossomme @emmaamelia95 @mel-loves-all @coal000 @stygian-omada-fan @vaelisamaza @tdgal1 @laurabelle2930 @lalawo1 @oliverfel4 @felicity-said–yes @nalla-madness @captainolicitysbedroom @pleasantfanandstudent  @spaztronautwriter @somewhatinvisible @scu11y22 @supersillyanddorky06 @dmichellewrites @memcjo @charlinert @marytagus @miriam1779 @mammashof @wherethereissmoak @bringbackianto

[aion-rsa]

How Batwoman Takes on Policing and Social Issues

https://ift.tt/31NtgS3

Police brutality has gone from a niche concern – one most white people considered impolite to bring up at dinner parties – to a compulsory national conversation. It’s long overdue, which has left many playing catch-up, especially white folks and popular media. As David Dennis Jr. pointed out in his excellent Twitter thread (seriously, go read it!) superhero shows have an especially tall order, given that they rely on portraying lawlessness and a fictionalized criminality that the hero can then clamp down on. But that image is out of touch with reality and can send damaging messages.

We’ve long discussed this problematic aspect of the genre in our reviews and features, whether it’s Barry Allen’s personal private prison kept in the basement of STAR Labs or Oliver Queen’s incredibly short-lived interest in reforming the prison industrial complex…before he went right back to adding more people to it. But Batwoman has taken a different tack that other comic book shows could learn from. 

Batwoman has, to greater and lesser degrees, explored gentrification, corruption of police and the legal system, police brutality/the lawlessness of privatized law enforcement, and the wrongful conviction of a Black man. The show is not perfect, and it must be stated that no other show is doing quite what HBO’s Watchmen did in terms of exploring this country’s legacy of race, anti-Black violence, and policing. But Batwoman is a superhero show that spent the last year actively engaging with questions like “was that an appropriate use of force?” and “isn’t this a gross violation of the civil rights of the people of Gotham City?”

In the Gotham of Batwoman, a private security firm called The Crows operates with near-impunity within the city, keeping the incredibly well-heeled secure while everyone else hopes for the best. Gated community is an understatement, and frankly, the firm is closer to a mercenary paramilitary operation.

By the end of the season, The Crows have expanded their reach through an app that’s available to all Gothamites, even those who aren’t clients, so anyone can call in the mercenaries if they see big bad Alice and her brother Mouse, or Batwoman, whom Crows head honcho Jake Kane views as equally villainous. It’s easy to imagine the Crows’ app going the way of SketchFactor in DC and other IRL safety apps, which quickly turned into racial and socioeconomic maps, with white and upper class folks flagging anything that made them uncomfortable – namely, Black neighborhoods.

Read more

TV

Replacing Kate Kane on Batwoman Season 2 is a Terrible Idea

By Lacy Baugher

Sophie Moore, a high-ranking agent with the Crows, continually pushes back against their use of force and in several circumstances when the Crows overstep the rights of citizens, to the point where she is sidelined, suspended, and eventually kicked off the Crows. She questions her mentor Jacob Kane in his vendetta against Batwoman – for whom there is no arrest warrant, the shoot-to-kill order on Alice that comes and goes throughout the season, and the extreme blanket use of surveillance on average citizens. If you’re worried about police breaking the law or the militarization of the police, try the privatization of a police force on for size. While the writing on Batwoman clearly raises concerns throughout the season, Sophie and Kate are among the only people able to effectively check the Crows’ power, largely due to their personal and professional relationships with Jake Kane. 

One of the show’s greatest assets has been the willingness of its writing and its hero to give the supposed villain of any given episode – who is often disenfranchised in some way that turns out to be connected to how they have lashed out at the system – the benefit of the doubt. It’s a benefit that our legal system is based on, but one that we know many people do not get – and one that the Crows don’t often give to suspects. Some so-called villains have turned out to be innocent people manipulated by others, or victims of systems that eroded their humanity.

For example, the season finale deconstructed the media and law enforcement trope of the giant invincible Black man, using the show’s own gossip host (voiced with juicy irony by longtime Batwoman comic fan Rachel Maddow) to introduce a suspect with barely-coded language. The show goes on to deconstruct that narrative, introducing the audience to his brother, who worries about his sibling who was nothing like the man described on TV. Gotham’s professional football league used him for entertainment and several people in positions of power abused their privilege to do serious harm, in this case irreparable CTE that turned a gentle man into someone who literally couldn’t feel pain, yet another harmful stereotype of Black folks that has caused harm from slavery to the medical field.

