DC Superheroes on TV & Streaming (1966 - 2024) (Page 2 of 29)

It happened again! 

(SPOILERS for tonight's FLASH)

So Barry is gone, Earth-1 is undefended, and a metahuman shows up.  Immediately, the first thought was to use a formula to give Jay powers to fight him.  Which is fine.  But no thought was given to call Oliver and company.  Which is bizarre for a couple of reasons - first, you'd think Barry would've had someone in place to defend the city in his absence.  He's really worried about protecting Earth-2 Joe and Iris, but he leaves Earth-1 Joe and Iris undefended.  His first call should've been to Oliver.  Second, again, they're risking a life when it's unnecessary.  Geomancer was powerful, but he wasn't powerful enough that Oliver and company couldn't have taken him down (Joe basically does all by himself). 

Now I get why they didn't have Oliver and Team Arrow show up (although this could've been a great time to use Colton Haynes again to step in as Red Arrow to fill in for Barry).  They can't have a crossover every week.  But these are teams that have been shown to work together.  And, in both cases (the one from Arrow and this one), they don't even try.  It's the perfect chance to drop a crossover hint, do some cross-promotion, and explain why they aren't always popping up in each other's stories.

Well, I don't want every episode to have a mention.  And you're right, they have plenty of throwaway lines to show that they're a united universe.  Heck, last night's episode had nods to every part of the DC TV multiverse, including the original Flash TV show and Supergirl (would've loved a Smallville reference, though). 

But instead of a throwaway line about Cisco or a joke about Barry, these were two situations where life was literally at stake because they didn't make the reference.  If Roy had died, Barry would've been *furious* that they didn't call him on something that would've been no problem for him.  If Velocity-7 had killed Jay and people had died, Oliver would've been *furious* that no one called him to help.  The more crossovers they do, the more they're forming a Justice League.  They've all met each other now, and there's no excuse to risk lives when they just need to make a phone call.

And the reason why I think it's a problem in these two situations instead of any other is the fact that they *couldn't* have mentioned it off-screen.  In the Arrow situation, we saw the whole conversation.  There was no time for Felicity to check, and there was no conversation on the team about calling Barry.  In the Flash one, we saw the whole conversation with Caitlin/Joe/Jay, and they didn't consider calling Oliver (caveat - those three characters have had the least interaction with Oliver and they might've legitimately not thought he'd say yes).  Now the part that could've happened off-screen is Barry checking to see if Oliver can watch the city, but two things contradict that.  If Oliver said no (and he would've had to have), Barry still leaves the city unprotected, and even if he did say no, Oliver would've checked in considering Geomancer said he'd been causing earthquakes for days.

Now, of course, they're real-life logistics, and I think these were two situations where they could've made in-world explanations.  Barry can't get to the warehouse to save the day in 4 minutes because villain of the week.  Oliver can't come or spare anyone from his team because they're working on Dahrk.  It's not an argument that they should have more mentions in-universe - just that they should save them for situations like these - where they're being irresponsible by not making the call.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Flash stories from the Wally West years:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.co … ts-a-rule/

I liked most of the Messner-Loebs stuff; he had a good balance of wonder with a sense of humanity.  He also wrote my hands down favorite Flash story which presented the entire life of Barry Allen and how the events of his death led to him becoming the lightning bolt that gave him his powers in the first place.

Re: Supergirl.

I actually really like this show.  I'm surprised at how much heart is in it.  It definitely feels like the Flash to me, and that's a great thing.  And the introduction of some other DC characters really helps the show click.  Maxwell Lord is a good analogue for Lex Luthor, and "Henshaw" is a great character.

Two things bother me.  First, I hate the casting of "James Olsen" and it has nothing to do with racial-swapping.  If they wanted Jimmy Olsen to be black, that's fine with me.  My problem is that Jimmy Olsen apparently chose photography as soon as he was done with being a GQ model.  Changing Jimmy's race doesn't really affect the character - changing his personality does.  And the actor does a fine job, but he's playing the wrong part.  When Jimmy admits that he was always scared in Metropolis, I don't buy it.  He's a physically-imposing, in-shape, attractive guy.  There'd be virtually no reason for him to be the coward that he claims to be.  I can understand wanting to hire an attractive guy to be the male lead, but it'd make more since for Winn to be the tall, handsome one.  Or make it another character.  Changing his character like that seems wrong.

