#what makes superman superman is that he will use those great powers to save a cat from a tree as well as fight evil gods from space

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

Snyder fans: Man of Steel made us Superman fans.

Snyder fans when a Superman movie has Superman acting like Superman:

[imagitory]

All right...for those of you who don't know my thoughts about Wish, yes, I wasn't happy with the finished result, but no, I'm not a hater. I'm mostly just disappointed that this project that had so many good ideas came out so half-baked, and THIS is a perfect example of what I mean.

No, it's not because "Star Boy" appears in it -- at least, not by itself. I do actually like Star's "himbo" personality in this, even if I also completely understand liking the idea of a mute version of the character. (The downside is that the mute Star from the finished film honestly doesn't have much personality outside of just being cute, in contrast to other mute magical Disney characters like Tinker Bell.)

No, the lost potential here is two-fold --

Firstly, I once again felt more emotion watching this storyboarded sequence than I did at any point in the finished film. I smiled hearing the fun banter between Star and Asha, insinuating that they're becoming closer despite their contrasting personalities; I felt some suspense in how Star and Asha were going to get away from evil!Queen Amaya; I even laughed pretty hard at the cat-and-yarn gag! I didn't laugh once while watching the finished movie.

Secondly -- and this point is actually the one I want to focus on more -- is the commentary given about why this scene was cut. I truly think another unspoken reason behind the decision was that this sequence was clearly inspired by the transforming chase scene in Nimona, which Disney of course infamously dropped when they closed Blue Sky Studios and later got picked up by Netflix, only to receive glowing reviews from just about everyone...but one of the core reasons that Head of Story Mark Kennedy cites for why they changed this scene (aside from wanting Star to be mute and not a shapeshifter like other Disney characters, which I'm a bit confused about because yeah, Disney's done cute, mute non-human characters before too -- what about Dopey, Pascal, Maximus, Dumbo, Bambi, Magic Carpet, Sven, and again Tinker Bell?) is that they wanted Asha to be the hero and be able to "solve all her problems" without Star's help.

Up to a point, I understand what Kennedy means -- the theme of the film is supposed to be that we all have the power inside of us to make a difference, and that's great. But by making it so that Asha doesn't need any help from Star, it takes something away from their relationship. No human is an island, and relationships, both in stories and real life, are often built on that fact. Just look at Ariel and Eric in the original Little Mermaid -- Ariel saves Eric from drowning and from Ursula zapping him with Triton's trident, and then Eric saves Ariel from Ursula by skewering her with the broken figurehead of a ship. Even in non-romantic examples, we have Judy and Nick having to help each other solve the case in Zootopia; Buzz and Woody helping each other get back to Andy in Toy Story; the Parr family and Frozone all fighting together against Syndrome's robot with their unique powers in The Incredibles; Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver working together to save themselves and everyone else at the end of Treasure Planet; even Anna helping Elsa learn how to control her magical abilities through an act of authentic, courageous, selfless love that only she can do in Frozen. These characters needing help and deep emotional connections with others is what creates a bond between them, helps the characters grow and change into stronger people, and makes us as an audience enjoy watching the two characters together. We become invested in both the two individual characters and the relationship forged between them. Because they all have their unique strengths and weaknesses, they supplement and complete each other. Even perfect paragon Superman in most DC properties isn't an island -- when he's in the Justice League, there are plenty of times where he needs help from Batman or other team members to save the day. Even Superman is a stronger character when he has people around him who can balance out his flaws.

If Asha never needs help, that runs the risk of the challenges she's facing seeming far less consequential, because no human can handle absolutely everything, all by themselves. Yes, perhaps in the finished film, Asha asks her friends to help her liberate the wishes (a task which ultimately fails, leaving Asha to confront Magnifico alone again and realize exactly what everyone has to do to defeat him on her own anyway)...but just in regards to Star and Asha's relationship -- which even the filmmakers have said is something like a "soulmate" relationship, though not in a romantic sense in the finished product -- these two can't have a meaningful connection if one of them is completely self-sufficient. This is also why quite a few Disney fans didn't like that the Little Mermaid remake changed Ursula's defeat to have it be Ariel who killed her, rather than Eric, because it hurt the "equal" dynamic between the main couple where they both helped and supported each other.

In short, "girl power" shouldn't have to mean never needing to rely on anyone else...and honestly, looking at this scene concept, we don't see Asha relying on Star too much! She's the brains of the outfit -- she's making plans; she's providing Star some much needed common sense; she's using Star's light as a distraction so they can get away...she even escapes Amaya at one point by sliding right under her horse! Asha in this storyboard is a bad-ass!

What we see in this sequence is these two characters having to help each other in order to succeed. And that would've been a great foundation on which to build more dramatic stakes and a relationship with actual pathos, whether romantic or not.

[bruciemilf]

Imagine that one scene from that animated series justice league where Batman reveals everyone's secret identity(like a badass) then takes off his cowl and they're all in shocked confusion. I mean that's baby girl Bruce Wayne, sunshine of Gotham as The Dark Knight. Then they all get really protective of him. They might've feared him before but now they know he's just baby. It doesn't matter that he can beat them all, he's baby... Idk I find the idea cute

Okay, so I love that scene dearly, but my heart screams for something more personal? If that makes sense? I'll take inspiration from one of my favorite Spider-Man identity revels.

Let's imagine this; The city, Gotham or Metropolis or just an unlucky piece of land that had a really bad day. Hal saw the building collapse first, coming down on them like an avalanche of death.

Hal isn't very good at brain work; He's not like Flash, who can map out an entire route in his mind in a blink, calculating escape routes, and distances, and lengths, and how fast he can run without injuring anyone.

He's not strategic like Wonder Woman, or pragmatic like Batman, or sensible like Superman. He's not the brainpower; But he's pretty damn good at acting like he's okay.

And withstanding that building because Superman got Injured, well.

He can do so with sweat raining down his temple and pain screaming in his system and a smile on his lips, "This is a really good arm work out, guys,"

" Hang in there, Lantern,"

He hears that you're doing great, Hal just well under his hero moniker from Barry. It's a good power up, if nothing else.

Wonder Woman rubs his shoulders before attending to the injured, helping them dig a way out before the oxygen dries out.

Another thing he's not good at is comforting people; He's lost to crying kids. Especially crying kids whose parents are paste under rubble and hubris.

His back is arching, his fire's going out. All he knows is that those little sniffles and whimpers in the hissing silence hurts worse.

The only person he can think would be worse than him at it is Batman; Stone masked, more shadow than person, a labyrinth of a man.

But Hal isn't paid to think for a reason, because Batman kneels by that kid, and places a fatherly hold on his shoulders, just like Hal's father used to do when he bruised his knees climbing trees.

He doesn't say anything, because there's nothing to say. Words aren't medicine, after all. He's just waiting, it seems like, until the kid speaks first, " My daddy's dead."

"...Yes. I'm sorry."

"But, -- but you were here. You're the justice league! No one dies when you're around! You're supposed to save everybody! So why-- why not him?!"

The weight gets heavier.

" Your father asked us to take care of you first. He protected you."

" You should've left me, then! What am I going to do now? I'm just, -- I'm just...A human."

" So am I."

" No, you're Batman. That's, -- That's not the same. You don't understand. "

Hal's vision is blurry and pained, bordering dangerously close to the deep dark void of unconsciousness, -- but he can't, he can't, God damn it Hal, be useful for once in your entire life, -- but he makes out a shadow moving.

He makes out the shape of Bruce's cowl, an armor, a secret, a mystery with no epilogue. Then he sees pale. Two dots of blue, sparkling from dark grey smudge.

When his vision sharpens, so does the tired face of Bruce Wayne.

"...Oh, holy shit."

" I do, " his voice changes, too, thought that may be just Hal's pumping eardrums playing tricks on him. He goes from grainy and rough to rain soft and porcelain. " I do know. Our pain isn't the same. But the way we can get through it, is. Together."

The kid falls in his arms. For just a moment, it seems like death won when the ring powers out.

"Shazam!"

" Hey guys," Shazam's pretty wheezy for a tank made of beef and godly hands, " Sorry for the hold up. Got stuck in traffic."

They make it out. They use the picture of Wonder Woman carrying him out on her back, and Green Arrow shoves it in his face at the first opportunity.

He doesn't expect them to stick around in the hospital. But he does need to know, " Okay, so, hopefully that wasn't a near death fever dream. But are you Bruce Wayne?"

He asks Batman, and Bruce answers, a tone of shyness not unlikely a new kid introducing himself to the class, " ...Yes. and you're Hal Jordan."

"...Was it the biceps that gave it away?"

He doesn't smile, but Hal doesn't expect him to.