Gotham’s actual police force is so incompetent as to be a non-factor. They only come up in maybe a handful of episodes, but they feature prominently in one of the season’s best arcs: the wrongful conviction for Lucius Fox’s murder. His father’s murder was a defining moment in Luke Fox’s life. 

Normally the calm, logical, emotionally removed man behind the comms and tech on Team Bat, we watched Luke put together the pieces and realize that a fellow Black man had been set up to take the fall for his father’s death and then pursue the real killer. This wasn’t a clunky after school special one-and-done story so the creators can check a box. The arc was allowed to breathe over many episodes, giving actor Camrus Johnson the space to show the complex and often-changing swirl of emotions his character was experiencing. 

Read more

TV

Batwoman Showrunner Addresses Kate Kane Season 2 Departure

By Kayti Burt

Nothing about the writing or the performance was straightforward or easy. It’s the kind of ambitious writing and gnarled injustice that real people actually face, the sort of thing that we actually need real heroes for. It was a high point of Camrus Johnson’s excellent, season-long performance.

It’s worth noting that simply having the male lead – number two on the call sheet, Batwoman’s professional other half – played by a Black man, makes a big difference. But while other Arrowverse shows have had prominent Black characters – John Diggle on Arrow and Iris and Joe West on The Flash come to mind – Batwoman is different. For one, the writing has made explicit that Luke and Kate are partners, whereas for all that he came to eventually love and respect them, Oliver fought Diggle and Felicity every step of the way, and The Flash has always felt like a lead singer with a backing band. Even then, there’s a hierarchy, and a quick spin around the internet will produce ample evidence that neither Iris West-Allen nor Candice Patton have received the kind of treatment that a show’s leading lady would normally expect. 

At the root of this is the writers’ room. Batwoman is written by a diverse group of people that represents the issues discussed on the show. It includes queer folks, women, and BIPOC. Actors can do their best to convey the work with skill, sensitivity, and depth. But talent behind the scenes needs to be diverse as well, otherwise they’re still going to be talking about Grandma Esther’s noodles. 

While there’s a lot we don’t know about Batwoman season 2, namely the LGBTQ actor who will play the new lead and how they will be written in to pick up the threads from last season, I hope Batwoman will continue working with “villains” who are more complicated than we’re used to seeing on shows with tights. 

I also hope they’re able to portray more of the income inequality that showrunner Caroline Dries discussed in an interview with Den of Geek earlier this season. “One thing we had in Gotham City is this idea of the ‘us-versus-them’ in the districts where people are protected and then other districts where they’re left to their own devices because they can’t afford private security.”

Dries told us that, unfortunately, this wasn’t as emphasized as she would have liked, due to the limitations as production.

“In a perfect world, you’d have a bird’s eye view of the city and you would actually be able to see districts,” Dries said. There were some references to this earlier in the season with checkpoints between neighborhoods, but as the season went on, Dries said those little bridge scenes were the first to get cut due to time and money. Fortunately, it sounds like it will still be part of season 2, and likely more pronounced.

“If I had all the time in the world and all the money in the world, I would have been able to dramatize that disparity better and the segregation a little bit better, visually,” Dries said. “But we’re going to continue to keep that alive, especially now as we’ve seen the Crows sort of becoming more heightened in their power and becoming more authoritarian and scarier.”

Read more

Movies

DC FanDome to Reveal DCEU, Arrowverse, and More DC Universe Secrets

By Jim Dandy

Moreover, homelessness has been part of the show’s narrative since the very first teaser, but Batwoman has yet to engage with the issue of economic inequality or with actual people experiencing homelessness as individuals, rather than as an abstract concept. Even if it’s simply by having Mary, Luke, or the mysterious “Ryan Wilder” develop a relationship with someone who sleeps rough outside Wayne Tower or their apartment building, or if Mary’s clinic starts back up again and a character or two is differentiated that way, it would be nice to see humanity and individualism, rather than a monolith.