Second, I'm not sure I like the way they're using Superman.  I love that he's not on the show - that would be too much.  And I'm sorta glad they didn't go the "Birds of Prey" route, where Batman was just missing.  I like the use of instant messenger to make him a presence on the show without actually showing him.  I like that he's essentially giving Kara her space to be her own hero (I liked how it was handled in both episode 3 and episode 9, where Clark checks in but promises to stay out unless she asks).

But when there's an army of Kryptonians?  When Kara's lost her powers?  Aren't these situations where Clark should show up? 

If I sorta put those two things to the side, I really like it.

Well, as I've said in many comic-based arguments, I don't know these characters all that well.  I don't read many comics, and most of my knowledge comes from sources like cartoons/movies/TV shows.  And when you look at the guys who have played Jimmy, and the ways he's been presented in other media, I never saw a muscle-bound male model guy.  Heck, when I think about photographers I know in life, there's a reason they're behind the camera and not in front of it   Mehcad Brooks looks like he would've spent his career as a TV anchorman.  He'd apply for jobs as a photographer, and they wouldn't let him.  Heck, I'm surprised that Cat is allowing him to be behind the camera.

I just think of Jimmy as being short (5'7) and nerdy.  It's like Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man.  It was hard for me to buy because he was presented as a fairly-popular, athletic, attractive, skateboarding guy before he got bit by the spider.  James' line in the show might say that he's spent years being scared, but I just don't see it.

Now I love the idea that he has super-PTSD.  And I do agree that even the manliest of men can have it.  But, first, I don't think we've seen enough of that (I just watched episode nine so maybe there's more).  But in episode nine, he goes toe-to-toe with Maxwell Lord - he's definitely not shying away from a fight or a dangerous situation.  Second, I think the character could've been *so* powerful if Jimmy/James came to National City literally broken.  And maybe the romance between Jimmy and Kara isn't based on "he's attractive and smart and brave and talented and amazing" and more like a Florence Nightingale situation.  Clark trusts Kara to take care of Jimmy, and she's helping rebuild his life because Clark legitimately thinks Jimmy will snap if he lives one more day in Metropolis.

And for that, I'd go with someone less physically imposing.  I was talking with my friend and I might've switched the casting on Mr. Terrific on Arrow and James on Supergirl.  And the more I think about it, I actually think Grant Gustin would've done an incredible job in that role (although he's also 6'2).

Well, the obvious answer is that it's Earth 2 Jay Garrick which means the Jay we've known is not the real one.  One subtle piece of evidence for the masked man's identity - the jail cells.   Jessie was in a cell with bars; it's all that was needed for her.  Barry was in a cell with some kind of glass; something to hinder speedsters.  Well, the masked man was also in a glass cell.

We've taken for granted that Jay was telling the truth and that he lost his speed (the latest story being the Velocity drug).  What if this Jay never had speed to begin with?  I'll admit that this Zoom story is far from elegant and in danger of becoming non-sensical.  I fear the reveal is not going to be satisfying.  I did see one amusing argument, though.  What if the dimension tunnel image of John Wesley Shipp as 1990's Flash was not just a wink?  Could Zoom be the Barry Allen of the 1990's Flash series?

As for Wally, he's kind of bland on the show; but they haven't given him a lot to do yet.  To be honest, I think they would have been better off to introduce Bart Allen / Impulse; he has more of an instant vibrant character that could have shaken things up.

A little surprised. Definitely intrigued. I'm curious to see which version of Jay is which, or if any of these people are really Jay at all. And the man in the mask could still be Ronnie, I think. Maybe that is how Zoom learned about Barry's Flash.

I wonder if Barry will find a way to get back to Earth-2 on his own, or if maybe he will be Vibed over there.

Agreed. Or maybe we start to see Barry's rogues coming together to take him down.

I'm still waiting to see how this plays out. Zoom still had Jay in his arms there, so it's not like Jay has actually been Zoom all along. But then again, he was probably hiding something... so, is he bad? Is he good? Is he the good half of a guy who was somehow split apart, creating Zoom?

I preferred Temporal Flux's idea that Zoom was Barry Allen from the 1990s TV series -- with the casting even making sense; of course an older Barry Allen looks like our Barry's father.

When the heck is DC going to give us our own show on the CW?  My suggestion is a Nightwing show, but I could be talked into just about anything.