" Well, I mean...I'm in for the long run with you guys," Barry offers them a dorky smile before taking off his mask, too. " My name is Barry Allen. And I'm the fastest man alive...Also a bit of a science nut. I need to see your gadgets, by the way. Your Kevlar durability is just amazing, I mean the way you somehow altered the material,--"

" Oh," Apparently, Batman can blush. It's pretty addictive.

One by one, they follow, all easy smiles, all trust.

" My name is Diana. Princess of Themyscaria. I enjoy ice cream and swords."

" My name is Oliver Queen, and if you want to make a gay joke, don't bother. I said them all and I'm getter at it. And you!" He points directly at Bruce with an arrow, " You're in so much trouble for not telling me about this!"

" You didn't tell me either."

" What kind of detective can't explain the white, blonde, rich, good looking guy apart from Green Arrow? Come on."

Hal has a suspicion Bruce already knew, but said nothing out of courtesy.

" Hal Jordan. I almost broke my spine for you, so, you're welcome for That."

Superman strokes the back of his neck and hunches his shoulders, " I'm, uh, Clark Kent. I'm a journalist for the Daily Planet. I, uh...Make a mean apple pie. Which I could really go for right now."

" Hey, you punched Lex Luthor in the face! Good on you, man."

Diana chuckles, " You'll have to make your famous apple pie for us some time."

" Sure. I like eating with friends."

Hal and Oliver are definetly discussing that blush on Bruce later.

They all turn to Shazam, who's been listening, quiet for once, before he blows a laugh, "Uh, yeah, pass. You guys are nice and all, but I'm more than fine with this. Just me. Good old Shazam."

Crack.

" Is that...Is that a fucking 10 year old?!"

" I'm eleven!"

" What the FUCK,--"

" Don't curse in front of the 9 year old!"

" Again, I am eleven!"

" Who let the 8 year old in!?"

" Wow. Adults really don't listen, huh."

Bruce quite literally shakes on one place, " Are, um, are your parents deceased by chance?" He sounds hopeful about it, too.

" So. A handsome pilot. The fastest dork alive. A badass princess. A good guy who punches hard. A bow and arrow. A weirdo. And a 5 year old. We're quite the group, huh?"

" Again. I'm 11."

" Until you don't bring me some pizza and a bear, you're nothing."

[maxwell-grant]

Any thoughts on the second Mr.Terrific?

I like him quite a bit. I'm not super well read on the guy but he feels like a character Jonathan Hickman would have made a star out of by now if he worked for DC, or at least an extremely Hickman-esque set of ingredients. He is not just an omnicapable genius Great Man of science and technology with spiritual or emotional or moral blindspots, but an omnicapable-yet-compromised Great Man who defines himself around an ideal and statement of intent that can clash with the practical reality around him. He quite literally wears on his sleeve his own arc words to be repeated for emphasis.

And there is a bit of a tension in his composition also in that, he wears the most straightforward possible motto taken straight from a Golden Age guy, he's defined one of the purest distilled ideals a superhero can wear ever put on paper, and has an origin about him taking up superhero work as a newfound and sole meaning in his life, but he is not a traditional superhero, he is a Doc Savage kind of guy modeled after the heroes of the bastardverse across the street. Much of his origin is defined around the fact that he is just not operating on the same wavelength everyone else is. He is very much not a bastard, it is important that he isn't, but still, Batman would not get invited to the Illuminati, where as Michael might. He helped form a rip-off of it, even.

But to me he also feels like a character who still needs some work put into him to reach something really great. He's a guy with a killer design and a pretty good origin and sometimes occasionally a cool personality and generally is very useful to have around as a handyman gluing plots together, but who always seems to sit at a weird middleground between Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and Not-Batman that keeps him rather undefined. In his present state he is a plug-and-play character to explain plots as they happen, rather than the center of uniquely interesting things himself. He sits at a middleground now where he is too big to be street level, but he's not powerful or big enough to save the world on his own, so he's forced to fill out the stuff in between usually in mediocre spy or tech guy roles.

On the other hand, that malleability can also be a strong point to him, the fact that you can insert him anywhere from detective stories to scaled all the way up to managing a Justice League. He has legacy baggage but he is not a guy you really need to explain, you can put him in the big leagues and big stories and he explains himself as is. And it seems that people kinda get that he should be a bigger deal than he actually is, that he is open to bigger and better and more interesting things to be done with him, but there needs to be more put into it. He needs his own set-ups. He is a cool design and a cool guy and within those, really cool ideas waiting to happen.

I have been really loving the set photos that have been coming out of James Gunn's Superman and particularly the ones with Mr.Terrific, it's making him click with me a bit more and I think the movie might be what pushes me to outright love him. Given Gunn's statement comparing Holt and the other heroes to workplace buddies, he just makes intuitive sense as a guy who does things with Superman at the weird sci-fi superhero job which they both have whether it's to knock asteroids out of orbit together or deal with runaway super dogs. There is a pretty lovely World's Finest kind of symmetry to them that I really hope to see expanded on.

[hollowsart]

Peter Parker's great struggle in his life is mostly the death of his uncle. that's technically the catalyst to his whole thing of becoming Spider-Man the superhero. We all know how this goes and plays out.

Gwen's great struggle in her life is the death of her best friend, Peter Parker, and less-so the fact her father is deeply against her. The loss of Peter affected her greatly and is a major driving point for her and her overall motivations afterwards and how she acts and reacts to things.

Mile's great struggle is similar to Gwen's in that it's the death of Peter Parker. but unlike Gwen's. Peter WAS Spider-Man before Miles. Miles felt like he could have saved him if he wasn't running away from the "responsibility" his powers gave him apparently. (comics he didn't make it there in time at all to do anything, while in the movie, he was too afraid although he did have the opportunity to intervene. he didn't take it, he ran away scared and filled with regret.)

Acedia, similar to Spider-Punk, doesn't have a great struggle that deals with loss. But unlike Spider-Punk whose struggle is with his entire world being fascist America run by President Norman Osborn, Acedia's struggle is within herself.

(cut for length)

it's a personal struggle. Anxiety, Social Anxiety specifically, can feel like a suffocating claustrophobic glass prison placed in front of a crowd of millions with a blinding spotlight constantly bearing down with a crushing intensity.

this struggle is both what makes her HER and is what also affects her life and her actions greatly. without it, she wouldn't be herself. She'd be like everyone else. she'd lose her character and uniqueness. Without her anxiety revolving around social interactions, with 1 more more people, she would just be.. boring.

There's nothing else there for her to have any real interest or conflict. She'd be like a Spider-Man variant whose uncle or parents never died. like a Batman whose parents are still alive and healthy and he's mentally and emotionally stable. a Superman whose home planet never exploded and he never went to Earth (ok wait that actually sounds interesting--).

Acedia's struggles with anxiety is literally her driving point. She does everything she does because of her anxiety and tries to work around it in some way to the best of her abilities. She struggles a lot in her own ways.

She was anxious when she rescued Otto. Anxious when he escaped the hospital. When she was being chased by Otto. When she confronted Mysterio for the first time.. and several times thereafter before feelings started to bloom. She was anxious when she had to try to figure out what to do when dealing with Electra. Anxious when she encountered Curt in the sewers after his unintended transformation.

And so many more instances than just those alone.

Only time she wasn't was when she was bit by the spider that hitched a ride in her bag from her visit to the lab. She was fine when she went to the lab, aside from the arachnid section of the tour. Fine when she got home. and fine when her powers started to show. She was excited and amazed about the powers, finding it fascinating and kind of fun. Learning how they work and what she can do.

She stopped being anxious with Otto after their first confrontation at Oscorp. She stopped being anxious with Mysterio after he waned off using his fear inducers in their subsequent encounters. She stopped being anxious with Vulture after she visited him after their first confrontation at Oscorp after Otto's incident.

Anxiety plays a huge part in Acedia's life. it's in the background, always present, but never the main focal point of the story.. it's still a major "character" in her overall story and life. It is a major controlling factor in her behavior, way she thinks, way she feels, way she acts and reacts.

[youngmasterwisdomperson]

I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes for a legitimately helpful superhero who isn’t just a cop with superpowers and even less accountability for their violent actions, and I think it largely comes down to whether I would consider their approach to hero work as more like that of a firefighter or, well, a cop. Because the stereotypical thing for a superhero to do is like, fight criminals, stop muggers, foil bank robberies, that sort of thing, but not a lot of superhero media acknowledges that crimes are largely just symptoms of large-scale socioeconomic and political issues.