Finally, while it’s not an issue involving our carceral systems, it must be said that Batwoman has provided the space for Meagan Tandy’s Sophie to have a truly lovely storyline about her sexuality. While Kate Kane/Batwoman has basically always been out and accepted, that’s not everyone’s story. Not everyone has accepting parents and a family fortune to fall back on if they’re kicked out of the military. Sophie’s journey as a queer Black woman has been allowed to progress at her own pace, allowing the character to unpack what it means for her relationship (she starts the series married to a man), her identity, and her family as she explores who she is and what that means to her. Not everyone’s path is the same, nor do they have to express it the same way. While it’s great for people to see Kate Kane as a role model, I imagine there are far more people who can relate to Sophie Moore.

As television reorients itself around a long overdue reprioritization of Black lives, the landscape will shift, in some cases dramatically, as with the cancellation of long-running show Cops. But for other shows, like Batwoman, there’s an opportunity to continue pushing even further forward on the very social issues that once caused trolls to review-bomb the show with so much online hate. Heading into season 2, as the social and cultural landscape shifts, Batwoman should continue Kate Kane’s legacy of fighting injustice intersectionally, centering the marginalized while upending comic book tropes about law and order. 

The post How Batwoman Takes on Policing and Social Issues appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Z09TUa

[aion-rsa]

Green Lantern Corps: 15 Cameos We Need To See

“Green Lantern” from 2011 left the majority of geeks with a bad taste in their mouths. Many saw it as a failure due to its heavy-handed comedy from Ryan Reynolds, who starred as Hal Jordan, while others felt that Martin Campbell’s film suffered from a weak, unbalanced script that didn’t do the concept of a space saga true justice.

RELATED: Green Lantern Corps: 15 Lanterns We Want to See On Film

This led to the DC film-verse being curated by Zack Snyder through movies such as “Man of Steel” and “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice,” setting up this year’s “Justice League.” With whispers that a Green Lantern may appear in it and that Warner Bros. are eyeing a Green Lantern ensemble film in 2020, the rumor mill’s in overdrive as to who the studio is eyeing to don the emerald rings and reignite the franchise. While they ponder, CBR decided to look at 15 cameos we hope to see!

SPOILER WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for DC’s slate of movies and Green Lantern comics!

SUPERMAN

Zack Snyder made it clear that Superman (reprised by Henry Cavill) has a big role to play in “Justice League.” After being killed by Doomsday in “BvS,” fans are eager to see how he’s resurrected, especially with Apokolips’ first wave of invasion imminent in the form of Steppenwolf. Whether or not the League actually interacts with a member of the Green Lantern Corps, it’s very much out in the open that Snyder’s filmverse is cosmic-oriented and that the door’s open for space aid.

This paves the way for Superman to appear on Oa as an emissary from Earth, requesting the Corps’ assistance for the incoming Darkseid war; or the story could be shaped where the Lanterns themselves find crucial information at their galactic doorstep, leading to the Sector 2814 (Earth-protecting) Lanterns coming back home to defend the planet alongside the League. The cavalier Hal Jordan meeting this stoic Kryptonian is a mouth-watering prospect which will surely have DC fanboys in raptures, especially with a potential clash of leadership philosophies awaiting.

THE ENTITIES

While the 2011 movie touched on Parallax as the embodiment of fear, eventually corrupting Sinestro, there’s a new opportunity here to traverse the entire emotional spectrum driving life in the DC universe. These entities, each with their own distinct appearance and emotional powers, directly represent the spectrum, and the colors of the rainbow. When combined, their energies form the white light that is in essence the power of life and creation. Red (rage) is embodied by The Butcher (a demonic bull), orange (greed) by the serpent-like Ophidian, yellow (fear) by the insectoid Parallax, and green (willpower) by the fish-like Ion.

Blue (hope) is embodied by the bird-like Adara, indigo (compassion) by the cephalopod figure called Proselyte, and lastly, violet (love) by another insect-like being of energy called the Predator. They’re more than avatars for their respective emotions as they are also seen as the engines of their respective corps, helping power their affiliated teams and their batteries in the eternal war of light. Imagine the visual spectacle they’d provide, even for just a few minutes, adding depth, scale and backstory to the motivation of every colored Lantern and their overall ambition.

