Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I didn't want Kate Kane replaced. I wanted her recast with Wallis Day. I'm furious that Kate won't be in the show anymore. But Javicia Leslie is amazing. And I'm not a very sexual person, but I find Leslie's charisma and athleticism and screen presence and air of command to be irresistibly sexy. So... I guess I'll have to support this, if only because supporting a talented black actress playing the lead in a superhero show is worth the grief of losing Kate Kane.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I'll be watching for sure.  I'm fascinated to see how it works out, especially since the show was so much about Kate.  I also hope the fans are nicer to Javicia than they are to Candice Patton.

*****

Regarding Sawyer, I just saw your previous post about the cast not supporting him.  I wonder if they can't publicly.  Grant Gustin didn't support him, but he also didn't condemn him.  I think he's toeing the line because he can't appear to support what Sawyer said, and he can't support Sawyer without appearing to do that to some people.  I think a brief but firm statement is the best he can do.  I hope if they genuinely thought he'd changed and was a good person and a friend that they'd call him personally and try to help out in some other way.

I don't think Sawyer is an amazing talent, but he's likeable.  I think he'd actually be a pretty decent Quinn Mallory in the right circumstances - he gives me a 1995 Jerry O'Connell vibe - someone who is obviously classically attractive with action movie star qualities, but who seems a bit too quirky to pull it off.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

On BATWOMAN -- the show has outmanuvered me and the fanbase.

Refusing to recast Ruby Rose with a new performer to play Kate was nonsensical and the fans were outraged. But then they cast Javicia Leslie as a new character who'd become BATWOMAN -- which means demanding that Kate Kane return (and be played by Wallis Day) is also demanding that a terrific black woman be traded in for a white girl. Calling for a recast Kate after Leslie's hiring is now an untenable position. There is no way to argue for that without arguing against representation.

The CW superhero lineup, aside from Black Lightning, is alarmingly Caucasian across the board. I want Kate Kane back, I want Wallis Day... but I also really want black women and girls to see someone who looks like them fighting crime in a cape and cowl. And I guess the BATWOMAN showrunners saw an opportunity to do that when their lead actress quit a 5 - 7 year contract on them and saw a chance to challenge their overly white image. I don't support BATWOMAN without Kate Kane. But I support women of colour in leading roles, so I'll have to swallow my frustration over Kate.

**

I think Hartley is great. The thing about Hartley is that in the hands of a more conventional actor like Jerry O'Connell, Ralph would be a collection of behavioural tics (much like Jerry on his TV show CARTER where he plays a needy, attention-demanding actor). Hartley gave Ralph this earnest sincerity and empty-headedness that seemed genuinely goodhearted but with his myopic dimness making him behave in unwitting selfish ways.

I think Hartley could probably go back to school and get his vet license and pursue another career in his passion for animals.

1,324

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I only watch Stargirl, I find it quite refreshing.  As it seems the pandemic will probably keep me home for quite some time, I am likely to do a massive CW DC rewatch.  I have wanted to rewatch Smallville particularly the high school years as I missed a lot of eps.  Then I'd move to the others.  Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl of course have quite a bit of scifi and parallel universe stuff in them.  What sucks is that most of it is on stupid Hulu which I don't have.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I finished watching the last two episode of SUPERGIRL for Season 5. They were okay. Episode 18 and 19 were terrific in providing the long-awaited reconciliation between Kara and Lena. The action was strong. The conflicts between Nia and Brainy were effective. Luthor's plans with Leviathan came to a strong climax. Episode 19 was apparently the result of combining the original episode 19 with the incomplete finale that would have been episode 20, so we had a climactic final battle with Leviathan but no resolution with Lex Luthor. In addition, Brainy's status is left unknown, the DEO is destroyed and Alex starts a new life as a vigilante but there is no real follow-up on any of those three arcs. It's a little messy.

However, because the episode had a strong shot at the end of Kara and Lena shaking hands, there was a sense of closure that was satisfactory and certainly better than THE FLASH cutting off in the middle of an arc. It was the best SUPERGIRL could have done under the circumstances and it was good enough.

**

LEGENDS, because of its short episode order, didn't end on a confused cliffhanger and it works. I was disappointed that the original Zari didn't return and we have the Instagram influencer staying on full-time. Apparently, there was some thought to keeping both Zaris, but it became clear during filming that it'd be impossible to have one actress play two roles for an entire season. It feels really disappointing to me because I really liked original Zari's deadpan nonchalance in the face of madness. When SUPERNATURAL resurrected Charlie as her alternate universe doppelganger, I was able to accept the new Charlie as much as the old one because they were so similar in mannerisms and history even if the alternate Charlie had a darker demeanor. The alternate Zari, however, is effectively a different character played by the same actress.

**

Still no word on GREEN ARROW AND THE CANARIES. I desperately need to see Katherine MacNamara fighting crime with a bow and arrow. Please let this happen.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/superg … 234779394/

Interesting.  So Arrow and Supergirl will be gone.  Batwoman is obviously in some sort of state of chaos.  Legends is only *barely* in the Arrowverse (like Stargirl or Black Lightning).  Flash seems to be on its last legs, narratively.

I wonder if this is the beginning of the end.  There's a scenario where Flash ends soon.  Superman & Lois is about to start and Batwoman is rebooting with their season two so those two shows could keep it going for a long time.  But I wonder if, like the DC movies, these shows might not be all that connected.  There was a tie between Supergirl and Batwoman but all that ended with Kate Kane.

I'll be interested in what they decide to do.  Does this make Green Arrow and the Canaries more likely to move forward?  Or less likely?  Will Stargirl join Earth Prime?  Will Swamp Thing get picked up and added?  Or will they let this thing run its course on a smaller scale once Flash ends?

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Well, Berlanti is spreading out from CW - his Green Lantern series and Strange Adventures are going to HBOmax (which will also host Titans and Doom Patrol).  The CW is kind of losing its grip on DC even before this.  HBOmax is sucking up the oxygen.

I think the CWverse would have clicked on a bit longer, but it could be another victim of the pandemic.  The shut downs accelerated what was going to happen anyway.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I feel six years is just right for SUPERGIRL. I'll miss it, but after a shaky but enjoyable start, SUPERGIRL has been a winner for just about every season except the awkwardness of Season 3 when it fired its own showrunner for sexual harassment and fumbled its way to the finale. SUPERGIRL has been so topical, so aware of the world in which it is watched, so earnest in its social justice values -- and I would have worried that SUPERGIRL continuing for a SUPERNATURAL-length period could have overstretched its earnest statements into formula -- a bit like how THE FLASH and ARROW had Barry and Oliver deliver an inspiring speech about something or other every year whether they had anything inspiring to say or not.

No idea what's going on with BATWOMAN or how they can possibly make the show without a recast Kate Kane, but Javicia Leslie is awesome so I'll support her in anything despite my reservations.

THE FLASH lost its way in Season 3 and I don't think it can find its way back because what made THE FLASH a unique TV show was that it was so ridiculously fast, telling stories in 1 - 2 episodes that other shows would tell in 1 - 2 seasons. But with Season 3 and 4, THE FLASH started slowing down its pacing. Without the speed, the characters feel thin and the villains feel disposable and the central theme of the show (speed) is absent and there has never been anything to replace it other than Barry and Iris being cute and Ralph Dibney being funny and now we don't have Ralph Dibney. It's a shame, but it does speak to how Andrew Kreisberg was a pretty great showrunner even though he was rightly and correctly fired off his show for sexual harassment.

Hopefully, SUPERMAN AND LOIS will do well, GREEN ARROW AND THE CANARIES will be picked up, LEGENDS will have a few more seasons and BATWOMAN will... uh, well, like I said, I'll watch Javicia Leslie in anything.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

TemporalFlux wrote:

Well, Berlanti is spreading out from CW - his Green Lantern series and Strange Adventures are going to HBOmax (which will also host Titans and Doom Patrol).  The CW is kind of losing its grip on DC even before this.  HBOmax is sucking up the oxygen.