I mean, sure, if you’re bullet proof or whatever and there’s someone who’s about to get shot, then by all means stop the guy with the gun. But crime fighting in my opinion shouldn’t be the main focus of any superhero. A great superhero only fights crime in the sense that a fireman might “fight” things like arson and building code violations. The primary goal of a superhero should always be to protect people from danger and take steps to ensure any given disaster doesn’t happen again, or if it does happen again, to ensure that they’ll be more prepared for it the next time around. A great superhero should be fighting to create a world that doesn’t need them anymore.

Well-written interpretations of Superman are especially good at this actually, with a very recent example in the form of the show My Adventures With Superman. This Superman’s goal is never once to fight the bad guys just for the sake of it or because they’re committing crimes and he thinks they ought to be put in jail or anything. In fact, I’m struggling to think of any example in that show where Clark’s motivation in a fight against the villain of the week was anything other than to get civilians out of harm’s way and then save the human bad guys from themselves. This Clark doesn’t want to hurt or imprison anyone! He’s extremely aware of his overwhelming strength and power and capacity to break things by accident, having grown up in a world that may as well have been made of cardboard, and when we see Supes out and about doing casual Superman things, the help he provides is almost never about catching criminals. Most of the time, he’s rescuing cats from trees, helping lost children find their parents, saving people from getting hit by cars, stopping bridges from collapsing, catching people who fall from high places, rescuing people from burning buildings, that sort of thing. This superman is a firefighter type to his very core.

Even when he defeats Dr. Ivo, a man who Clark has been shown to despise for the ways he’s been using his wealth to uproot people from their homes (and for the way he treats women), he doesn’t turn him in to the police. Instead, he notes his state of critical health as a result of the side affects of the Parasite suit, and brings him to the nearest ambulance. Even objectively horrible people who have done terrible things aren’t exempt from Clark’s desire to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Fighting supervillains was never about fighting evil for him. The goal was always to bring people to safety first and foremost, then to de-escalate the situation, neutralizing the source of the threat without causing anyone unnecessary harm. That is what Superman is all about.

Moving away from MAwS for the moment and into the characterization of Superman as a whole, I think that all too often Superman writers who don’t understand the point of the character undersell the importance of Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter in the ways Supes goes about helping make the world a better place. Far too often in media, superheroes serve only as defenders of an imperfect status quo. They prevent the villains from bringing about whatever change they have in mind that would make the world worse, but more and more often as of late supervillains have been written with pseudo-sympathetic goals and motivations. They’ll pay lip-service to real-world systematic problems and social issues, then proceed to immediately undermine the validity of their stated mission by attempting to fulfill their alleged motives through needlessly ruthless, violent and authoritarian means, which only serves to imply to the audience that any sort of societal change will only make things worse, and that the status quo is the best we can possibly hope for. A bad superman writer will have Superman help the world by punching bad guys really hard. A good superman writer will have him focus on protecting people and saving those in peril instead. But a great superman writer knows that Superman alone is not enough.

Saving people, while noble and righteous and something Supes alone could do to such an effective degree, is ultimately just a patch job. A great Superman fights for a world that no longer needs his help, and Clark Kent is a big part about how he does that. Systematic problems can’t be punched, and bulletproof skin can’t save people from it. Superman can’t encase police brutality in a block of ice, or cut systemic racism to bits with his laser eyes. The tools Superman uses to protect people in a direct, physical sense are therefore not the powers he needs to create real positive change. No, the only thing that can overcome that sort of monster is the spread of information. More specifically, the truth. That’s why out of all of Superman’s abilities, it’s his super hearing and X-Ray vision that offer him the greatest amount of power to enact positive change, because while both of those have their uses as the Man of Steel, they’re actually infinitely more useful to mild-mannered newspaper reporter Clark Kent.

Superman can take on pretty much any physical threat, which is why his greatest foes are always those who threaten the world with problems he can’t punch. Picture in your mind, if you will, Superman’s arch-nemesis. I don’t even have to say his name, do I? Sure, you might debate for a split second the importance of the more direct threats like Braniac, Doomsday, and Zod, but everyone knows who Superman’s true nemesis is, and it isn’t any of them. It isn’t anyone with special powers or the innate capacity to level entire cities, but instead Lex. Fucking. Luther. A human man. A rich CEO, a politician. The living personification of the problems Superman can’t punch. That’s why Clark Kent is so important. Because he’s a reporter for the daily planet. It’s his job to chase leads, seek out the truth and expose it to the world. And Clark hears everything. He knows how severely corrupt the police are, because he can hear them from his office. He knows how awful the prison system is, because he can see what goes on in there through multiple layers of concrete walls.

True, he has to hide his identity as Superman and thus can’t just tell his coworkers everything he sees and hears. And even if he could tell them, it would all amount to little more than hearsay. But Clark Kent can also just follow up on “anonymous tips,” or leave hints of a big story for his coworkers to find and sniff out for themselves. Honestly, being Clark Kent must take infinitely more restraint for Supes than being the Man of Steel, because if he follows up on too many tips or knows too well where to look for leads on too many scandals, he’ll draw too much attention to himself and lose his edge against the bad guys. Hell, even with ample amount of subtlety and restraint I wouldn’t be surprised if Clark came to earn something of a reputation around the office as the “spiders georg” of police corruption and political scandals. And all that on top of that one really good tumblr post about Clark cracking down on lead pipes in Metropolis. Like this man must be a journalism machine, the whistleblower to end all whistleblowers! Superman may be able to save the world, but Clark Kent is the one who can actually change it for the better.

Not to say Superman wouldn’t publicly speak out about these things as well of course. Save enough families from burning buildings and people are bound to start caring about what you have to say sooner or later. And what are the police going to do about it if fucking Superman calls them out? Shoot the man of steel? Arrest a guy who can melt through concrete just by looking at it? Call the fucking military to deal with a man who spends his time rescuing cats from trees and helping old ladies across the street? Superman represents everything that cops want us to think they are, and logically speaking he would fucking despise them. Because Superman stands for Truth and Justice. And all cops are bastards. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[mdhwrites]

Why Can’t Clark Kent Control His Strength?

TL:DR: This Supes is only NOW starting to actually get used to his powers. He spent years fearing them and so when his nerves are high, he doesn’t have control because he used to be purely afraid of them. Afraid of what this other side of him can do and what it might do to others, despite his nature meaning that naturally he wouldn’t harm a fly which is a GREAT bit of characterization to go with the seemingly main theme of the show of “Who am I?” Who is Clark Kent, especially as he figures out who Superman is as well.

Spoilers for the first two episodes of My Adventures with Superman:

So this has been one of the topics I’ve seen thrown around about My Adventures with Superman (MAWS). In the first episode we get a couple cute and silly moments of Clark not quite controlling his strength and breaking something. He breaks his alarm clock when he wakes up, is practicing on his sink how to shake hands with Perry White before Jimmy yells at him, at which point he breaks it and then he also tears off the handle to a push door when he tries to pull on it.

However, the first scene of the show lets us know that probably around ten, and he’s probably in his early twenties during the current day, he gains his powers. That’s a LONG time to go without mastering your powers or at least being 98% in control. So what gives? Is this just a throwback to other superheroes? Just a cute gag? What?

Well first... He is 98% in control. Most of the time he doesn’t have any issues with his powers because when he’s not thinking about them or relaxed, they’re fine. In fact, in two episodes we’ve really only gotten this montage showing Clark not having control over his super strength... And only his super strength which actually makes a lot of sense, at least for Clark. Yes, he doesn’t want to be caught and superspeed would ruin his identity... But the strength hurts people.

And this Clark Kent doesn’t do that. Period. In fact, helping is so ingrained into his being that using his powers to help others is the most natural thing he can do. We see this with saving the cat, which he does fine, and we see it when at the end of the first episode, he has to rush out of nowhere to push Jimmy aside before a giant robot can kill him. Is Jimmy even hurt? Nope.

Because it’s natural to Clark. His body IS adapted to his powers, his mind just isn’t. So when he’s not thinking, not worried or doing what comes naturally to him, the powers don’t go out of control. They are perfectly fine for him and he can do what is necessary to help others.

And this actually makes a LOT of sense with how episode 2 begins. Episode 2 shows us that when he tried to get answers as a young boy, those answers almost hurt his parents. Not only that but scared the ever living shit out of him at the same time, reducing him to tears and never wanting to see the pod again, at least until as an adult he sees the true good, and potentially the necessity, of these powers. With that as context... Why the fuck would he have trained? Why would he be 100% with his powers? He has avoided using them as much as possible for over a DECADE.

So here comes one of the most important days of his life, he’s only just woken up, and he’s trying to calm himself. So he puts a little too much oomph in turning off his clock. When his buddy distracts, he yanks on the thing he was holding. When he forgets which way a door to a gas station opens, he accidentally puts too much strength into it. Buuuuut he doesn’t saving a cat because that’s how natural saving people is to him.