CORPS MEMBERS

In Campbell’s film, not many Green Lanterns got enough screen time, apart from Hal and Sinestro. This was understandable as it dealt with the dynamic of Hal’s love for Earth and Carol Ferris, alongside his duty to train with Sinestro. This time around, however, it seems that things will be more focused on the Corps as opposed to just Hal. John Stewart is expected to be a main figure, of course, but we’d love to see the likes of Kyle Rayner, the future White Lantern, and the brash Guy Gardner in the mix.

As for alien species, Kilowog and Tomar-Re are among the few we hope play more prominent roles as opposed to how peripheral they felt in 2011. Soranik Natu, Sinestro’s daughter, is another addition that could foreshadow conflict with her father’s Yellow Corps, as well as Arisia, a love interest that brought quite a bit of drama to Hal’s off-Earth activities. Other candidates include the overly-aggressive female, Boodikka, and Sodam Yat, who actually became the host for the all-powerful Ion entity.

NEKRON

Nekron is the embodiment of death and the reason why “Blackest Night” rocked the DC universe. He hatched a plan to destroy his opposite number, the embodiment of life simply called The Entity. This was executed via a resurrection scheme involving his Black Lantern Corps, the Anti-Monitor’s power, Scar (a corrupted Guardian), as well as a tether to the living world, Black Hand. Nekron ended up being foiled by Hal Jordan, who, along with a few others, temporarily became a White Lantern in the process.

This particular villain heavily influenced Geoff John’s vision of the ominous Book of the Black in “Green Lantern” lore, with the writer painting him as a highly powerful dark force, one that was strong enough to comfortably defeat the Spectre in battle. This soulless creature has the ability to raise the dead, grow in size and kill through his signature black energies. Maybe in explaining the Green Lantern oath or hinting at the legend of the aforementioned Book, we could see the Guardians depicting Nekron as the boogeyman to their illustrious Corps, hinting at an early sign of fear, perhaps?

GREEN ARROW

Sticking to the green theme, there could be an opportunity here for Green Arrow to cameo in the franchise’s revamp, given that Warner Bros. hasn’t made any announcement as to the movie fate of Oliver Queen. While the emerald archer’s in full swing on the CW’s “Arrow,” Hal nodding to the days on Earth with his old friend could be ideal to tell the 1983 story from Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams, where Ollie’s sidekick, Speedy, was revealed to be a heroin addict.

This was part of DC’s plan to boost “Green Lantern” sales and was a critically received arc, with the revolving stories Hal and Ollie faced being more sociopolitical and grounded, such as corruption, racism and pollution. Their storied history was quite emotional, eventually dovetailing into Ollie feeling remorse for killing a man, which could provide more fodder for the writers to flashback to and show the heroes as truly human. They may not be the most dynamic of duos, but ’80s geeks know how enjoyable Hal and Ollie were as a gritty buddy-cop duo.

VOLTHOOM: THE FIRST LANTERN

Volthoom was a human from an alternate universe who tried to harness the essence of The First Ring, created by Krona, who himself was observing the beginning of the universe. He became unstable but very powerful and was locked away by Oa’s Guardians in the Chamber of Shadows in a black hole. They eventually siphoned his power to create The Third Army to replace the Green Lanterns.

Volthoom eventually broke free and waged war on the various Corps, destroying Sinestro’s homeworld (Korugar) in the process. It took Hal Jordan and Nekron to defeat him, but what makes this character truly intriguing is the sympathy you felt for him due to his treatment by the Guardians. He was curious and terribly human, and even if in just recapping a story in a flashback as told by the Corps seniors, the tales of the First Lantern could set the precedent as to just how tricky things can get with the lure of willpower. They could also touch on how skeptical someone has to be when it comes to the Guardians’ at-times suspicious actions.

MONGUL

Mongul has been one of DC’s biggest galactic threats, often tussling with Superman and other members of the Justice League. What gives this behemoth extra oomph is the weapon known as Warworld, a planetary engine capable of massive destruction similar to the Death Star, as recently seen on “Young Justice.” With Darkseid opening the door to more galactic threats in Snyder’s film-verse, Mongul, due to his super-strength, near-invulnerability and thirst for power, would be another great addition to the mix.