So I'm enjoying Legends of Tomorrow.  It's not great, but it's fun and I think they're having fun playing with some concepts.  The dark future of Star City was pretty cool, and I think it had a lot of fun with the whole Arrow mythology.  As far as I'm concerned, that episode alone was worth launching the series.  I really do hope that it's an anthology series and not this team because I do have some issues with the cast of characters.

Snart is probably the best character on the show, but I'm wondering if they're cheating themselves of a good character on Flash by making him too "good" on LoT.  I know he's been a bit of an ambiguous character, but I think he's always tended to look out for himself (which is why, even though he's been a "good guy" on Flash a couple times, he ends up staying a villain).  But on Legends, it seems like he's more of a selfless character than any of the others.  He seems to be the only one concerned about the mission at times, even when he's on his occasional side-trips to...steal...something?

I don't know.  I guess every episode he's doing something off-book, but he's also always saving the day.  So I guess it'll be interesting to see what happens next time he's on Flash because I'd assume he'd be entirely different once he's back from this mission.

I'm beginning to wonder if we'll get a pseudo reset button at the end of Legends season one.  The Heatwave situation is on the verge of ruining a good character dynamic for Flash, and I can't imagine they would do that.  There's also the issue of throwing away the present day Hawkman.

Well the problem with sticking with Rip and time travel is the idea that they aren't even able to maintain this Vandal Savage story for a full season.  We're 7 episodes in, and they've already had to resort to being marooned in one time, getting sent to the future accidentally, and this past episode they got sent off into space.  Not to mention I'm not even sure they have any real idea how they're going to "stop" Savage in the past.  It seems to me the simplest way would be to attack Savage during any of the hundreds of years where the team would have a distinct technological advantage.  If the issue is having some sort of record of where Savage is (and 1975 was their first chance), they could easily track him by going back to ancient Egypt and then tracking him forward.

So I don't know if making this their central story really works.

What would be cool with LoT, in my opinion - based exclusively on what TF said earlier in the discussion, would be to use this format to tell stories that might not need a full spinoff.  They could do a season dealing with Vixen (introduced as an animated series, then showed up on Arrow) or Nightwing or even Arsenal.  There could be a season dealing with Deathstroke or Earth 2/3/etc.  It'd be different from the title, but I'd actually like to see a Gotham-like season dealing with street crime in Central City or Star City.  Maybe even from the villains' point of view.

No, I don't think so either.  And they may have enough success that, like Heroes before it, they aren't able to do the anthology they want.  I just don't know if the "chasing Vandal Savage" angle really works for an entire series.

But, yeah, if they wanted to have Ray mentor a young hero, team Hawkman and Hawkgirl with Vixen, or have Sara join a new Birds of Prey, that'd be fine with me.  I actually think my "low level street crime in the Arrowverse" story would work best with Cold/Heat Wave.

No, I'm not saying they need to force Vandal in every episode.  But when you have a show with a clear goal (find/kill Vandal Savage), you either need to have a clear/focused story with only a handful of episodes (something like 11-22-63 on Hulu) or you have these situations where you get thrown off course for whatever reason.  "Oh no, we got thrown into the future!" or "Oh no, we gotta go into space!" And those can be fun, but what happens when it happens for the 30th time?  Then I think they can look equally weak or stupid.

Now maybe they get Savage this season and next season is something entirely different.  And even if it was just "Ray Palmer, Time Lord" - I just don't see it.  So that's why I'd prefer to use this show as a way to tell stories that you can't tell on Flash or Arrow.  Particularly since I definitely don't want to see another spinoff.

You're in 11.22.63?  What did you do??

It's pretty good.  Drags a bit but it's compelling.  As a native DFWite, the idea that he's teaching in some fictional place between Dallas and Fort Worth is annoying, but I've gotten passed it.  But it's one of those shows that could've probably dragged on further, but they have one mission with some bumps along the way so they don't have to have the episode where Jake has to do "fun side mission" or whatever

As far as Arrow goes, I think Amell has made some sort of reference to only having five seasons.  I'm not sure if they'll stick to that, but it might hold true.  I honestly don't think it's as bad as you've said, and I treat it a bit like Supernatural (it's out of its prime, but it's still enjoyable).  But I do worry that the Arrowverse (now including Supergirl) has spread itself way too thin.