And this plays into the question posed three times in the first two episodes: “Who am I?” Clark doesn’t see these powers as an extension of himself yet. They are the scary specter that makes him abnormal. That makes him potentially hurt people if he messes up, or scare them with his oddity. Superman is not a part of who he is yet, even though who Clark Kent is is exactly why Superman exists at all as the paragon he normally is.

Could it just be for the gag? Absolutely. A good, lighthearted way to introduce Clark, and even have a parallel gag with Lois failing to turn off her alarm, while also implying that Clark is early in his powers and strength. That plays into the concept of the show and is charming. But I like that it can be read in a way that plays into the greater thesis and really emphasizes how this writing team is tackling early Superman.

And I think that’s super personally.

=======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[v0rd1g4n]

The Thundermans Return - Review

All right, as I already stated in Part 1, I really liked the movie. It was great how fast it got released, after they officially announced it back in 2023, less than a year later. I could even enjoy it with the mexican spanish dub (with the same voice actors and everything), as soon as it was available on Paramount+, which by the way was awesome.

However, I think they had a few problems to work with all these characters in the same story, and this is what I think...

The art of nerfing

From time to time, they seem to be forced to nerf their powers for the story to go on and putting about 15 characters with superpowers in a movie like this, quite frankly, is not an easy task. We would expect to see the twins stronger and experienced than ever and probably they are, but its more likely that they tried to balance things up.

I think this is like creating a Superman game, which by the way, is something people have been discussing for a while. You could try to make it perfectly accurate to how powerful he can get to be, which is practically a god, but this is just a lot to work with and that's why they need to nerf, either his superpowers or the city. Otherwise, the game would be boring.

All right, let's get to it. These are my thoughts...

Losing a lost battle

First of all, when the family go to stop Blue Flame, the Thundertwins didn't even use telekinesis against him. Only close range atacks like heat breath from a long distance, which has no sense. Especially for someone like Phoebe.

What about Max's gadgets? All we saw was the jetpack but none of his new inventions, maybe a repulsor gauntlet or something like that. I know the Thundermans were meant to fail on this save, but I just think it could've been better executed.

A lost opportunity

Also, when Max and Phoebe get caught by the V-Team, I would've liked to see an intense fight between them, maybe not as good as the one they have, later in the movie and then get defeated by a bad decision from one of the twins, for example.

Besides, they could've left a huge mess all around the headquarters, for President Kickbutt and her team to find and start to investigate the V-Team.

A missing fight

During the Thundermans house break in, again, it would have been cool to see a small fight before they show how Max and Phoebe were being tortured. Maybe even turning Dr. Colosso back into a human, to help them out or something.

The amount of destruction inside of the house with all those powers, would've been amazing. By the way, did you notice how Chloe walks out of the scene, right before the V-Team get in the house?

Prison break

Near the end of the movie, we learn that the V-Team had broken their parents out of prison, and again, a security camera shot of them taking a few guards down and breaking out of prison together, would've been enough for me.

We've only seen Metroburg Super Jail from the outside and the cells area, but that building looks massive. Also, did you see they forgot to add the Metrobug Superjail sign at the top of the building? This screenshot is from "Tunder In Paradise".

The band and the mothers hunter

Other things I would've liked to see, is Max and his band playing a song at Splatburger again and not only talking about rejoining the band. Maybe even having Gideon still dating Sarah, instead of trying to become the next Paul Finch, still obsessed with his friend's mother, I mean... come on dude, chill out! 🤣

Weird relationship

And of course, how could this be a Nickelodeon show/movie, without the mandatory awkward scene? Dr. Colosso, a grown ass man turned into a rabbit, had been using Max's old suit as a sooting blanket. It was funny though.

I think sometimes the writers jut forgot that Dr. Colosso was not a talking rabbit. Oh, and by the way... what happened to his son, Balfour? They didn't even mention him.

Interesting origin but bad executed

And last but not least important, I'd like to talk about the reason I said in Part 1, that the Power Plant was a terrible idea.

But don't get me wrong. The origin of superpowers was interesting, but if Hank and Barb had this source of powers at home all along, then why didn't they use the blue seeds to go stop Dark Mayhem after Max took their powers away with the power-sapping orb?

Obviously, this was years before the movie came out, but still, it kind of ruins the moment, now that I look back and know what was really there.

Budget and filming

Now, I don't know if the budget was pretty low for the movie to last only 1 hour and 10 minutes or if it was filmed in a short span, but maybe that's what happened, because I remember people saying the filming was over in less than a month, so that may be the reason we didn't get to see more cool stuff, but I don't know.

I'm just speculating.

Music

As for the music, I gotta say I really liked it, except for the V-Team's song. It was funny, but not my thing. The new version of the theme song played during the closing credits, was so cool and I don't know if you're gonna be with me on this, but the song we could hear during the final battle against Dark Mayhem, was great.

I even turned on the subtitles while writing this and look what it says in the background. Damn! I thought the movie was for kids 🤣

VFX

And finally the VFX. I did have in mind that the movie was family friendly, so the special effects we see during the entire movie, are practically an improved version of the ones we've previously seen on the TV Show, which is cool most of the time, but sometimes... it doesn't.

Thundercest

Did you really think I wasn't gonna talk about Thundercest here? Well, guess again. It would've been awesome to have another big hug between Max and Phoebe, just like the one we saw in "Thunder in Paradise", but we can't have everything, right?

It's weird, because Max and Phoebe share a lot of screen time together, but something feels different than the tv show vibes. Don't you think? Anyway, here's a couple pics of them together.

Errors

I wasn't sure if I should share these two errors I found while writing Part 1 and Part 2 because this is not a movie rant, but it's kind of funny now that I think about it. So here they are:

Did you notice how they changed She-Crab's claw from one arm to the other?

Or how Phoebe's footage was duplicated while blowing freeze breath at Dark Mayhem Jr.?

And as Forrest Gump would say: “That's all I have to say about that”.

Colosso, the skater

Oh, wait. I almost forgot... All of the promos and posters had a small picture of Dr. Colosso on a skateboard. Is a deleted scene or something? I guess we'll never know.

Look at that. I wanna see Dr. Colosso performing a few tricks on a skateboard.

#SpingarnCut

Ranking

All right, I rank this movie 8/10.

And this is it, guys. I hope I'm not forgetting something important. I've been writing Part 2 and this post for the last three days, so please tell me what you think about the movie, about my review and if you'd like to see more of The Thundermans soon.

How would you rank the movie?

Let me know all your comments.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

With having just watched episode 4 of “My Adventures with Superman” and thus completing my “3 episodes to WOW me” test, I can safely say that I like it and I highly recommend it. (the 1st 2 eps is a 2-parter and I count multipart episodes as 1 since it’d be unfair to count half or a third of a story on it’s own, thus waiting till ep4)

Clark Kent is the lovable puppy himbo that we all know he is. Just a humble kid from Kansas who wants to help people, track down a story for the Daily Planet and saves cats from trees no matter how late he is. This being early Superman, it’s great to see him develop and learn about his powers overtime instead of being godmode almost immediately like in a lot of modern adaptations. For those that think that Clark is acting a little too nervous really need to go back to the earlier works and watch how actors like Christopher Reeves played Clark. Just a nervous, shy but good person who doesn’t draw attention to himself.

Lois Lane was a change that a lot of people didn’t see...especially that she is strikingly similar to Luz Noceda (tho’ Lois is Korean in this) but that doesn’t matter after a while since your quickly won over by how determined she is to break a big story and prove that she’s a real reporter instead of just an intern. Her and Clark having pretty much a “crush at first sight” type relationship is pretty cute in this as while it seems to be moving fast, it’s also taking it’s time... however the ending of episode 4 might toss a wrench in that for a bit. Lois is still that overeager ace reporter we all know except that she’s still got a lot to learn until she gets to the ace reporter we all know.

Jimmy Olson being a conspiracy theorist (a fun one, not the losers we have now) is an interesting change and I’m waiting to see how far they take this and what it’ll do to help the story along. Granted that for a bit of the Clark and Lois romance, Jimmy knows that they like each other but at the same time is fulfilling the typical anime 3rd wheel and interrupting things, tho’ not maliciously. Him and Lois have a neat dynamic together and him being best friends and roommates with Clark makes sense and hopefully we get an episode showing how they met and became friends.