Yeah and what's weird about the HBOMax DC shows is that they aren't connected either.  Even though Doom Patrol literally spun off from Titans with a backdoor pilot, they didn't even stay in the same continuity.  No more Titans and Doom Patrol crossovers.  Same with Stargirl and Swamp Thing.  As popular as the Arrowverse was, no one really did much with the idea of interconnected comic book shows.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

So I've been watching some of the DC Universe shows.  I watched Doom Patrol on HBO Max, Harley Quinn on SyFy and then HBO Max, and I've been watching Swamp Thing on CW and Stargirl on the CW app.

I'm actually fairly impressed with the shows they've come up with.  I watched Titans season one last year and thought it was fun (although it felt a bit restrained).  I really liked Harley Quinn - it's my favorite of the batch (but also gets the most freedom with animation).  Doom Patrol was a lot of fun, but again, I feel like that show would've been better if it was more tied with Titans.  Even just a cameo here and there would've been nice.

Swamp Thing and Stargirl are a little harder to read since they've edited for CW.  I'm sure it's much worse with Swamp Thing, but as I'm currently watching Stargirl, something was bothering me.

Mainly....what is this universe they've created?  It doesn't feel at all like a superhero universe.  It feels like the JSA/ISA were completely underground, but at the same time, Wildcat had a Wikipedia page with all of his powers?  A world where there used to be superheroes and then the villains killed them all is interesting - they seem to want the world to be identical to others but also there used to be open superheroes but most people don't seem to care/remember anymore.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I totally forgot DOOM PATROL, SWAMP THING, STARGIRL and HARLEY QUINN existed. I've been too distracted by the Marvel Unlimited comic book app and work. Thank you for the reminder.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

They're all wildly different shows, both from each other and from Titans.  So it makes sense that they haven't crossed over.

Titans is a coming of age story in a brutal and dark world.  I haven't seen season two.
Doom Patrol is a redemption story in a bright and colorful comic book world.
Swamp Thing is a mystery in more of a mythical/horror world.
Harley Quinn is a very adult, very funny animated story that flexes its DC muscles quite a bit.
Stargirl is more of a teenage/CW coming of age story that tries to live in a comic book world merged with a hyper-realistic one.

I've been very impressed, actually.  They created a number of fun shows that feel different but also work in different ways.  Want a brutal, cinematic look at the DC universe from the fringes?  You have Titans.  Want a funny and fun look at the DC universe from some of its more bizarre corners?  You have Doom Patrol.  Want horror and mysticism from the dark corners of the DC universe?  Swamp Thing.  Want a fun Rick and Morty-like show that sticks you right in the middle of the DC universe?  You have Harley Quinn.  And want a cute and more child/teen-friendly look at the DC universe from a Golden Age perspective?  You have Stargirl.

They all give you something a little different with at-least Arrowverse level of quality (and in some cases, much better).  The DC universe dying is a bummer because I think it could've been really cool if it'd thrived a bit more.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Guggenheim leaving the Arrowverse:

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/marc-guggen … rn-series/

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I don't know what to say about Guggenheim. LEGENDS has mostly been run by Chris Fedak, Sarah Schechter, Phil Klemmer and Keto Shimizu. Certainly, Guggenheim has been present throughout ARROW, but during Seasons 1 - 2, he was working closely with noted sexual harasser Andrew Kreisberg. Season 1 was a CW attempt at a Christopher Nolan movie; Season 2 went more into SMALLVILLE-esque larger than life superheroics on a street crime level. It's hard to say which one was Guggenheim's style.

With Season 3, Guggenheim was paired with a new producer, Wendy Mericle and the series began stretching from street crime to assassin death cults and magical resurrections and Iron Man style battle armour that were an odd fit. Guggenheim and Mericle were also showrunners for the Season 4 dive into fantasy with magical totems and telekinetic villains at which point Stephen Amell declared that if he had to fight a magical villain for another season, he was out. One would think that perhaps Guggenheim had lost his way without the steadying hand of noted sexual harasser Andrew Kreisberg who, in Season 3, had been devoting more his attention to running THE FLASH and sexually harassing the writing staff of THE FLASH.

Stephen Amell wrote:

I put my heart and soul into every day of work and every episode, but at the same time there is a lull in any relationship where you need to have a ‘come to Jesus’ moment, so to speak. That happened for me in the latter half of Season 4, where I feel like there were just a few things that got lost in the shuffle, so we needed to really refocus in season 5.

The original vision of ARROW has been augmented and changed to support and accept and help introduce various other shows, and that is a wonderful amazing opportunity. Now that that’s done, we have to do what we do well.

There are things that LEGENDS and FLASH and SUPERGIRL can do based on the sort of more fantastical nature of their shows. But there are things that we can do that none of them can.

We are a street-level crime fighting show. We’re at our best when we’re focused on those things.

I do really believe that this season is sort of a throw-down-the-gauntlet year for us, where we’re either going to do what we do and do it well or it’s the last year. If we find that magic formula -- which is not magic -- it’s just hard work and playing to your strengths -- then the show could go on for a really long time.

With Amell's support, Season 5 - 6, Guggenheim and Mericle shepherded two of ARROW's finest seasons which returned to the Season 2 style of heightened street crime stories while re-establishing the Oliver and Felicity romance as a partnership of equals rather than the peculiar Harlequin it had become. Guggenheim left as showrunner after this, with Season 7 run by Beth Schwartz who did an excellent job of maintaining the street crime adventures of Seasons 5 - 6. Guggenheim returned for Season 8 and with Schwartz, produced a human-perspective prologue to the cosmic events of CRISIS.

It's hard for me to say what Guggenheim's style is as when left to largely his own devices, he steered ARROW into a fantasy direction for two years, but he and Mericle also steered ARROW back to its roots for the two years after that. I will say that it takes humility and vision to shift a show in one direction but then decide to reverse course, although I'm sure it helps if the star of the show is demanding that reversal.

I'm sure Temporal Flux would have a much more coherent take on Mr. Guggenheim.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Well, I don't really know how much juice the Arrowverse has in it.  As it stands right now, there's:

- The Flash (going into Season 7)
- Legends of Tomorrow (going into Season 6)
- Supergirl (going into sixth and final season)
- Black Lightning (going into season 4)
- Batwoman (going into season 2)
- Superman & Lois (about to premiere)
- Stargirl? (going into season 2)

Supergirl is ending.  Stargirl is only technically Arrowverse but is moving to the CW.  Black Lightning is slightly more connected but still pretty separate.  Legends is really it's own thing.  Batwoman is either going to be revitalized with a new lead or end quickly.  Flash is dragging.

As I said before, I think the best thing to do is to keep moving in the direction of "These are all separate shows and they have a yearly crossover" - because a lot of the narrative connections in the show are over.  Now that Kate Kane is gone, Batwoman is entirely separated from the other shows (it wouldn't be hard to reconnect but that's where it is).  When Supergirl goes, that'll sever a major tie between the other shows and Superman.  Legends is already its own thing and Sara/Oliver was the main tie there.  Black Lightning has always been separate.  Stargirl is in a different universe.

I think if they make an effort (Batwoman meets the team, Superman makes new connections outside of Kara, Stargirl comes over from Earth 2, etc) then they can keep it connected.  If not, they'll essentially be separate shows, and at that point, I don't even think the crossover is necessary.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

There was almost a surprise Arrow season 9 due to COVID logistics:

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainmen … ppen.html/

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Watched the first six episodes of STARGIRL. Wow! What a fun show. Thanks to Slider_Quinn21 for reminding me that it existed.

I've never really understood the appeal of the Justice Society of America, a group of barely published superheroes from WWII who were quickly eclipsed by the Justice League -- but STARGIRL manages to distill the appeal pretty effectively by revealing that the JSA is a multigenerational family of older veterans and young new heroes awkwardly co-existing. There is a wonderfully frank presentation of Courtney Whitmore as Stargirl: she's sullen, rude, self-centered, impulsive. She's also driven, inspired, daring, and has an instinctive sense of right and wrong.