What makes him even more ideal to appear in this movie is the fact that he took over Sinestro’s Yellow Lanterns, renaming them “The Mongul Corps,” only for Sinestro to return and pummel him on Korugar to take back his army. In the past, Mongul also destroyed Hal Jordan’s home, Coast City, and ran afoul of other Green Lanterns such as Kyle Rayner and Sodam Yat later on. He was created by Len Wein and Jim Starlin, who also co-created Thanos, so that in itself could signal that he’s destined for the big screen. We need more alien powerhouses and Mongul definitely fits the bill.

BLACK HAND

Geoff Johns used “Secret Origins” to start updating William Hand as someone obsessed with death, who would go on to become Nekron’s link to the living world. Hand was Nekron’s tether to bringing about the “Blackest Night” prophecy to extinguish life in the DC universe. The former Guardian Scar helped resurrect him as the embodiment of death, after which Hand would go on to lead the Black Lanterns in their war against the other colored Corps.

While this may be biting off too much in the first movie, it would be nice to see the earlier aspects of Black Hand pop up somewhere as he did manage to invent a device that was able to absorb the energy of a Green Lantern power ring. Johns eventually retconned this as being built by the Red Lantern leader, Atrocitus, but that shouldn’t rule out a cameo. Maybe his family’s funeral home, where Hand began his dark descent, could appear, or maybe it’s in a prophecy that warns the Sector 2814 Lanterns that Earth could well be hosting Nekron’s avatar to pure destruction. If the fall of the emotional spectrum is to be foreshadowed, this villain is a must-have!

MOGO: THE LIVING PLANET

We know what you’re thinking, we mentioned other Green Lanterns making a cameo above, but Mogo’s such a grand one that he deserves his own special entry. Created by “Watchmen” creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Mogo acts as a haven for Green Lanterns to recharge and was thrust into an even bigger spotlight than usual in “Blackest Night,” housing the rings of his fallen comrades.

He ended up proving crucial in destroying the Black Lanterns, but this corrupted Mogo and he was destroyed by John Stewart, only to reform in the New 52 where the Guardians tried to use him as part of their Third Army plot. Mogo would continue to help his brethren, even becoming the new Green Lantern headquarters after the First Lantern debacle, proving that he steadfastly remains as loyal as he is big. He channels the energy from the Green power battery and also guides the Corps’ rings to new bearers. If anything, his cameo would be a great combination of spectacle and fan service, which could rival James Gunn’s Ego (another living planet) in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequel.

ALAN SCOTT

Alan Scott was the supernaturally-powered Green Lantern of Earth-2 and a key hero in the Justice Society of America. His earliest incarnation saw him become mystically imbued by a lamp, made from the metal of a mysterious meteor that fell from the sky with a green flame. His powers are usually hinted as being connected to the power of the living world. In his New 52 reboot, it was revealed that the source of this power was actually the energies from The Green, similar to Swamp Thing.

It’s unlikely that he’ll share this same space-war universe on film, but maybe he can be mentioned as part of an old fable or joke. Imagine also if we see the Lanterns in their civilian identities back on Earth, and we see Scott in a comic or a cartoon or television show. Ideally, we’d love to see Corps members meeting him on Earth-2, but with the multiverse yet to be fully touched on by Snyder, we’ll settle for any tease we can get for Scott, one of DC’s most endearing and beloved characters.

STAR SAPPHIRE

Carol and Hal Jordan have endured an emotional rollercoaster together. She’s been tied to Hal’s past ever since he lost his father, but her duties as Star Sapphire, chosen by an alien race called the Zamarons, led to several conflicts with the Green Lanterns. She took the villainous role in this feud, especially with the emergence of the Predator, who strongly corrupted her. Eventually, Carol would lead her Corps down a more heroic path, but her relationship with Hal remained forever strained.

This saw her, despite fighting alongside Hal in several battles, eventually falling for Kyle Rayner and even becoming a White Lantern herself. The good thing about this movie not focusing completely on Hal is that we can steer clear of this complicated relationship. Blake Lively did a decent job in 2011, but their romance saturated the movie; when it comes to the Corps, fans will be looking for less love stories and more all-out wars. If her squad cameos, however, it’ll whet our appetites for future explanation; but for now, their past is best alluded to instead of expanded upon. Less love, more fight please.