Let's pin the Kennedy assassination on Informant.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-offici … 1763814407

I've asked this on another site, but nobody took the question seriously:

How many "homages" will it take before people finally accept the fact that the show is just a stale Superman ripoff? An homage is a clever nod. It's not every episode being taken from the pages of Superman. This is not an homage! This is like calling season 3 of Sliders an homage to 90's film-making.

Ugh. Andy should have stayed dead.

I just don't get why you would disable a character if you didn't plan to do anything with it. It makes no sense to me. Injuries add texture and depth to a story, like adding rain to a scene. I don't know what they were thinking.

With Supergirl, I think that they're trying so hard to tell Clark's story that they're failing to tell Kara's. She remembers the family that died. She came to a world where she couldn't understand anyone, much less fit into the culture. Being sunny and fun is something that she should have to earn... But they jumped forward a decade and have her Clark's personality, his rogues gallery and his outlook on life. They robbed her of her story. That is a horrible thing to do to a character.

By simply remaking Superman as a girl, she can never be anything except who she isn't. She will never be Superman.

If they do end up killing someone major (and I still have my doubts that they will. I think Quentin is as major as they'd risk, since they've shown how unwilling they are to mess with the formula), I think they should leave the space empty on the team. It's a large team already, so they don't necessarily need anyone else.

But I hope it's not Diggle. It's nice to have a tough, capable man around. The problem is, Laurel and Thea are both (more or less) characters from the comic books that they'd have a hard time killing off.

Agreed. I think the same could be accomplished by killing Felicity. But that won't happen.

Killing Diggle would suck. He has a family. I would rather just see him walk away from that life and city.

I never got the whole "if this happens, I'm never watching again" mentality. Olicity fans scream the line every time they have a fight. I'm all for twists that I don't think I'll like, as long as they're well considered and well written.

Last night's Legends was by far the worst of the series at this point. It was like there was a checklist of 1950's cliches that they had to get through, which left no room for story or putting logic into the character's actions. It was annoying.

Interesting. I knew the name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.

The episode was okay.  What's strange is how they kept forcing situations that they knew would be awkward.  There's no reason why they needed to press issues like interracial dating/marriage when it wasn't necessary to any plan.  I know the show wants to be progressive, but it put Jackson and Kendra in unnecessary danger.

Alan Sepinwall noted that they separate Jackson and Stein as quickly as possible because Firestorm can handle pretty much any problem the team can face.  Now it's all I can think about.

I'd like to see Smallville added to the multiverse too. Hopefully that can still happen. I really love the way that they opened the door to these bizarre crossovers, without sacrificing the integrity of their own story. Allison Mack could show up as Chloe Sullivan for a few episodes, and it would still make sense. That's pretty cool.

Unfortunately, they're choosing to use this power for evil, by crossing over to Supergirl.

I agree about them putting Kandra and Jackson in unnecessary situations. They did it because they wanted to play every single racism/homophobia angle that they could possibly play. But that motivation was wrong. I was thinking about it, and I started to wonder how many stories we've seen set in the 20's, 30's or 40's, with such heavy-handed issue handling. I don't know what it is about the 50's, but they always make that the most racist, despicable decade when they show it on TV shows. Does it have to do with rebelling against the society that the Greatest Generation built when they came home from war, or is there something else that I'm missing?

Kendra would have made much more sense as the nurse. Sara would have made much more sense as the wife. And for that matter, Sara could have gone over to talk to the high school girl without drawing any attention to herself. The whole episode was forced and clunky.

I like the idea of making the Firestorm matrix unstable. They could explain that something is a little off with the Stein/Jax connection, which was more stable with Ronnie. There is usually tension between them, so it would be interesting to play that as part of their unstable matrix.

Not sure exactly what will happen, but Savage will probably be gone. Not sure how much of the cast will be held onto.
http://screenrant.com/dc-legends-tomorr … mparisons/

Red Kryptonite, in the comics, has completely random effects. It might turn Superman transparent or make him evil or whatever and wears off after a day or so. In LOIS & CLARK, it made Superman apathetic. SMALLVILLE and SUPERGIRL seem to be using the same playbook.

Melissa Benoist continues to amaze as an actress. It's easy to forget that her goofy, dorky persona is a performance until you see a flash of crazy, demonic rage such as when she fought Red Tornado or came out of the simulation -- but Red!Kara was almost unrecognizable in demeanor and temperament and she scared the hell out of me.