It's interesting that the character is based on showrunner Geoff John's sister who died in a plane crash when she was 18 and this is Johns' portrait of his deceased sibling's persona and spirit. There is a wonderful sense of these awkward young people acquiring the mantles of dead and retired heroes and staggering in the footsteps of their predecessors.

The effects and location filming are impressive for a show that is supposedly to be moving to the CW for Season 2. The villains are creepy in how they've assimilated into civilian life but with their cruelty and sadism and pettiness in full force. There is a gleeful joy in superheroes in STARGIRL that I never felt when reading the first few issues of the 90s JSA comic book, although I confess that I never got to the Geoff Johns issues (he only started on the comic after the first story-arc).

It's funny how SMALLVILLE was always so embarrassed to really show superheroes, having all their superhero characters where street clothes with the same colours as the actual costumes. Then Geoff Johns wrote "Legion," "Society" and "Absolute Justice," all three of which declared that SMALLVILLE was a superhero universe and had a future and a past that had contained superheroes, and the show began to feel comfortable with costumes and superhero personas. Now Johns' joy in superheroes is mainstream and he's doing a show where all of his joy in superhero legacies and superhero families is presented in full force.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I'm glad you liked it!  I think Stargirl has the most heart of all the DC Universe shows.  I think it'll slide pretty easily into the Arrowverse, but I agree with you - I think the production value will suffer in the same way (maybe more?) that Supergirl did.

I'm now halfway through the second season of Titans.  It's my favorite of the DC Universe shows (although Harley Quinn is so good), and I'm excited to see how it continues to grow.  I thought it was nice to bring Bruce Wayne in, although I don't buy Iain Glen in the role....at all.  I know he's supposed to be an older Bruce, but he's also supposed to be an active Bruce.  Iain Glen is almost sixty - was Batman 40 when he took in Dick?  Seems like a really weird casting choice, and I just can't see him being Batman.

It's a lot of fun.  I look forward to it every time I get a chance to watch.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Posted this last year about TITANS (spoilers) and Iain Glen (spoilers).



















ireactions wrote:

TITANS has featured Bruce Wayne as played by Iain Glen in the second season. TITANS in Season 2 has not been allowed to show Batman (and was only permitted to show him played by a nearly off-camera stunt double in the costume Season 1). Therefore, Glen appears only as Bruce Wayne and never in the costume. It's interesting: Iain Glen is 58 years old and renowned for playing men with astonishing fighting abilities especially on GAME OF THRONES, but he has a certain rigidity in his movements. He has a receding hairline.

Most incarnations of Bruce Wayne, even in old age, look more like Liam Neeson and Tom Cruise in their late 50s; when Glen showed up onscreen in TITANS, I thought he was playing Alfred. His barely suppressed Scottish accent under a weak American one was bizarre. When sitting down on a sofa, he noticably braced himself against the armrest. He looked infirm and weak and his voice was awkward; I couldn't imagine this slow-moving, gentle man as Batman.

The Batman that Dick imagined in the TITANS Season 1 finale was a demonic force who moved like a cracked whip whereas Glen seemed to regard sitting down as something he has to do carefully or he could miss the cushions and end up on the floor. The thing is, however, while Glen bracing himself against an armrest plays onscreen looks like physical weakness, it's in fact a mannerism in how he seats and orients his body. It does not reflect the extremely able-bodied and athletic man that Glen actually is.

Glen appears in a subsequent episode as a hallucinatory Bruce Wayne, and this time, his accent is much improved, but he's playing a sardonic, comedically mocking figure who voices Dick's insecurities. He doesn't seem like Batman. Later in the season, however, Dick hallucinates Bruce again and imagines Bruce beating him up -- and suddenly, Glen displays a stunning physical prowess. He dodges Dick's blows with instantaneous speed. He throws single punches that knock Dick and the camera to the ground. He counters attacks with a controlled ferocity.

Naturally, there's a bit of trick editing here to speed up Glen's motions and accentuate the force of his attacks. But it's up to Glen to sell it and he sells it.

Suddenly, the slightly unconvincing American accent doesn't matter. Glen's aged face and fading hair don't matter. Glen's physicality takes on a predatory, otherwordly presence and he conveys a cool self-assurance so as to be above Dick Grayson's neuroses and anxieities. Iain Glen suddenly doesn't need the costume and or the Batman-jawline of Christian Bale or the voice of Kevin Conroy. The awkwardness of his earlier appearances is cast aside. Glen is unmistakably Batman. It works.

Still, I'd be interested to see Slider_Quinn21's take on it.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I do remember that now (and almost certainly based some of my opinion on that memory).  I didn't read all of it so I'll respond back next week or so once I've finished season two.

The CW is showing Swamp Thing.  Like with Stargirl, the episodes are edited so I'm not sure if I'm getting the full show as intended, but it kinda drags a bit.  I still think it's watchable and compelling enough to stick with, but I think it's certainly the weakest of the DC Universe shows and I can see why it wasn't renewed.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

There was one thing that threw me off in the first episode of STARGIRL -- I thought it was an odd comedy choice for the dying Starman to tell Pat Dugan that someone would have to carry on the legacy of the JSA's heroism and then immediately declare, "Not you," as though Pat, a bold, valiant, self-sacrificing, caring friend who could build giant battle robots out of old car parts was somehow not up to the task of being a superhero.

Pat is not particularly more flawed than the average person on the show and is prepared to crash his own car to protect Courtney's secret identity and embrace the indignity of being a disrespected stepfather because he understands that the girl has been in a permanent state of grief. I don't know why Starman thought so poorly of his supposed friend or why he worked with someone he regarded so badly.

But first episodes are where the writers and actors are still working out how to combine their talents. Maybe Pat was supposed to be grossly incompetent only for Luke Wilson's performance to steer the character differently.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Yeah, I thought that was strange too.  I also don't know what Starman had to say about it, either.  Especially since the staff seems to react to certain people and not to others.  Sylvester could've passed the staff to Pat, and it could've rejected him.

I thought the joke was funny, but it was also unnecessarily cruel.

* Spoiler for one of the final 3-4 episodes *

S
P
O
I
L
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I wonder if part of it was to sell the idea that Sylvester could be the kind of guy who could essentially be a deadbeat dad that lied to his family.  If he was kind of a jerk to his friend at the end, you could see him having a daughter and not being around until he died.  He wasn't on screen enough to get any sense on why Sylvester and Pat were even friends.  I got the idea that maybe Sylvester just let him tag along but probably made fun of him behind his back.

I'd be interested in seeing flashbacks to see what their partnership really looked like.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

About the STARGIRL budget -- the effects and fight scenes are definitely more lavish than on THE FLASH. However, I have to admit, I didn't really notice the budget cut from SUPERGIRL moving to the CW. Slider_Quinn21 said some of the makeup effects on Metallo were poor. I wasn't really looking. I don't doubt that the reduced budget does show, but I wasn't trying to see it, so I didn't.

I don't know how STARGIRL will handle it. Showrunner Geoff Johns says that the most expensive part, the startup costs of developing the STRIPE robot and the cosmic staff effects have already been paid for. But maybe, as with SUPERGIRL, I won't see what I'm not looking for.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I really liked Titans season 2.  I think Harley Quinn gets to have the most fun of the DC Universe shows and all of them have their own charm (even Swamp Thing, which is my least favorite of the bunch), but I think Titans is the best one.  It's believable that the DC universe is out there, and it does a great job of teasing it without actually showing it.  I think the characters are strong, and I loved finally seeing Nightwing come to life.