JESSICA CRUZ & SIMON BAZ

In the comics, Jessica Cruz was forced to don Volthoom’s power ring, which, despite’s Hal tutelage, tried to assert its evil dominance over her in “Darkseid War.” She barely escaped death, with the Black Racer purging Volthoom from her instead. She was then granted a Green Lantern ring in the aftermath. Simon Baz, on the other hand, was a hothead who was chosen by a malfunctioning ring (due to a scheme by Hal and Sinestro), and eventually earned galactic cred against The Third Army and First Lantern.

After endorsing the inexperienced duo as Justice League material, Hal fused their power batteries into one, which can only be accessed when they are together, to ensure they cooperate to graduate from rookie status. With both now intrinsically linked, it’d be nice to see them before they became Lanterns, back on Earth, even if it’s through meeting one of the official Green Lanterns in civilian form. They’ve added diversity to the books through Cruz’s Hispanic heritage and Baz being the first Middle Eastern-American and Muslim Corps member, so why not extend that to the film franchise?

KRONA

Krona, a disgraced Malthusian (the Guardians’ race), proved to be a major thorn in the Green Lanterns’ sides. Obsessed with witnessing creation, he empowered The First Lantern and created a gauntlet which harnessed willpower: the basis for the Green Lantern power ring. His laundry list of no-no’s runs very deep as he was also responsible for the Manhunters (watchdogs of the old cadre of Guardians) attacking Sector 666 and, last but not least, he was a key pawn in Nekron’s “Blackest Night” assault.

What makes the villain’s cameo here an integral one is how he was retconned to tie in to the emotional entities and was revealed to be their original custodian. Krona used his gauntlet to control them in “War of the Green Lanterns” and exact revenge on Oa and its Guardians, who were originally from Krona’s planet, Maltus. His movie cameo could be tied in to when the entities and their emotional tags are glossed over. Krona may not have been a full-fledged Guardian, but he drastically shaped the landscape of the emotional spectrum, as well as the major events that ensued.

OTHER CORPS

Geoff Johns’ modern reinterpretation of the Green Lantern mythos saw him bring the emotional spectrum and all the Corps to us in a way we never thought possible. His stories were exceptionally crafted, which bodes well for the DC filmverse as he’s also a chief architect there. There’d be nothing better for a Green Lantern fan than seeing a montage of the various Corps with one or all of their leaders in the movie’s finale, hinting at big things to come.

Imagine seeing Atrocitus and his enraged Red Lanterns, Larfleeze, the greedy individual who makes the Orange Lanterns so funny yet so dangerous, as well as Saint Walker and the inspirational Blue Lanterns. The most certain bet would be one of Johns’ favorite stables, the Sinestro Corps, but if the franchise is heading down that “Blackest Night” to “Brightest Day” path, then we can’t wait to also glimpse the Indigo Lanterns, perhaps the most alien and unique of them all, along with the Star Sapphires, who have just as much emotional baggage with Hal’s squad as Sinestro’s team. We’re all in and all ready for this war of light!

SINESTRO

To wash the taste of the first movie out of our mouths, the best thing to do would be to not use Sinestro as a major character. Having him lurking in the shadows and making an epic cameo a la Palpatine in the “Star Wars” prequels would be a better direction. After all, it would be boring rehashing him as Abin Sur’s student who trained Hal and then turned on the Green Lanterns.

His villainous legend as the leader of the Sinestro Corps, harnessing the power of fear and Parallax, would be mysterious and silently threatening, also reducing potential convolution in the script. This is the kind of cerebral game Sinestro would play, looming overhead, monitoring the other colored Corps, and waiting like a serpent to strike when the time was right. It would also hype fans even more for when he does eventually come knocking on Oa’s door, via the “Sinestro Corps War,” to undo what he helped build in his altruistic days. In the relationship between Hal and him, the less said, the better, because their dynamic is so strong, we’d be able to fill in the words and betrayal which Hal undoubtedly feels, as well as Sinestro’s resentment.

Thoughts on our picks? Let us know in the comments who else you’d like to see cameo!

The post Green Lantern Corps: 15 Cameos We Need To See appeared first on CBR.com.

http://ift.tt/2ksVM66