The villains have been neat takes on the classic ones, like  so far we have Livewire, Deathstroke, Parasite, Ivo, Silver Banshee. I’m actually very glad we haven’t gotten Lex Luthor yet because I’m so sick of the movies using him as the main villain for Superman. I know that Lex is the Joker to Superman’s Batman but it’s great that the other villains are getting a chance to shine without Lex around. Also just like with my mentioning that this is early Superman, that also means the villains aren’t the villains that we know, I’ve seen so many people complain that they “ruined” Deathstroke by anime-ifying him but they forget that this isn’t the Deathstroke we know, this is before the orange/black mask and getting his ass kicked by teenagers on the regular. Let these things build up, y’all. (Also, I’ve seen ppl wanting to see this show’s version of Bruce Wayne and like, c’mon. let Superman have something without the Bat for at least another season)

So yeah, I highly recommend this show atm

[rex101111]

Finally gotten around to watching the three so far released episodes of My Adventures with Superman (in a way that is Totally Legal(TM) I Swear), and I love it! Its very sweet, very cute, just a really sunshine show with a lot of room to grow and some nice intrigue thrown in right away to let quietly simmer throughout it, very good.

A few noteable things i liked:

* Superman. Supes is...so good here. Just the perfect blend of modern Good Boy Shonen Protag and classic Farm Boy Clark he’s been since the 90′s. He’s a delight. Specifically I really liked how they established how central his “I’m here to help” thing to his character right off. He had a kite stuck on a tree, and his powers didn’t awaken when he wanted to this (very very slightly) selfish thing. A person is in danger? His powers roar to life right away. Pitch Perfect Superman.

* Lois!! She’s such a delight, honestly. Its a bit jarring since I just finished binging the old Superman cartoon from the 90′s, in which Lois is the hardass experienced reporter she’s been in just about everything since the late 90′s, but new Lois here is still very recognizably Lois Lane, the reporter that doesn’t think twice about putting herself in danger for a story, she’s just more puppy dog about because we get Intern Lane for the first time in a while. A thing I really liked about her is that, yeah, she wants to interview Superman for the big scoop...but her initial and main driving motivation for that is that she wants to say thank you to the person who saved her life. That’s just great.

Also also these two are totally a Gohan X Videl Au fanfic with the names changed and I am all for it lets fucking GO.

 A couple things I’m undecided on:

* Fuckboi Deathstroke is...a choice. That’s for sure. I’m really torn because im so used to Slade being this totally in control, always scheming older dude with a rancid vibe you can only get from dating a 15 year old. (YEAH THAT’S A THING, YOU THINK HIS DYNAMIC WITH TERRA WAS FUCKED IN THE CARTOON??? HOW LITTLE YOU KNOW). So him being this young is throwing me. Granted, he’s still a douche, and a slimeball, and he introduces Amanda Waller into the narrative right away and I am always game for The Wall to show up and make things difficult, so I’m in the middle here. Lets see what they do.

* I want to like Jimmy, I do, but there’s just something about his energy that seems too...desperate. I dunno I think he needs a bit more fine tuning with his writing because he’s just a bit...too much for me. Which is not that bad honestly, he has his good moments, specifically when he teases Lois about Clark, but unlike those two he’s too surface level. Sure he and Lois stick around to help people but that’s...basic. Lois is driven to be a real reporter and is willing to stick her head into any bear trap that looks interesting enough. Jimmy is a...conspiracy theorist...lovely.

Okay, real talk, can we stop making conspiracy theorists main characters? Or treat it as some cute quirk? Because I swear these guys are never likeable enough to hold major screen time every episode. I swear if Jimmy says some bullshit about Lizard People I am going to McFreakin lose it.

And just because he’s right about the aliens and meta-humans and all the other shit doesn’t make that gimmick any less annoying! Give the guy something else! If he isn’t Superman’s Pal anymore, okay sure fine shifting dynamics is fine, but maybe give more weight to him and Clark knowing each other since college? Maybe have him visit his folks and show off how much he cares for Clark as a friend more specifically without the tinfoil hat bullshit? Please?

Anyway major nitpick above besides, good show! Go watch it! In a way that is totally legal but is sure to not give anyone in WB any money. 

[ordinaryschmuck]

Quick Thoughts on Echo

I feel like Echo is going to be one of those shows where, depending on who you are, you're either going to REALLY love it or REALLY hate it. For me, though, I'd say it's...MOSTLY good.

The action is well-done and well-choreographed (don't let people tell you differently). You feel the punches and impacts a lot of the time, showing off how brutal and violent a character like Maya Lopez is.

It's also great to see the MCU get dark and gritty again, killing people, showing blood, and diving deep into the darkness of a character's backstory. They really did show a little girl watch as her mom bled to death, huh?

As for the characters, almost everyone here is written and acted well. Maya, especially, works as this character shrouded in darkness that her family tries hard to bring back into the light. And her family are all charming as can be, with the performances being entertaining and allowing each actor to do well to sell that they care deeply for Maya despite her shortcomings.

Then there's the representation, which I'm told is on point. Marvel worked well with the Choctaw Tribe to make this as authentic as possible, and I'm willing to take their word for it. I'm too white to know how authentic all of this is, but I haven't heard anyone other than other white people complain so I think it's fine. But...Okay, there are SOME negatives to be had with how it connects to her powers.

In the show, Maya has the powers to reach out to her ancestors, where their strength ECHOES through her and her bloodline, making THEM strong. Each episode even shows us one of her ancestors and just what made them so cool and empowering. And, yeah, that's a cool concept with half-decent execution, and I like all the different ways each ancestor is represented. The problem is...that isn't Echo. That couldn't be FARTHER from Echo. Echo's powers in the comics is that she's kind of like Taskmaster, she can memorize a person's fight moves and stand out on her own because of it. The reason why she doesn't do that HERE is because the person in charge of this series saw that and said, "Nah, that's stupid. I'm going to do my OWN thing." And call me crazy, but if you can't find a way to make a superhero's powers cool in an adaptation, then maybe...DON'T write for that character?

Because I already went over this with Ms. Marvel. The superhero's powers are their most important feature. Spider-Man swings, Superman flies, and Hulk smashes, it's a whole thing. You change the power, and it's not the same superhero anymore. And it's a weird change too. Like, this character doesn't need big, glowy superpowers to be badass. It sort of takes the punch out of the fact that she's this disabled hero who kicks butt despite being deaf and missing a leg. Give her superpowers, and it gives this idea that she NEEDS them to prove that she's capable instead of...proving that she can do it despite her disabilities. It's why I liked Episode Three within this first season. It shows how resourceful Maya can be in a dangerous situation with the episode hinting that her ancestor's spirit is guiding her gunshots and aim, but not enhancing her strength and abilities. THAT is how I think the power change could work better, where the ancestors' spirits guide Maya but leave her own strengths to win the day. None of that weird glowing shit. You don't need weird glowing shit if all she's fighting is the Kingpin.

Speaking of which, Kingpin's in this...And he's not as engaging as he was in Daredevil. The show tries SO HARD to force this relationship between Fisk and Maya, and...it doesn't work as well as it should. Like, Maya's rage towards Fisk? I buy that. THAT works. Fisk's love for Maya? It...feels disingenuous and almost out of nowhere, especially since Hawkeye didn't do much to show us that bond in the first place. The writers COULD HAVE, but they wanted to leave Kingpin as this big surprise just to get audiences to cheer. And I'd say that'd it be for the best to save the real bonding moments with Echo and Kingpin for ECHO'S show, making it more about her, but...it falls short. There's not enough time to showcase Maya's relationship with Fisk BEFORE the big betrayal, and it hurts the show and Kingpin's character considerably with how badly he's shoehorned in. I do like this one idea in the end where he faces his trauma and there's some decent set up for what lies in the future. Other than that, he...doesn't work well here.

Overall, I'd say Echo works fine enough. When it's good, it's REALLY engaging and some of the MCU's best work. When it's bad, it's pretty awkward and obviously rushed out. I'd still recommend it as a great time as these five episodes just fly by with some epic, brutal fun. But if you want something that hits the same highs as Daredevil, you're going to be disappointed. This isn't Daredevil, this is Disney trying to BE Daredevil. It works fine enough, but let's hope these edges are polished out by the time Daredevil: Born Again comes out or, at the very least, Echo gets a Season Two.