The Donna death was....bizarre.  Beyond bizarre.  I get that she's probably not really dead, and they did enough to tease that Rachel is going to help her.  But they literally had two different Big Bad fights.  If they didn't want Connor to kill her, they could've easily had Slade do it.  And the fact that she randomly died way after the fight was over - especially when she wasn't even the most qualified to catch the beam.  Or even catch it in the first place.  That's not even lazy writing - that's....all I can think of is "bizarre"

But I'm glad it's back for season 3.  I liked what I've seen of the concept art.  I have to ask that they bring in Tim Drake, though.  Maybe they will.  I think he could be great, and it might be the best place for a Bat-family.

ireactions wrote:

Glen appears in a subsequent episode as a hallucinatory Bruce Wayne, and this time, his accent is much improved, but he's playing a sardonic, comedically mocking figure who voices Dick's insecurities. He doesn't seem like Batman. Later in the season, however, Dick hallucinates Bruce again and imagines Bruce beating him up -- and suddenly, Glen displays a stunning physical prowess. He dodges Dick's blows with instantaneous speed. He throws single punches that knock Dick and the camera to the ground. He counters attacks with a controlled ferocity.

I liked these scenes with Bruce.  I'm still not 100% sure that I see him as Batman, but the fighting scene was cool.  It's hard, since it was a hallucination if that's how Dick sees Bruce or how he is.  In the finale, Bruce is hijacking Luthor's auction, but he's just hanging out in the cave.  He seems more like Batman Beyond Bruce than "active" Bruce.

I wonder if he's essentially retired, maybe running some sort of Batman, Inc.  Maybe he's just a consultant for the Justice League now.  The only time we saw him as Batman was also in a dream.  I'd be interested if we could ever get Diana or Clark or Arthur on the show.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I don't understand TITANS. I understand the kind of story it's trying to tell, I just can't figure out what it's trying to say or why it would say it with these characters. TITANS is a brutalist portrayal of superheroes as troubled warriors. But I don't understand why these characters are put to that purpose -- although a lot of the confusion is also in the original source material.

There is no real reason why street level crimefighters like Robin and Hawk and Dove are in the same show as an alien princess like Starfire, a child of supernatural horror like Raven, an X-Men type character like Beast Boy and a Wonder Woman supporting character like Donna Troy, and TITANS doesn't make a particularly clear case for this odd mashup. The original comic book didn't make a particularly clear case for this either; it was simply a place to gather some underused copyrights (Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl) with some additions (Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire) and see if readers would go for it (and they did, for a time).

It's also unclear why a show about a teen superhero team features the characters long after the team disbanded with none of the characters being teens and nobody being particularly heroic. Jason Todd is simply interested in beating people up. Dick Grayson abandons Raven. Hawk and Dove are 'heroes' looking to acquire money to retire and not be heroes anymore. All the Titans are keen to abandon Rose to Deathstroke. The majority of the characters are not teens, many aren't super, and none are heroes.

Setting that side, TITANS is about the psychological and physical wear and tear and toll of this difficult profession, and on that level, it succeeds -- I just don't understand what this show is trying to say about it. But it is moody, compelling, atmospheric and grimly ridiculous from the characters being ridiculously calm about bodyswapping and aliens and primordial forces of evil and Dick Grayson running around town after breaking out of jail like his being a convicted felon and fugitive is about as serious a charge as an overdue library book. TITANS is a successful show, although I couldn't tell you what it's successfully accomplished.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Finished STARGIRL. It was good, but the lavish fight choreography and extensive computer generated effects and single-shot action moments are so very, very expensive for a show that's moving to the CW. I can only think that they'll cut costs by (a) limiting the use of the STRIPE robot (b) moving to a slightly diminished level of action with shorter CG shots and (c) losing all the expensive licensed music.

I liked how the Injustice Society didn't see themselves as villains; in Icicle's mind, they face injustices and view mass murder as an acceptable means of correcting society's disregard for environmental catastrophe, prejudice and inequality, but his grief over his wife has warped his noble intentions into a vendetta of hatred and total disregard for the lives he thinks he's saving.

There's an odd emphasis on how killing is 'wrong' with Hourman chastised for planning to kill Solomon Grundy by Wildcat who then kills Brainwave while conceding it was a moral failure. In reality, superheroes refuse to kill villains because superheroes are published over multiple decades and killing off recurring supervillains means cutting off avenues of storytelling that might be needed again at some point.

There is nothing wrong with killing a wild, homicidal monster like Solomon Grundy who has murdered multiple innocent parties. There was also no real alternative to stopping a telepathic and telekinetic supervillain like Brainwave other than killing him and his twistedly impersonating the son he killed shows him to be an unrepentant murderer. It's ironic that his sadistic wish to toy with Yolanda by mimicking his dead son is what allowed Yolanda to get close enough to slash his throat. As Professor Arturo would say, Brainwave is a genocidal maniac, not a social worker.

Stargirl telling Pat that she is his daughter was quite beautiful.

I worried about Stargirl destroying the satellite which might have fallen on innocent people.

The closing scene of Stargirl and Pat flying through the sky is lovely and joyful and everything I want out of a superhero show and I was also happy to watch it on a giant IMAX sized screen (sort of) via the magic of an Oculus Go virtual reality headset.

1,347

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Stargirl ran on CW during season 1 anyway, so I doubt the budget will be all that different.  I really liked the show.  I found Titans season 1 to be incredibly boring.  Haven't got to S2 quite yet.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Grizzlor wrote:

Stargirl ran on CW during season 1 anyway, so I doubt the budget will be all that different.

I think CW just bought Stargirl from DC.  It was still produced for DC Universe.  Kinda like how Swamp Thing is airing on the CW even though it was produced (and released on DC Universe).  I think DC probably saw the writing on the wall and decided to sell it off, but I'm pretty sure it was already complete when CW got involved.

I do think there are ways to make the show work without changing much, but we'll have to see.

*********

On Titans.  I get what you're saying.  I think the show hasn't done a great job of explaining why any of them work together.  The "multiple generations working together" aspect doesn't truly work, but I think the younger generation with Dick does.  He wants to prove he can lead a team, and they look to him for guidance.  I think it would make more sense if Kory was a teenager, but that's really the only issue I have with it.

I just like the vibe of the show.  It feels like it belongs.  I buy that it's a universe with Superman and Constantine and Green Lantern.  I buy that the sidekicks decided back in the day that they wanted their own Justice League.  It all made sense to me.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Budget for Stargirl may not be as big of a concern as one would initially think:

https://tvline.com/2020/08/13/stargirl- … different/

They’ve already done the heavy lifting of creating the CGI models in season one, and they get to bring that with them to CW.  They’re also not moving to Vancouver, so they’ll still have everything they built in Georgia without the expense of a move.

It won’t be like Supergirl which lost some things between Los Angeles and Vancouver (and Supergirl held up pretty good even with that).

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I hope it goes well. I love STARGIRL.

**

I don't think TITANS is a bad show. It's compellingly acted, drivenly filmed, intensely scripted and even absurdities like Dick Grayson being tried, convicted and sentenced in a few days work for a dark superhero reality. It's probably fine. It's probably just not for me. There's definitely an audience for more nihilistic superheroes with WATCHMEN, THE BOYS and now TITANS. As Transmodiar once said, I'm not the final arbiter of taste.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

An interesting theory about what the artificial speed force wil be:

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
?
?
?

https://screenrant.com/flash-speed-forc … on-theory/

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/arrow- … 234881450/

Sorry, ireactions

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I really can't blame any studio for cancelling any project right now whether it's the second seasons of TEENAGE BOUNTY HUNTERS and I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS or the final season of GLOW or GREEN ARROW AND THE CANARIES. The unfortunate truth is that filming any film or show under COVID conditions is extremely expensive, filming action shows even moreso, and with GREEN ARROW AND THE CANARIES, the contracts for all the actors and the production team would have expired after so long a wait.

It would have been very costly to regroup everyone and come to new terms under current conditions when it might be better just to assemble a new team and do a new project. Katherine MacNamara has been fighting evil with her bare hands on TV for years and I have no doubt she will find some other project in which to run, jump, dive, roll, tackle, punch, kick, swing and inspire.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Yeah, luckily we still got plenty of her on Arrow.  I don't feel like this is a Wayward Sisters situation.  We got a good taste, not just a tease.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I was really upset when WAYWARD SISTERS didn't get picked up because I really wanted Claire and Kaia together -- but also because it's unlikely that Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster (Judy and Donna) will ever lead a show and certainly not together.

I feel less sad about GREEN ARROW AND THE CANARIES. It would have been great. But GREEN ARROW AND THE CANARIES needed Katherine MacNamara, Katie Cassidy and Juliana Harkavy a lot more than they needed GREEN ARROW AND THE CANARIES. All three actresses are well-positioned for plenty of leading lady TV and film work, MacNamara in particular will leap into another action role.

There will likely be an episode of LEGENDS to resolve the arc.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

BATWOMAN works. [spoilers]












The creators made a very interesting choice: just as Ruby Rose abruptly ripped herself out of the show, Kate Kane is suddenly torn out of the show in a plane crash, presumed dead (no body) -- leaving Kate's supporting cast reeling from the shock just as the viewers are stunned, hurt, confused and disoriented.

When Ryan Wilder, played by the brilliant actress (and stunningly beautiful woman) Javicia Leslie finds the suit in the plane's wreckage and puts it on, Luke and Mary are furious and angry, calling Ryan a thief and impostor and unworthy to wear the cowl just as the viewers are angry to see a new person in the lead role of the series. Alice is furious that she has been denied her revenge on Kate. Jacob Kane, Kate's father, is forced to confront how his last scene with Kate had him holding a gun on her and vowing to hunt her down with no chance to ever take it back.

It reminds me of "Applied Physics," the only script in Season 5 that truly addressed Jerry O'Connell's absence with the characters horrified at Quinn's disappearance and his replacement by a stranger, except in this case, the entire episode and seasonal arc is about everything Kate brought to Gotham City by observing its absence. Kate's military training and precision is gone; Ryan's deranged ferocity is dangerous and a liability. Kate's militaristic sense of duty is gone; Ryan is a malfunctioning seeker of vengeance. Kate's confidence in her team is gone; Ryan doesn't trust Luke and Mary and doesn't want to work with them.

And at the end, Kate's father and ex-girlfriend Sophie collapse in grief, having to mourn Kate without ever getting closure and resolution with her -- just like us.

Stories can often get away with difficult or unworkable premises if they can reflect truth -- the truth of what the performers or the storytellers or the audience are experiencing individually or collectively. In this case, BATWOMAN has captured the feelings of the audience, and has committed to working through these feelings with the viewers.

I hope they can keep it up. I strongly disagree with their refusal to simply recast Kate Kane, but they've done a good job with removing Kate from the show.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I liked the Batwoman premiere.  I thought it was well done and was handled about as well as possible.  I liked Ryan as a character, and they did enough to make Ryan fit on the show (since literally everyone on the show was related to her).  I wonder if they'll reference any of this on Supergirl or the other Arrowverse shows.

I thought it was a bit odd that they decided to go with a CW-budget Batmobile.  Is that going to be what Ryan uses as Batwoman?

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I think that in the future, it will be jarring to go from the BW Season 1 finale to the Season 2 premiere. But in the moment of a first viewing, the premiere gave voice to all the fans’ frustrations. Jacob Kane is just as upset as the viewers that he won’t get to face Kate/Batwoman and address how he unknowingly declared his beloved daughter his enemy. Alice is just as furious as the fans that she won’t have a final confrontation with Kate. These scenes, while powerful, operate on the audience already knowing that Ruby Rose is out and not being recast (yet). The premiere doesn’t even get Rose to read her letter to Sophie in a voiceover and bows to the reality of a terrible and unthinkable casting situation.

I suspect that a rewatch won’t put the real world situation at the forefront and the story will have to stand for itself and... well, it’s an anticlimax. It’s a disappointment. And it’s something of an unavoidable failure even if the writers are doing their best.

The premiere gave a very strong argument for why they couldn’t recast Ruby Rose: we saw Ruby Rose’s Kate face down Jacob and Alice, so to have the subsequent confrontation feature __________’s Kate resolving issues originating with Rose’s Kate would have been mismatched and jarring with an uncanny valley effect of seeing someone who isn’t Ruby Rose address Rose’s supporting cast and emotional arcs. So they had the new Batwoman be someone who within the story isn’t Ruby Rose and isn’t Kate Kane addressing those characters and storylines.

The Batmobile was made for Season 1 and I’m guessing Tommy would have stolen the car and Kryptonite and forced Kate to pursue him for both. But when the pandemic shut down filming, production kept the car for Season 2. I imagine they only planned to use it for the Season 1 finale without necessarily insisting on reusing it for Season 2 since Kate’s motorcycle is so associated with her. Now it’s an open question.

1,359 (edited by ireactions 2021-01-26 19:33:28)

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Episode 2 of BATWOMAN. Once again, the writers are in an impossible situation: they have a season of BATWOMAN and they've lost the actress who plays Batwoman and for reasons that I grudgingly understand, they do not feel comfortable recasting Batwoman at this time with showrunner Caroline Dries saying that she thought it could only be jarring if character confrontations started by Ruby Rose's Kate Kane were concluded with some other actress' Kate Kane.

And with episode 2, we have another problem: if some new person, some nobody is going to be Batwoman now -- won't the show feel totally disconnected from Season 1? But episode 2 does something incredibly clever: it observes that Season 1 was very much about an absence, the absence of Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane constantly journaling to Bruce, asking this offscreen figure if she was making him proud, if he would approve of her, if she was good enough to take his place.

Season 2's second episode makes it clear that Season 2 is very focused on the void left by Kate Kane's absence. The city demands that Batwoman stand up to the Crows and protect the people. Alice has gone crazy(er). Sophie and Julia's romance has been shattered. Jacob Kane is so damaged he's terrorizing the only daughter with whom he can still be on speaking terms. Just as Bruce's disappearance left a void in Gotham for Season 1, Kate's absence has left a hole in Season 2 that characters once again circle, gingerly step past, stare into nervously or fall into completely.

This is something I really understand. I was 13 when I watched "The Exodus" and I think everything in my life after that to 2015 was a reaction to the death of Professor Arturo. Every anxiety, behavioural difficulty and psychological paralysis was the result of having watched a father get his brain sucked out before being shot and exploded, of being unable to confront and address this traumatic and terrible loss.

Season 2 truly feels like part of Season 1 despite losing its lead character. Just like Season 1, Season 2 is about all the ways people react to another absence: Mary wants the comfort of knowing someone will be Batwoman. Alice is disturbed that the Batwoman is wiling to kill her. Jacob is angry that someone would impersonate his daughter. And Luke declares that Ryan is but a temporary substitute until Kate's return when we know Ruby Rose is never coming back. He isn't ready to confront the truth and to be fair, he has good reason to think Kate's alive.

I don't really approve of the decision to not recast Kate. Paradoxically, I would approve of these stories as a path to recasting Kate -- by having Kate disappear in the plane crash, all the characters reacting to her death, various people standing in for Batwoman -- and then having a recast Kate return after 4 - 6 episodes, and account for the new actress not having Ruby Rose's tattoos saying that the plane crash necessitated skin grafts. They're probably not going to do that; they're still using photos of Ruby Rose as Kate Kane.

But even so: Episodes 1 - 2, despite being in a difficult and untenable situation, are extremely well-written, well-performed and well-produced. Being good counts.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

BATWOMAN, FLASH and LEGENDS have gotten early renewals for a 2021 - 2022 season. SUPERMAN AND LOIS are getting boosted from 13 episodes to 15.
https://bleedingcool.com/tv/cw-renews-w … s-add-eps/

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I've concluded that I just don't understand the CW's business model. BATWOMAN has been renewed for Season 3. It's averaging 700,000 viewers. Three episodes into the year!