(Also, don't worry about having to watch Hawkeye. The first episode catches you up quick...It's poorly paced and rigid, but it still catches you up if you want to watch Echo for, well, Echo)

[buds-and-baubles]

(midnighter 2006-2008 issue #9)

he's apollo, the authority's very own sun king, mr. sunshine lollipops rainbows blood and guts. a deceptively complex multifaceted character whose intricacies i felt needed a post of their own. i also wanted a chance to use that comic page up above because he's literally so beautiful.

because of his creation, he truly embodies his namesake alongside superman, the ray (ray terrill), lightray (doris), and even the kryptonian god rao. he's kind, he's sassy, he's intelligent, he's polite, he's mild mannered. he isn't prone to anger but he does have a spontaneous flaming temper, he's dangerous, he's powerful, he's passionate, and horrifyingly unpredictable when provoked. he's a bit of a nagging bastard but he's beloved for it. he's inherently selfless and a genuinely good person who is good with children and animals alike.

he's a 6'7" buff yet pretty powerhouse who at full strength in an emergency could hold his own against a kryptonian. he wants to help make a better world and while he prefers pacifism, he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty to do it.

he will use the fact that people assume him no more than a brute or a pretty face to his advantage, or outright immediately wants to prove it wrong. he isn't afraid to engage in deemed feminine body language, domestic activities, the arts, and zen techniques as ways to reclaim himself from what bendix did to him.

out of apollo and midnighter, it is apollo who would have trouble abiding a no kill code. whether he kills and pulls no punches at typically full power or doesn't, he is quick and merciful. unless you have harmed/threaten to harm those he cares about. in those times, he takes his time and shows little mercy whether he kills and pulls no punches at typically full power or doesn't. however, he doesn't like killing and feels genuinely upset after he does so but finds it at times a necessity (most likely instilled from his training as a soldier unfortunately).

his powers act like a solar panel versus how superman's act like an internal battery. he constantly has his kirlian aura halo phenomenon around his head. his power of energy projection is released solar energy from other parts of his body like his hands or omnidirectionally from his entire body in the form of powerful energy explosions. i'll save a post dedicated to all of his abilities for a later date though, because he's got more than his wiki lists.

he's gay and has been married to his husband and raising their daughter together since irl time 2002. which one post i reblogged went into just how revolutionary that was of them to do for comics. he's a cherished husband, father, and friend who holds great love for the family he has found/made and the world. however, he also is disgusted and disheartened by the injustice, evil and intolerance in the world.

perhaps the own complex nature of the authority's roster and wildstorm itself for it challenging the concept of what it really means to be a hero, questioning everything especially government figures in power, the concept of a non-nuclear family, and so much more is a bit hard for dc to fully capture. well, minus the creator of stormwatch and the authority warren ellis himself, who managed to do it all over again with the wild storm in 2019.

if you read all of this, hey thanks! i'm talking everyone's ear off about apollo and as i read onward and also read opinions from other fans of the authority, i wanted to take all that i know and put it into one post.

[spongebobafettywap]

It's so weird how by giving Nightcrawler 1) a prophecy, 2) a weird and overly complicated origin story and 3) a "chosen one" label, he became way less interesting and special as a character

The prophecy showed that technically the world would have been fine without him until Azazel decides to do a takeover... Which only happens when Nightcrawler is like what ? 30+ years old ? Meaning : The X-Men and Excalibur ? Fine. Every X-Men story and plotline that featured him would have went down the same even if he wasn't there. Don't believe me ? It's pretty much stated that Nightcrawler being part of the X-Men wasn't something that was predicted/part of the plan. His entire time as an X-Men and saving the world apparently doesn't matter in either shaping who he is or changing the world and his friends ever so significantly. This low-key makes any time Nightcrawler was involved in anything be pointless since the universe would have found a way around it to make things happen the same as 616 canon.

The overlycomplicated origin story is a staple of the superhero comics genre so the more complicated a character's is the more cliché and boring a character gets by rule of "your past is your present and future actually". When Nightcrawler was the result of an affair that backfired, the way he came out being unknown to either of his parents and his life being up to him since neither cared about him beyond him existing (Mystique needed him to keep her lavish life and Azazel needed him for his schemes : Him being a good or bad person didn't matter to them in any way so that was always up to him to make all his choices in life) made his struggles in life mean so much more and feel real. Now, everything was planned about him and the character we see today was specifically molded to be this way from birth with outside intervention making sure he never stays from that, even tho he never would have by design.

The chosen one bit makes him by far the most pathetically useless chosen one in the history of chosen ones : The X-Men setting has every tool and every character possible that could have stopped Azazel by the time he did a takeover. Any shapeshifter could have pretended to be Nightcrawler when the time came, any of Azazel's kids could have been convinced to do what Nightcrawler did. When he was around, Nightcrawler needed the X-Men to stop him both times, Nightcrawler needed a power nullifying collar to stop him the last time. The only key contribution Nightcrawler brought to the table was through his blood ties to Azazel (as his biological son) which were needed on both occasions... But now, since he's "no longer related to Azazel", anyone's blood could have literally been used. He wasn't even the one to definitely put a stop to Azazel in 616, an alternative reality version of him (the Bamf Dragon) did who neither looks, acts, thinks or is made like him. That version of him didn't even put a stop to his own Azazel as far as we know so there's a world out there that's apparently out of balance. The chosen one trope has a character "being framed as the inevitable hero of the story" but Nightcrawler's entire existence is null in the great scheme of things if he was brought to this world to stop Azazel as anyone could have done what he did.

Agreed with what you said and wanted more people to see it so I'm publishing this ask.

It's also just like with origin stories the best ones are simple and memorable, Spider-Man got bitten by a radioactive spider, Superman baby refugee from a dead planet, Batman witnessed his parents murder and vowed to fight crime for their memory.

Nightcrawler's was a Demonic Mutant and a Shapshifting Assassin had an unexpected child who grew up to be a hero. Now it's Nightcrawler is technically the offspring of Azazel, Mystique and Destiny so all those references to him being a blood relative are still true but we needed to shoehorn Destiny into his backstory and also there's a prophecy he is going to defeat Azazel who is now the strongest Marvel being as evidenced by the prophecies depiction of him defeating everyone unless Kurt exists.

[latveriansnailmail]

Justice League in D&D

Today's thought experiment for my idle mind while my hands were doing work. This is in response to those videos I see in my recs along the lines of, How To Play This Jackoff Or Other In D&D5E!!! I never click on them because I usually don't see the point and I know I'll disagree anyway but today I went down a mental rabbit hole because why not? It's whatever, something to think about.

To simulate the Big Seven mainstays of the JLA I think we can all agree that they'd be very high level if not top tier and we'd need a DM who was a pushover and actively trying to facilitate this outcome. A couple of these guys, namely Superman and Martian Manhunter, are going to be outlandish. Here's what I have:

Batman This one's easy. Everyone argues that he's got Monk levels and I could be convinced that he has a couple but I see him as Standard Human for those unrealistic stats, Noble background (quite possibly the Knight), and stack levels of Inquisitive Rogue to the heavens. Use a feat for Improved Unarmed Strike (or whatever they call it nowadays) and boom, you've got a rich human being with skills and expertise out the yin yang who specializes in stealth, surprise attacks, investigation, and foiling villains more powerful than himself.

Green Lantern Another easy one. Variant Human with a Willpower type feat to push those wisdom saves to the heights. Soldier background for Stewart or (yawn) Hal; Guild Artisan background for Kyle. Straight Sorcerer with a focus on force constructs like Bigby's Hand, as well as Flight and anything that'll help survive the void of space.

Wonder Woman Another straightforward one but with an odd choice for race: Goliath. She is made out of earth, after all. Noble Background. Full levels of Oath of Redemption Paladin. Get a feat for deflecting projectiles and some magic gear and skew her spells towards influence, but she won't be using them because for the most part she'll be funneling them into Smites. She is a great advocate for peace but she will annihilate anyone who violates the peace. Rest in peace or rest in pieces.

Aquaman (Arthur Curry) The last straightforward one, I'd say Sea Elf with (again) a Noble background. I don't think Druid because he doesn't wild shape and does use metal. Instead, full levels of Beast Master Ranger.

Flash (Barry Allen) Here's where we have to start getting weird. Standard Human, maybe Folk Hero background? Dude's popular. Then we multiclass him Monk/Wizard. I did say weird. You would think Open Hand but I say Drunken Master with Alchemist's Tools subbed out for Brewer's Supplies. Then perhaps War Mage for the improved initiative. Take spells of Passwall, Lightning Bolt, Planar Shift, it's doable.

Martian Manhunter Now we're going to needle that indulgent DM. The best way I figured out to make him was, get this, race: a friggin' TROLL: strength, reach, regeneration, and a vulnerability to fire. Background Sage or Soldier (Sage suits better). Then, get this, Whispers Bard with the instruments swapped for skill proficiencies. Polymorph, Disguise Self, LOTS of influence spells, Passwall from Magical Secrets, and then mundane social Skills and useful proficiencies. WACKY. I made him a Bard. I am on some bullshit.