Well, I adore the show, but I can't pretend I grasp the economics here.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I don't get it.  Why are they hinting that Kate is alive?  And then doing a storyline where finding her is key.

They had "find Bruce" when they didn't know whether or not they could use Bruce.  Now they're pulling a Sliders Season 5 and making a storyline about a star who probably won't come back.  Why do shows do this?  Unless Ruby Rose might do guest spots, this is just setting up for a storyline that goes nowhere.

I think Kate dying is fine.  Characters mourned her.  Ruby Rose doesn't seem like she wants to go back.  It's tragic but Kate has no superpowers.  She survived the Anti-Monitor but dies in a plane crash.  It sucks, but it's life.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

I think they are hinting that Kate is alive because a story in which she goes missing simply demands that the characters try to find her. They can't possibly succeed. And I think Mary gave voice to that: Kate isn't coming back. Even if she survived the plane explosion, she would have had to survive the fall, then survive drowning -- the audience knows Kate isn't coming back, but if the characters don't exhaust every avenue to find her, it becomes a weird Season 4 situation where the sliders inexplicably don't make Wade their number one priority.

Even if the story goes nowhere, it's still somewhere the characters need to go -- or we'll forever be rewatching the scenes where they don't the way I rewatched "Mother and Child"'s "We don't have time" moment over and over and over again to the point of writing the Rewatch Podcast five emails about it and talking about it even today like it was the second most traumatic event of my life (the death of Professor Arturo being the first).

I think they are hinting that Kate is alive because the optics of killing off the most visible, most popular (and only) lesbian superhero on TV at the time is simply untenable. Gay people have oddly high body counts on television. And BATWOMAN's creators cannot bear to add to it even if Slider_Quinn21 would forgive them for doing it.

I also think that... once Kate has been offscreen for a while, there will be some reconsideration as to whether or not they can recast her. But I don't know that for a fact.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

... has there been any news as to who is playing Plastic Man in the next season of THE FLASH?
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-flash … t-season-7

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

ireactions wrote:

I think they are hinting that Kate is alive because the optics of killing off the most visible, most popular (and only) lesbian superhero on TV at the time is simply untenable. Gay people have oddly high body counts on television. And BATWOMAN's creators cannot bear to add to it even if Slider_Quinn21 would forgive them for doing it.

I also think that... once Kate has been offscreen for a while, there will be some reconsideration as to whether or not they can recast her. But I don't know that for a fact.

I think that's fair.  As neither a woman nor LGBT, I'm certainly discounting the effect that she has and what she means to people.  I think (?) Ryan is a lesbian, and there's certainly plenty of representation on the show, but I absolutely understand (better, now) the optics of just killing her off.  But I also understand that it's on Ruby Rose.  If Ruby wanted to come back and save Kate, even for a cameo so she can go on some mission for the rest of the show, she could.  Keeping her alive but never seen again doesn't accomplish a ton, does it?  I loved the character of Quinn, but I never got any sort of peace or relief out of the idea that Quinn didn't die on screen.

I think it would've been better for Sliders if Quinn had been killed, even unceremoniously off screen, so that the other characters could move on and the writers could be free to do their thing.  Same with Wade.  Having the "we don't have time!" line and her coming back as a computer didn't make me feel better.

I get that it's a hard call.  But they're setting up mysteries that they can't solve.  Maybe they eventually get the rights to use Batman and/or real Bruce Wayne.  Maybe they convince Ruby Rose to wrap up her character or recast.  But at this point, they're writing themselves into holes when they could be writing cool new stories with Ryan.  That's where I think their focus should be.

The other option would've been to have Batwoman Inc. as the idea and recast almost everyone.  Maybe Kate sends Luke to help the new Batwoman establish herself in a different city.  Maybe she goes to Star City and they get some of the Arrow cast.  I don't know.  But that's one way they could've kept Kate alive without her on the show, and at least they could have "hey, I just got off the phone with Kate" scenes.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Well, the showrunner has said: she doesn't object to recasting Kate. What she objected to was:

  • Having Ruby Rose's Kate trick Alice into locking herself into Arkham Asylum and earning Alice's vengeful wrath.

  • Having Ruby Rose's Batwoman try to ally herself with Jacob Kane only for Jacob to turn on her, pull a gun on her and vow to hunt her down and kill her.

Followed by

  • Having Wallis Day's Kate Kane be the one to face down Alice now trying to kill her.

  • Having Wallis Day's Kate Kane be the one to unmask as Batwoman in front of Jacob Kane and reveal her true identity.

The tacit argument made by "Whatever Happened to Kate Kane" in having those arcs resolved by Kate's plane crash is that to have a new face confronting Alice's now-murderous feelings towards Ruby Rose's Kate is visually disconcerting. And that to have Batwoman unmask before Jacob Kane to reveal Wallis Day's face instead of Ruby Rose's face is also visually disconnected. (I'm just throwing in Wallis Day's name as a fan based dreamcasting.)

There's also the issue that Ruby Rose spent a whole year working with Rachel Skarsten and Dougray Scott. There is a familiarity and rapport and sense of family that was created over the course of many, many, many episodes. A new actress could fake it, that's what acting's all about -- but there's a naturalism that takes time to build and it's not going to exist after a one-week readthrough. There would be the odd sense that an arc that originated with Ruby Rose's Kate Kane is now concluding with some other Kane daughter.

However, if Kate is offscreen for awhile, the creators would then have the option of bringing in a new actress to play her, explaining that the plane explosion required some facial reconstruction and skin grafts (to explain why the new actress looks a little different and doesn't have the tattoos) -- and because of her absence, the performer would be building her relationships with Ruby Rose's supporting cast just as the character would be rebuilding them.

Looking at Season 2 so far: Kate's diary entry and letter were read by the character reading the message when TV convention usually has the person who wrote the message reading the voiceover. This tells me: BATWOMAN cannot get Ruby Rose to do so much as a voiceover, that every effort to send her a microphone and a voice recorder has been rebuffed. This tells me that the relationship between Rose and production is so hostile and acrimonious that she is never returning to that set.

If they don't want to recast Ruby Rose, then I think the simplest solution is that Safiya is lying, she doesn't have Kate and Kate really did die -- but in some brief LEGENDS crossover, Ryan gets sent 80 years into the future and discovers an in-her-60s Kate Kane (played by another actress who is older but looks and sounds like Rose) who reveals that some CRISIS-related whatever transported her out of the plane explosion and 50 years into the future where she resumed her career as Batwoman after Ryan had retired, becoming the Bat of the Future that the Monitor called her, then retiring herself and training a successor.

Ryan can return to the present and assure Mary and Luke that Kate will return some day. Just not today. (Like Sisko in DEEP SPACE NINE!) And fans are assured that Kate will return (off camera, in the future, long after the actual BATWOMAN TV series concludes).

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Anyone watch Superman and Lois? I thought it was well done and didn’t really feel like anything else they’ve done in the Arrowverse.

I’d need to go back and watch Crisis, but did they age the kids up in that episode? I vaguely remember them indicating that Crisis replaced one kid with two, but fairly certain their child was originally a baby. So do Clark and Lois not remember most of their kid’s lives (when they got their memories back) or did they not get their memories back or am I forgetting something?

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

Watching it tomorrow!

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

SUPERMAN AND LOIS was good. I liked seeing Lois as a 40 year old woman. Usually, Lois is portrayed in her late 20s, caustic and abrasive and competitive and at times unpleasant, but this is a Lois who is more well-adjusted after many years while still being insanely positive while relentlessly practical. The budget is astonishing; this is clearly not the CW budget for SUPERGIRL but an HBO MAX coproduction with the CW.

CRISIS made some odd changes to continuity that weren't entirely consistent. Lois and Clark originally had a one year old baby, but after CRISIS, Superman got a phone call from Lois: "Clark, I need you to get to Metropolis now. It's the boys."

"The boys?!" Clark exclaimed.

"Yeah, honey, your SONS," Lois said, sounding exasperated and baffled by Clark's astonishment --

Except that didn't actually make sense because CRISIS established that only paragons remembered the pre-CRISIS timeline. Superman wasn't a paragon. He should have remembered having always had Jordan and Jonathan and having had them 14 years earlier than presented on SUPERGIRL. SUPERMAN AND LOIS either ignores this discontinuity or corrects it with Clark having full memories of Jordan and Jonathan. We can handwave it and say that Superman's memories were a glitch and J'onn Jonzz' telepathy resolved it.

**

SUPERMAN AND LOIS appears to be a superhero show doing EVERWOOD (a Greg Berlanti show about a widowed big city doctor who moves his son and daughter to a small town) except EVERWOOD was lighthearted and cheery and comedic whereas SUPERMAN AND LOIS is deliberately aiming for a darker tone where even Superman finds himself intimidated by predatory banks, layoffs, a son with some mental health issues and the death of two parents.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

ireactions wrote:

Except that didn't actually make sense because CRISIS established that only paragons remembered the pre-CRISIS timeline. Superman wasn't a paragon. He should have remembered having always had Jordan and Jonathan and having had them 14 years earlier than presented on SUPERGIRL. SUPERMAN AND LOIS either ignores this discontinuity or corrects it with Clark having full memories of Jordan and Jonathan. We can handwave it and say that Superman's memories were a glitch and J'onn Jonzz' telepathy resolved it.

I guess that makes sense.  So in Arrowverse continuity, he had those kids the entire life of the Arrowverse.  When Oliver returned to Starling City and started his quest, years before Barry Allen got his powers and Kara Danvers showed up on the scene, Clark and Lois were already married and had 6-year-old (ish?) twins?

In fact, Kara is only a few years (max ten?) older than his second cousins (is that what second cousins are?)

Considering the reboot, that really doesn't change much.  And I assume the pandemic will make it almost impossible for them to do any crossovers with this show so they may just never reference that.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

According to SUPERGIRL, Kara was 13 when she landed on Earth and Superman found her and 25 when Kara put on the Supergirl costume. Winn in the Season 2 premiere notes that Superman looks to be mid-30s when he should be in his mid to late 40s; Superman says that as Kryptonians get older, their aging slows. From that, I'd say Clark is supposed to be at least 15 years older than Kara even if he doesn't look it.

This is somewhat emphasized when Lana in SUPERMAN AND LOIS says that Clark still looks just like he did in high school (which doesn't appear to be true as they had a young actor play the character in the flashbacks), but it may be commenting on how Clark is in his mid-40s but is played by the mid-30s Tyler Hoechlin. I'm not sure Hoechlin even really looks that young; he has a complexion where even the slightest bit of stubble is highly distinct and makes him look unshaven and removes any youthful boyishness from his face.

It's odd that Kara wasn't at Martha Kent's funeral. She wasn't there partially because of the pandemic and mostly because Melissa Benoist was pregnant and on maternity leave when the pilot was filmed. I'd probably assume that Kara was at the funeral but was called away unexpectedly for an emergency or was handling any and all emergencies so that Clark could shut off his superhearing for the duration.

**

It's a bit odd that the last time we saw Clark in CRISIS, it was a scene that established that Clark has no idea who his teenaged sons are -- which should theoretically mean that Clark has no idea who this Jordan kid is and that Jonathan was an infant -- and Clark has now missed out on at least 13 years of his sons' development and has no familiarity or rapport with them. SUPERMAN AND LOIS has Clark recounting Jordan's anxiety and Clark's struggles as a father -- and I initially wondered if part of that was due to Clark having trouble relating to two strangers as his son.

The Arrowverse Wikia proposes that J'onn restored Clark's Earth-1 memories in CRISIS Part 7. Perhaps, due to all the family difficulties, Clark asked J'onn to undo the restoration. Alternatively, it's possible that Clark's 'core' memories are the Earth-1 version but the Earth Prime memories are a supplement -- which may have also contributed to his difficulty in bonding with Jordan. It would be an interesting mind screw situation if Jordan found out that beginning one year ago, his father lost all memory of his existence.

I don't think they're going to do that, however. It's just too convoluted to have Clark remember a different continuity from the TV show he's currently in.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

For months, I waited urgently for the season premiere of THE FLASH. And... I'm still waiting because what aired as Season 7, Episode 1 is clearly not a season premiere of any kind. To be honest, this isn't a review because I genuinely don't remember where we left THE FLASH in Season 6 except that Iris was trapped in a mirror dimension and the Flash had lost his speed while Caitlin was away for Reasons (the actress was pregnant) and Cisco was away for Other Reasons (can't remember why). Now Ralph is also away for Other Other Reasons.

Look, I watch THE FLASH because I want to see the Flash running around engaged in superheroic supersaves at superspeed while working alongside his team: a tempermental genius (Wells), a tech-driven engineer (Cisco), a compassionate biochemist (Caitlin), an intrepid reporter (Iris) and a conniving wildcard (Ralph). And I simply I can't remember who Allegra and Chester are or what they're doing at STAR Labs. What I do see, however, is that Barry is largely passive throughout the episode, not being the lead, not being the Flash -- and it's ultimately Wells once again sacrificing himself to restore the Flash's powers.

At this point, Tom Cavanagh dying or supposedly leaving is fairly meaningless. We know he's on contract and that the writers are too enamoured with him to let the actor ever leave, so that's an emotional point that's been played so many times over six seasons that it's fairly pointless for Season 7.

So what we have here is a season premiere of THE FLASH where the Flash is mostly not being the Flash while other characters (who could be great, but I had trouble remembering their names) seem to be doing all the work. We have Iris continuing to be trapped in the mirror dimension. We have the lead villainess making shocking discoveries that aren't particularly relevant to the Flash and his friends.

This isn't a season premiere. Maybe, if it had played as a penultimate episode, it would have been acceptable, but as it's presented, it's a mediocre lead up to a season finale that never aired. And this is a terrible place for a season premiere. The season premiere should set the tone for what's to come, re-establish the series and its characters and concept, clear the slate of the past to lay out the future.

Instead, this episode seems to be meandering around whatever happened last year and I don't remember and while I don't blame the episode for that, this episode is devoid of the flair, spectacle and purpose that one expects to open a new season of a TV show.

Re: DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)

One of my favourite reviews Annie Fish did of SLIDERS was "Stoker" where they remarked, "We're still in 'not SLIDERS' territory."

I'm not sure what's going on in THE FLASH this week. I don't remember what happened last year. And last year's arcs weren't completed due to the pandemic shutdown, so they're finishing out their arcs from last year, whatever they were. I think I can safely report that I have a lot going on in real life right now because my brain no longer has space to remember the previous season of THE FLASH.

Anyway, I'd say we're still not back in FLASH territory. Barry has his superspeed back -- but the artificial speed force has altered his brain configuration and turned him into an emotionless weirdo to the point where I think he needs to go into a support group with the Season 4 version of Quinn. (There's an explanation for Season 4 Quinn that has never come to mind.)

Barry's brain is sped up, and as a result, he thinks at superspeed, but he no longer feels; he becomes dispassionate, manipulative and indifferent. In addition, he can now think faster than engineer Cisco and biochemist Caitlin, dismissing and working past them. I watch THE FLASH to watch a pleasant-natured geekboy (like Season 1 Quinn) work with his team to save people; this week turned Barry into a creepy robot who works alone.

To be fair -- that's the point. This is supposed to be an atypical episode. An episode where Barry is acting in direct opposition to the 19 - 20 episodes previous where he was acting normally. But this is not an episode coming at the end of the year. It's coming at the start.

I like who they're bringing in as the new Wells for Tom Cavanagh to play. That's cool.

THE FLASH is a professional product from a professional team working in a really awkward situation. The show and I are really out of sync as show and viewer and I'm not sure if we can get back. It's been two weeks and we are still dealing with last year's leftovers and I have no idea how much longer this is going to go on. I feel like I've lived ten years since the pandemic started and THE FLASH right now is a sequel to a movie I only vaguely remember from the last decade.

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I'm also having trouble connecting with the Flash.  I know they had difficulties since they had scripts written (presumably that they liked) but couldn't film.  So I'm sure they just used those scripts and continued telling the story.  I don't know if Mirror Master can be the villain for a season and a half so I'm sure they'll resolve this quickly and move on to whoever the villain is this year.

But, yeah, the team feels weird.  Barry has faced pretty much every challenge.  We've dealt with just about everyone having powers and losing powers (although Frost being a speedster was cool).  I guess the next logical step is for them to have a baby, but I don't really know what else the show can do, narratively.

Which sucks.  The show used to be a lot of fun, but it just feels like it's stuck in place.  Even doing something like killing Cisco or whatever wouldn't really shake things up anymore - they replaced Cisco with Chester for the premiere and it wasn't any better or different.

**************

I'm enjoying Superman & Lois quite a bit.  I was worried about the teenage stuff, but it's actually been solid so far.  The one thing is that it doesn't look or feel like the Arrowverse.  At all.  I couldn't imagine Barry running in to save the nuclear plant in Clark's absence, and I have trouble even picturing Kara in this world.  It just feels glossier and more "real"

Although Superman sure gets his butt kicked a lot...

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I remember, as a child, reading DC-MARVEL's ALL ACCESS #1, a crossover comic where Superman and Spider-Man team up to fight Venom. I thought it was odd that Venom could beat Superman up in a fight, having recently read SUPERMAN: FROM 30s - 70s where he was rearranging solar systems -- and would later read the John Byrne reboot where Superman's powers were lessened to the point where his superstrength didn't exceed other superhuman beings by that much and he would struggle to lift a plane. And it makes sense, I think, to allow Superman to be vulnerable to other superhumans or there's no dramatic tension.

SUPERMAN & LOIS has CW and HBO Max funding it. For the nuclear plant on THE FLASH, it would have been a stock shot of a nuclear plant and then studio interiors or a generic pipeworks location. For SUPERMAN AND LOIS, they could afford to find some industrial location and film the actors on site and populate the place with extras. SUPERGIRL could have filmed motel exteriors on location and interiors on a set, but SUPERMAN AND LOIS could actually build all sorts of stunt walls as well with Superman crashing through the room. They have a lot more money than THE FLASH or SUPERGIRL.

It's basically the difference between the location filming of Season 1 of SLIDERS and the studio bound filming of Season 5 of SLIDERS. :-) SUPERGIRL and THE FLASH and ARROW use their money effectively more effectively than the later seasons of SLIDERS, but they have very generic studio space or reused locations that they redress to be different And they have to stick to standing sets like CATCO and the DEO and STAR Labs and the Arrowcave. SUPERMAN AND LOIS has the Kent farm, but they can go to so many other places as well with location filming and they can build far more intricate sets for individual scenes.

**

I hope THE FLASH can wrap up last year's stuff next week and move forward. I really don't blame the writers for anything; they've been hit with a lot. Even before the pandemic, Andrew Kreisberg getting himself fired and banned from the industry left the FLASH team struggling to make the show work as he'd tethered it to his own existence and style. But he absolutely had to go.

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I continue to have absolutely no idea what the hell is happening in THE FLASH. It could be my problem. But. The Season 6 arc seems to be over, thank God. It took three weeks to resolve it, but it is (I think) resolved even if they had to finish it with Ralph Dibney wearing a bag over his head (now there's something "Unstuck Man" might have considered for Quinn). Harrison Wells seemed incredibly convenient for Team Flash, appearing in a cloud of pixie dust to provide a solution to the Speed Force and not traumatized by his last memory being the car crash where his wife died and then a supervillain sucked out his brain and stole his face and buried him next to the highway. But Tom Cavanagh gave him a sincere, gentle presence that no Wells has ever really had with Thawne being sinister, Harry being acidic, HR being goofy, Sherloque being superior and Nash being disgruntled. I assume he'll be back soon enough since Cavanagh is on contract.

I don't know what happened here, but it isn't happening any more and we can move onto something new. I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry the splendid Efrat Dor didn't get a better role in a better season at a better time.

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Spoilers for BATWOMAN!!!!!! (We got her!)






























They have recast Kate Kane. They have cast Wallis Day, the actress that I, Temporal Flux and everybody wanted to play Kate Kane. However, they have chosen to have Kate severely injured by the plane crash and that will in time, it seems, explain why Wallis Day's Kate Kane doesn't have Ruby Rose's tattoos or Ruby Rose's face.

I think their decision here makes sense. Season 1 of BATWOMAN ended in mid-storyline. It was too visually disjointed, the creators must have felt, to have Wallis Day's Kate Kane resolve conflicts with Alice and Jacob that had originated with Ruby Rose's Kate Kane. They didn't want to ask the actors to pretend that they'd known Wallis Day for all of Season 1. They had Kate go missing, severed all her relationships with the cast through her disappearance, gave an explanation for why she won't look the same -- and when Kate fully returns to the series, the entire cast will have to rebuild their relationships with Kate just as they're building a new relationship with Wallis Day. This is an excellent situation because the real world situation and the onscreen situation will match and the performances will be enriched.

I think it's terrific that fans get the Kate Kane actress they were rooting for and I think it's terrific that the show used the opportunity to introduce Javicia Leslie as a new Batwoman. She's an amazing performer and the Ryan Wilder character has brought a whole new angle to the Batwoman persona. I'm hoping that the end result will be a Peter Parker/Miles Morales sort of situation where both characters are operating as Spider-Man/Batwoman.

Wallis Day is brilliant. She's also nothing like Ruby Rose. Rose has a certain chilly aggressiveness; Day is more cautiously aloof and sardonic in her screen presence. Rose is boiling with frustration and rage; Day's onscreen energy is friendlier and more vulnerable. Rose's onscreen fighting style is ferocious and angry; Day's physicality is calculated and precise. Rose is a reckless brawler; Day is a disciplined boxer. Rose conveys introversion; Day is an ambivert. I wouldn't have wanted Rachel Skarsten, Camrus Johnson, Nicole Kang, Dougray Scott, Christina Wolfe and Meagan Tandy to have to pretend that Wallis Day's Kate Kane was Ruby Rose's Kate Kane. It's better that Day's Kate Kane is one who has been missing and come back from a horrific (and face altering) trauma.

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That’s pretty cool! I’m glad this isn’t a dead-end storyline, and I’m really glad that the fans get the actress they want. And could be some really cool stories with Ryan and Kate both on the scene

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Did y’all notice the CGI in Flash has gotten....really bad? That CGI giant guy looked awful. They couldn’t just find a big dude? Are there no pro wrestlers in Vancouver?

I continue to be impressed by Superman & Lois. Supergirl is back, but I have no idea where last season ended

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I did notice it looked terrible -- but I actually felt the same way about King Shark and Gorilla Grodd in earlier seasons although where those characters looked to me like PS3 graphics, the monster looked like an upscaled PS2 graphic. I think it was especially glaring, however, because I'd just watched SUPERMAN & LOIS that week and it's obvious that THE FLASH's CW budget can't measure up to SUPERMAN & LOIS being a co-production between HBO MAX and the CW. It was a bit unfortunate that SUPERMAN & LOIS has such layered, detailed effects with practical work and stunt performers and CG augmentations whereas the Flash is fighting CG plasticine men.

One of the unfortunate realities of many long-running shows: with each season, many shows have less and less money to work with. Cast and crew and creator salaries rise. If the budget doesn't rise accordingly, that means fewer resources to make the show itself. It's possible that the need to regularly test cast and crew and keep everyone distanced into pods with accommodation and quarantine has also taken out a lot of money that would ordinarily go to CGI.

I haven't seen SUPERGIRL yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

BATWOMAN had a very good mid-season finale -- and Wallis Day has yet to make a full debut as Kate Kane. It made sense for the story, but it was a little frustrating. I want Kate!