Superman And finally there's the Man of Steel. I warned you that bullshit was afoot and we'd need a fool of a DM. The thing is, Supes is not in Player Character Race/Background/Class territory. He doesn't actually have that many powers, just stats that are out of this world. He's not a fighter or a caster or an expert, he's just a power fantasy and his abilities all boil down to his Kryptonian heritage. We're not talking PC but rather a Monster. I say start with the Empyrean as a template (CR 23!!!) and modify size and flight and such from there. Give him disadvantage on saves versus spells from Arcane casters. Pepper the world with two types of magical rocks, one of which weakens and poisons Kryptonians and the other of which messes with his personality.

So yeah, there's today's bullshit. What's your take? I'm genuinely curious but don't call me wrong. Of course I'm wrong. These characters don't belong in D&D.

[fancoloredglasses]

Lois & Clark: the New Adventures of Superman (a super-powered rom-com)

(Thanks to Omar David)

[All images are owned by DC Comics and Warner Bros Discovery. Please don’t sue me]

I would like to start by saying it must be extremely difficult to write for any media where Superman is involves, whether comics, TV, movies, books, radio, etc. I mean, the guy is stupid-strong, stupid-invulnerable, stupid-fast, and has a metric shit-ton of powers that put him leagues ahead of anyone he might square off against.

Therefore, you have a few options:

Create adversaries on his power level (like DC did with Doomsday in The Death of Superman), but then you have an opponent that’s on Superman’s level that the rest of the lineup will have to deal with.

Give him an opponent who works behind the scenes who undermines his image and confidence (and might be able to tweak his nose a few times as well), which is why Lex Luthor exists. However, without giving Superman  someone to punch, the readers will get bored after a while.

Give him some very specific weaknesses (such as a certain green rock), but you can’t have Kryptonite constantly showing up to Save The Day for the bad guys.

Make it more about the human side than the super side. However, much like my second option, people are eventually want to see the hero just punch things.

Make it campy (see Superman III and IV), and you can watch those films to see how horribly wrong that can go.

...which bring us to Lois & Clark. The show (thankfully) didn’t make a powerful adversary (or at least they gave themselves a way to remove the threat from the series the few times they did), but ticked the other four boxes (though to be fair, there’s no way they could NOT use Kryptonite in some way)

This was the first time we saw a post-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Superman (as originally depicted by legendary writer/artist John Byrne in 1986) on screen, and there were a ton of changes...

His core powers were somewhat diminished from the Silver Age

A lot of his more absurd powers (such as destroying planets with a sneeze, rebuilding the Great Wall of Chine with his vision, and his “amnesia kiss”) were gone

He knew nothing about Krypton save that he was originally born there (the Silver Age Superman was constantly referencing Krypton)

He was the sole survivor (no Supergirl, General Zod, or Krypto the Super Dog)

His costume wasn’t made of Kryptonian fabric (meaning it was also invulnerable, but just normal fabric (which, thanks to an “aura” around Superman, meant it stayed intact through most of his battles, though Byrne loved to draw the cape getting torn in every fight!)

In the comics, the S-symbol was made after the Daily Planet coined the phrase “Superman” following his first public appearance, as opposed to being a Kryptonian relic.

And, most importantly, Martha and Jonathan Kent were alive and well in Smallville (in the Golden and Silver Ages, Pa Kent died when Clark was a teenager)

Most of these elements remained for Lois & Clark, though the writers reverted the S-Symbol to being from Kal-El’s rocket.

But enough of the exposition, on to the meat of the series!

The show follows Clark Kent (played by Dean Cain, who would return into Kryptonian orbit a number of years later as Supergirl’s adopted father), intrepid reporter for the Daily Planet (in a time where newspapers were a hell of a lot more relevant than they are now) and his alter ego...

...Superman. I should note that when we first see Clark (before he even has the iconic costume of his alter ego designed for him by his mother) he’s already wearing glasses. Exactly why is he doing that if he has no alter identity to conceal?

And what is Clark Kent/Superman without Lois Lane (played by Teri Hatcher)? Cain and Hatcher had awesome chemistry as friends/rivals as well as able to play the “will they/won’t they” tension very well (at least until they actually did)

The pair’s first meeting with Clark “in costume” was...kind of explosive.

(Thanks to DJDoena)

But the Daily Planet is more than just Lane and Kent (as much as they seem to hog the front page), so rounding out the Planet’s staff (at least the ones in the opening credits) are...

...Daily Planet Editor in Chief Perry White, who is Metropolis’s biggest Elvis fan...

...and Perry’s gopher (and later staff photographer) Jimmy Olson. However, the producers thought the actor looked a bit too much like Cain...

...so he was replaced in season 2.

Also a casualty in season 2 was Society Pages columnist Cat Grant. The producers felt the character was a bit too “risque” for their target audience (often rumored to be sleeping with fellow staff members) and she didn’t return after season 1.

As I mentioned earlier in this review, Martha and Jonathan Kent are alive and well (and apparently Smallville is close enough to Metropolis that they occasionally make trips there) Jonathan is a down-to-earth kinda guy while Martha is constantly trying to expand her horizons (usually with a new hobby every week...

(Thanks to Guardian Images)

...including sewing)

But what is Superman without a great villain...

...and he got a hell of one with Lex Luthor (played by John Shea). One other HUGE change in the Superman mythos was to Luthor. After Crisis he drastically changed from a “FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL MUHAHAHAHAHA!”-type mad scientist to a brilliant (and thoroughly corrupt) industrialist who would bend the legal system to keep his hands clean despite some blatantly obvious criminal activities (and managed to thumb his nose at Superman every time), and he was written to perfection in season 1. However, due to scheduling conflicts, he was written out with panache...

(thanks to ScreenBlaster13)

However, this being super-heroes, he came back from the dead for a couple of guest appearances.

The tone of the show was kept light, bordering on silly at times (such as casting Sonny Bono as mayor (and having him constantly dropping Sonny & Cher lyrics in his speeches) or having an episode where prohibition-era gangsters are cloned and allowed to run rampant in Metropolis) While Superman was a big part of the series, the fact that he was almost an afterthought in the show’s title should show where the real focus of the show was.

For two seasons, the show centered on the rivalry and budding relationship between Lois and Clark, then in season 3 the romance really kicked into gear, culminating in their marriage. Unfortunately, by then the series was starting to unravel, completely coming apart by the time the series was cancelled at the end of season 4.

As always, if you would like to say a particular episode reviewed, please let me know!

[itsupermanti]

I’ve had this idea for how I would do a My Hero Academia Superman AU.

Introducing, the

MY HERO SUPERMAN AU

Here are the key points that I would like to make for this AU:

In this AU, Izuku is the unknowingly heir of two great legacies since his birth. The legacy of his parents, Hisashi and Inko, who were known to the world as the unlicensed heroes, Superman and Wonder Woman.

In this AU, Hisashi was born the Kal-El of this universe’s Krypton who was sent to Earth to save him from the planet’s destruction. He was found and adopted by Chiyo Shuzenji, aka Recovery Girl, and her husband Josuke Shuzenji, who raised him with the values that all people can choose to do good, they simply need a light to guide them towards a better tomorrow.

After learning about his adoption, Hisashi would leave his family farm in the countryside, being guided by a crystal found with him in his ship, leading him to create the Fortress of Solitude and training with Jor-El to control his powers.

Once his training was complete, Jor-El encouraged him to return home and resume his human life, so that he could answer the question, “Why do you wish to help them?” Jor-El encouraged Hisashi to, “Open your heart to them. Find out why you wish to be their champion.”

Hisashi was reluctant of becoming a pro hero, since he knew that the Hero Association would want to find a way to contain him and turn him into their personal weapon should they realize how powerful he really was and where he came from. Josuke encouraged him to simply do what he thought was best, and Chiyo gifted him his first costume, based on a dream she had of him, a great man soaring through the air. He would had his family crest to the chest.

Hisashi would initially act as a vigilante, only use his super speed and super strength to get around and fight, and not use his heat vision or ice breath, since he knew that people would wonder how he would be able to wield such abilities.

He would eventually draw the attention of Nana Shimura, and her daughter Inko Midoriya. For this AU, Nana would be the daughter of Hippolyta and Zues, making the equivalent of Diana Prince. This would make Inko the granddaughter of Zues, with her attraction quirk coming from her father.

Inko was the one who gave him the name Superman, and she and her mother realized early on that he was different, that he held back his power. They would confront him and tell him their own secret as a sign of trust.

Hisashi fell in love with Inko as soon as he saw her and told them his story, and why he was reluctant to show what he could really do. Inko would be the one to encourage him to show the world that they can be better, to remind why heroes came about in the first place, to not be afraid, “I wish it was okay for you to fly.”

Hisashi would take those words to heart and begin to show more of his powers while fighting villains, as well as truly helping people in everyday life, from talking down suicide jumpers and would be thugs, to providing relief aid in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Inko would then take it upon herself to use the powers she inherited from her grandfather to help as well, and debut as Wonder Woman.

Hisashi and Inko would work together, both as hero/vigilantes, and as investigative reporters for Musutafu Hero News. They quickly began dating, and were quickly married.

They would continue their heroic work together, with support from Nana, but despite her public support of them, All Might was still wary of them, for showcasing multiple abilities. The public’s support of them would continue to grow with time, until the day that the whole world was shaken to its very core.

Doomsday would come to Earth, and many pros would be beaten into submission, including All Might, until Superman killed him, seemingly at the cost of his own life.

Superman would receive an honorary funeral ceremony, with the Hero Public Safety Commission hoping to be able to inspect his body, only for the body to go missing.

Hisashi would return to Inko, revealing that he was simply put into a coma. They then decide to retire, with the world believing them both to be dead. They would have Izuku a year after these events.

The events from the series go about the same, with Izuku proving himself worthy of inheriting One for All to Toshinori, and inheriting the quirk the day of the exam.

However, in the middle of the exam Izuku awakens his Kryptonian abilities thanks to One for All and Nana’s spirit jumpstarting his powers, allowing him to score enough points to break All Might’s record, and easily save Ochako.

After the exams, Izuku tells Inko about his new abilities, and she calls Hisashi. They decide to tell Izuku everything. He is initially overwhelmed, but Hisashi assured him that he is not a freak, and that they will always love him. He encourages Izuku to stop looking down on himself and that with their powers, “We can save them Izuku. We can save all of them.”

While training his new abilities, they learn that Izuku also has Telekinetic abilities that can be used to augment his Kryptonian powers while low on sunlight.

Once the school year starts, Izuku is much more confident and evens asks Ochako out on a date after the events of the battle training. While out on their date, they encounter and rescue Eri early and she is placed in their custody, with Hisashi and Inko spoiling her in order the earn the title “favorite grandparents”.

During the events of the USJ, Izuku goes all out and defeats the Nomu faster than All Might ever could in his prime.

This leads to All Might becoming suspicious of his successor.

The Sports Festival is announced, and Izuku uses it as an opportunity to reveal himself to the world as “Jon-El, the Superboy, Son of Superman”. While many in the audience are left in shock and fear at the kind of power he can potentially wield with such heritage, Ochako looks on with happiness, having been told his family’s secrets, unafraid of what others might think of him.

He gains much approval throughout the Events not just for his power, but his sportsmanship as well. He inspires Shinso to keep working hard and knocks some sense into Shouto, as well as breaks Katsuki’s underserved sense of superiority, and wins the Sports Festival.

He takes on Gran Torino’s internship, who learned his secret from Nana herself. He confronts Stain and openly challenged his unrealistic standards for heroes, proving that he was genuinely insane.

All Might’s paranoia has grown to the point that he believes Izuku to being manipulated by All for One in order to close to All Might, with his paranoia made worse by Recovery Girl and Gran Torino acting as if nothing is suspicious at all and refusing to elaborate.

The Final Exams come around, and All Might reaches his breaking point when all of his attacks don’t even faze Izuku, leading him to go on a rampage trying to hurt him. This forces Izuku to subdue him by force with a punch to the head, shocking everyone there with the fact that he was strong enough to do so.

He becomes dejected when he realizes that his class becomes afraid of him, but recovers with encouragement from Ochako, who declares his love for him, and Eri, who looks up to him in the same way he does Hisashi.

All Might is then berated by Recovery Girl and Gran Torino for lashing out, and inform him that Izuku is Chiyo’s Grandson as well as Nana’s, and that he can be trusted.

The events of the Training camp occur similarly to the canon, and the class is introduced to Inko and Eri, who tag along. Izuku gets Kota to open up and see heroes in a new light.

The League attacks and initially overwhelm the pros there, until Inko arrives, having been called by Eri, and reveals herself as Wonder Woman. She easily pushes the villains back and makes short work of the nomus. Izuku also makes quick work of Muscular by showcasing his telekinetic abilities to target his body’s vital points, and rendering him unconscious. Bakugo is still captured, same as in canon.

When the public learns of Bakugo’s kidnapping and confronts U.A. over it, Inko steps up and berates everyone there for accusing U.A. of being negligent over their students’ safety, instead of letting them focus on finding and rescuing Bakugo.

The group of students go out to rescue Bakugo themselves with Inko’s help. All Might confronts All for One, only for Inko to rush pass him and begin wailing on All for One for killing her mother, showing that her strength is slightly above All Might’s prime.

All for One manages to subdue her and hold her in place with his quirks and was able to weaken Izuku when he flew in to help with a chunk of Kryptonite. He reveals that he knew that Hisashi wasn’t human and that he was still alive, since he was the one who had really scarred All for One with his heat vision. He begins to beat on Izuku and forces Inko and All Might to helplessly.

He is about to deliver the fatal blow, when Izuku unleashes a telekinetic pulse that pushes him, and frees Inko allowing her to destroy the Kryptonite. And just as All Might is preparing to use up all of his power to confront All for One, a voice from above calls out, making everyone freeze out of shock and awe, “That’s enough!”.

Hovering in the middle of the air, with a presence akin to a divine being about to render their judgement, is the thought to be dead hero, Superman in a new suit. He makes quick work of All for One, and as All for One hangs defeated in Superman’s grasp, he yells out in defiance, saying that he was dreaming if he thought that he would surrender to an extraterrestrial being like him, with his declaration having been heard by the news crews nearby. Hisashi then knock him out with a punch.

Hisashi floats in the air, seeing and hearing the shocked and fearful words of those watching, shocked that he was alive all this time and afraid of his extraterrestrial origins. All except for his family, especially Inko, who all smile at him fearless, and he is reminded of why he fell in love with her, and reveals his greatest secret to the entire world.

“My name is Kal-El of the planet Krypton. I was sent to this planet as an infant by birth parents in order to save me from our planet’s destruction, and raised by a loving couple as their own son. You all believed me to have died in my battle against Doomsday, but I simple retired to be with my family. Know this, though I am an alien, I grew up on this planet. Earth is my home, it’s people are MY people. I’m still the one that you all called Superman, the man you all chose to be your champion.”

He and Inko then reveal the sources of their powers, and that the El family crest is a symbol that stands for Hope. Overtime, the world begins to accept them as heroes, with new heroes appearing with abilities that are much more powerful than quirks, with some not even having any at all!

I’ll determine what happens next at later date. But I’ll go more into detail over the Midoriya/El Family;

Hisashi Shuzenji Midoriya/Kal-El:

He looks like an older Izuku with black hair and blue eyes. His personality and powers are akin to Rebirth Superman. He is kind, courageous, compassionate and more human than any other pro. He truly embodies the principles of hope that tomorrow can lead to a better world. He is capable of moving or destroying entire planets, flying through a red sun, and can power through the weakening affects of Kryptonite. He is the counterpart of Clark Kent/Kal-El.

His original costume(he eventually goes back to wearing it):

His second costume(worn when he confronts All for One):

Inko Shimura Midoriya;

She is much like Rebirth Lois Lane, with the calming presence of DC animated universe Wonder Woman. She is fearless when it comes to facing the unknown and is accepting of others. She is nurturing by nature and wears her emotions on her sleeve. She is still prone to her bouts of intense crying like in canon. Her powers are akin to Rebirth Wonder Woman, and she does everything she can to ensure that hidden truth always comes to light. Her hair turns black when she uses her powers due to magic. She is primarily Lois Lane’s counterpart, with Nana being Diana’s primarily counterpart.

Her Original Costume:

Her Second Costume(worn when she revealed herself at the training camp):

Izuku Shimura Midoriya/Jon-El;

He much the same as Canon Izuku, and when his powers awaken, he begins to take on personality traits of both Teenage Jon Kent, and New 52 Superman. He wants to be able to help everyone, including the villains he’ll end up facing as a hero. He is a man of action and leading by example, earning him the title, “Teen of Tomorrow”. He’s powers are on the same scale as New 52 Superman and Superboy, and can use them to the same proficiency as Infinite Frontier Jon Kent. He has telekinetic abilities that he can use the simulate his dad’s powers when low on Solar Energy. He loves Ochako and their adopted daughter Eri,

and will make whoever harms them come to regret it.

His hair slowly started turning black and his eyes turned blue after his powers awakened, to show his Kryptonian genes becoming dominant. He is Jonathan Samuel Kent’s counterpart.

His Original Costume:

His Superboy Costume: