Octopus Overlords

In other words, they are the most comic-booky comic book shows on TV, with all the pros and cons that come with that.

Well I think the main problem isn't that they're comic-booky, it's that they're CW-y. One of the main reasons Arrow has lost its way over the last few seasons is its concentration on his relationship with stupid Felicity, which the tween type fans who are in control of media seem to adore. In the beginning, Arrow was pretty good. It was kind of a dark telling of his story, about the struggle of this rich guy who turned into a stone cold killer, struggling to come to terms with the question of how he can be a hero and a killer both.

Now it's like they're not really sure what they want to be about.

cheeba wrote:Well I think the main problem isn't that they're comic-booky, it's that they're CW-y. One of the main reasons Arrow has lost its way over the last few seasons is its concentration on his relationship with stupid Felicity, which the tween type fans who are in control of media seem to adore. In the beginning, Arrow was pretty good. It was kind of a dark telling of his story, about the struggle of this rich guy who turned into a stone cold killer, struggling to come to terms with the question of how he can be a hero and a killer both.

Now it's like they're not really sure what they want to be about.

Yep that about covers it for Arrow. Though honestly I had no problem with the Oliver/Felicity relationship, just the way they played it. It was far better than anything with Laurel Lance. Sorry but Miss Cassidy can't act her way out of a paper bag and her and Amell had zero chemistry.

Word on the street is that there is a standalone (not part of the DCEU canon) Joker film coming out without Jared Leto, to be made by Martin Scorsese.

I had heard that as well. I just can't find it in me to care. Of all the characters that do not need an origin, he is at the top of the list

sgoldj wrote:I had heard that as well. I just can't find it in me to care. Of all the characters that do not need an origin, he is at the top of the list

Part of the appeal of The Dark Knight was that you didn't know if the Joker was telling his origin differently each time on purpose to mess with people or if he really was insane and couldn't tell reality from fantasy. Why mess with that? As much as I like Scorsese, I don't know about this. Then again, DC/WB makes terrible decisions when it comes to the Batman franchise. Ahem...batnipples...

Yeah - not sure why it has to be an origin story. Just make a cool Joker movie.

I'm so tired of everything having to have a backstory. Why can't we just accept characters as who they are and enjoy their adventure? Why does every decision and plot point have to be explained?

It's like we're living in a perpetual episode of Muppet Babies.

sgoldj wrote:I had heard that as well. I just can't find it in me to care. Of all the characters that do not need an origin, he is at the top of the list

Same here. And I don't understand why they would want to confuse their audience by making some of these films outside of the cinematic universe.

msteelers wrote:

sgoldj wrote:I had heard that as well. I just can't find it in me to care. Of all the characters that do not need an origin, he is at the top of the list

Same here. And I don't understand why they would want to confuse their audience by making some of these films outside of the cinematic universe.

Because they are DC and they are constantly playing and losing "lets beat Marvel". It also has to do with their whole multiverse thing. Same thing applies to their CW shows and their cinematic universe.

Continuing. Now I have heard that the Batman solo movie that used to be a Batfleck project will now be outside the DCEU as well. Ok, I can deal with the multiverse as set up in the Flash TV show, I have no problem with a TV Superman and Movie Superman, etc, but this is going way overboard IMO.

The only way I can see this not blowing up is all these side projects being "Elseworlds : The Joker" and establishing by prologue what Elseworlds is.

sgoldj wrote:Continuing. Now I have heard that the Batman solo movie that used to be a Batfleck project will now be outside the DCEU as well. Ok, I can deal with the multiverse as set up in the Flash TV show, I have no problem with a TV Superman and Movie Superman, etc, but this is going way overboard IMO.

The only way I can see this not blowing up is all these side projects being "Elseworlds : The Joker" and establishing by prologue what Elseworlds is.

They should just change actors mid movie. Like Ben Afleck is Batman until the middle of the movie when he is replaced by Kit Harington.

sgoldj wrote:Continuing. Now I have heard that the Batman solo movie that used to be a Batfleck project will now be outside the DCEU as well. Ok, I can deal with the multiverse as set up in the Flash TV show, I have no problem with a TV Superman and Movie Superman, etc, but this is going way overboard IMO.

The only way I can see this not blowing up is all these side projects being "Elseworlds : The Joker" and establishing by prologue what Elseworlds is.

This was a misunderstood quote. The solo Batman is part of the DCEU. One of the executives was just quoted as saying that it wasn't connected to the larger DCEU story and people mistook it to mean that it had no connection at all. It'll be Batfleck, and it will be the same Batfleck that we saw in BvS and JL. Just don't expect to see Darkseid or Superman in it.

Hopefully places like What Culture will correct the impression then. I don't care if the roles are recast, I do think that there is an on going confusion. WB can run it the way the like of course, and the box office will tell

Still enjoying the Flash tv series, but....


When does Wally get a suit upgrade, Barry has had several so far.

sgoldj wrote: Wed Oct 18, 2017 6:12 pm Still enjoying the Flash tv series, but....


When does Wally get a suit upgrade, Barry has had several so far.

When he is the star of the show.... Plus you see how well the latest upgrade went, so Wally is probably better off without one.

Punisher wrote: Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:54 pm

sgoldj wrote: Wed Oct 18, 2017 6:12 pm Still enjoying the Flash tv series, but....


When does Wally get a suit upgrade, Barry has had several so far.

When he is the star of the show.... Plus you see how well the latest upgrade went, so Wally is probably better off without one.

The scene where Cisco was defending each upgrade was pretty hysterical. The take out HUD menu was really useful!

I am still watching and loving it, although I avoid this thread every other week. Because I watch with my kids, I alternate between caught up and a week behind (remember, the kids are only with me alternating weeks.)

Zachary Levi (Chuck in Chuck) has been announced as the title character in Shazam. He'll need to bulk up, but I think he's a good choice. The core concept of Shazam is that, even as a Superman-sized badass, he's still a 12-year-old kid. Finding someone with muscles is easy. Finding someone who can play a convincing kid without being obnoxious is much harder.

Actually, he may not need to bulk up. Rubber muscles should work fine, as he'll never been seen outside of the Shazam costume (the 'secret identity' would actually have to be played by a child actor.)

Production has begun on Shazam!

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/02/06/ ... 580c00006c

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Oct 27, 2017 8:23 pm Zachary Levi (Chuck in Chuck) has been announced as the title character in Shazam. He'll need to bulk up, but I think he's a good choice. The core concept of Shazam is that, even as a Superman-sized badass, he's still a 12-year-old kid. Finding someone with muscles is easy. Finding someone who can play a convincing kid without being obnoxious is much harder.

Actually, he may not need to bulk up. Rubber muscles should work fine, as he'll never been seen outside of the Shazam costume (the 'secret identity' would actually have to be played by a child actor.)

Maybe it was an internet rumor, but I'd heard that Dwayne Johnson was in talks to play it. If anyone could pull that combo off, it would be him. Maybe John Cena, he's a funny dude.

Rock is supposed to play Black Adam. He is also producing it I think.

Daehawk wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:38 am Rock is supposed to play Black Adam. He is also producing it I think.

That's what it was, thanks.

you're welcome.

Some random thoughts:

~All four Arrowverse shows plus Black Lightning have been renewed
~Arrow has been much better this season as they've gotten away from the soap opera romances
~Flash, one of my favorites, has gotten a much-needed freshening by finally not having a speedster villain
~I like Ralph Dibney on Flash, but I hope he's a one-season character. It would be easy to have too much of him and his Jim Carrey antics.
~Supergirl has been much better since its network move
~Black Lightning has been a surprise - I'm actually really liking it.
~Speaking of, I bought an old Tales of the Teen Titans from a dollar box a few weeks ago, and it turned out to be the first appearances of both Thunder and Lightning (major characters on Black Lightning.)
~Gotham creeps slowly closer to Batman, and is beginning to feel less like Nolan films and more like the Burton films, for better or worse.
~Steven Spielberg just signed on to direct Blackhawk (no relation.) I'm looking forward to this one, especially if they keep the WWII setting.
~The rest of the DCEU (film universe) continues to be in chaos, with films being announced, quietly not mentioned, or changed all the damned time.

I’ve dropped them all at this point. If they were 13 episode seasons I think they’d feel less like the writers were constantly padding the stories with crap. But 20 some episodes is just too much to keep up with in addition to the aforementioned issue of quality.

I have keeping up with izombie though. Shorter, tighter seasons make for a more interesting time.

Oh, and 2018 marks 80 years since Superman was introduced in Action Comics #1, creating the superhero genre. Today was also the release of Action Comics #1000. I made the trek up to town and was there when the only comic shop around opened. I actually showed up a little early and was inside 5 minutes before their opening time, and the section they had set aside for it was already getting a little thin. By the time I paid for mine, the cover I'd chosen (they had half a dozen different cover variants) was already sold out.

80*12 =960

Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:43 pm 80*12 =960

Not all comics are monthly. Some are bi-monthly. Some are weekly, some are bi-weekly. So, like Action Comics, has had multiple release patterns over its history. It currently comes out twice a month. It also had a period of several years where its numbering reset, but then later resumed. It's still the 1000th issue of Action Comics.

I know, I'm just being snarkantic.

Allison Mack of Smallville accused of sex trafficking.

Actress Allison Mack was arrested on Friday morning and charged with recruiting women into an empowerment group that functioned as a sex trafficking operation.

Mack, 35, "recruited women to join what was purported to be a female mentorship group," said Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a written statement. "Victims were then exploited, both sexually and for their labor, to the defendants' benefit."

Prosecutors allege that Mack was involved in the scheme with Keith Raniere, the leader of "NXIVM" (pronounced "Nex-ee-um"). Promoted as a self-help group, the organization offers expensive courses that have in the past attracted support from high profile people including Richard Branson. Former members describe NXIVM as a "cult."

Just recently finished watching this season of Arrow.

I'm a comic book nerd, used to collect them in the 80's/early 90's (stopped in 95). Mostly Marvel, some DC. Watched all the superhero cartoons, most all the movies, etc. I get they sometimes do silly and/or unbelievable things and or just dumb things that don't always make sense.

But my wife and I had major problem with one part of Arrow in the last few episodes...
That part was just really stupid bad.

I really liked the most recent season. It took a page from the early seasons before they started using Arrow as a launchpad for their universe. I agree about that one bit, though. That whole organization just never quite worked. There are some really, really powerful 'secret society' organizations in the DC universe, some of which have already been shown in Arrow. To survive in that environment, they'd have had to learn to be very, very cautious. Unless, of course...

I watched the first 6-7 episodes of Black Lightning over the weekend (it's on Netflix). It's good! I'm not a huge fan of the CW DC shows -- I enjoyed the first couple seasons of Arrow and have watched the occasional episode of Flash, but that's about it. I definitely was not expecting something as serious and well-constructed as Black Lightning turned out to be.

The acting is strong all around. Well, James Remar is pretty bland as the obligatory Technology Guy, but it seems like his character might get some interesting wrinkles. The actors playing Black Lightning's daughters are particularly good.

The FX and action sequences are very... network TV. Which isn't horrible -- TV effects have improved a lot in recent years -- but it's not Netflix-quality. Not a huge deal, as the show is more interested in the consequence of fights than the fights themselves.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the season, which won't take too long, since it's only 13 episodes total.

Titans trailer dropped today. I still really, really don't like Starfire.

God, that looks awful. The actor playing Robin is hot. The rest is a complete mess.

Seriously, the idiots running DC think any character other than Flash or Wonder Woman must be grimdark to be taken seriously. So one-note and boring.

They’re going to honor Zack Snyder’s vision until it destroys them, aren’t they?

That's my fear. That doesn't at all resemble the feel of the comics of the same name.

hepcat wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:07 pm They’re going to honor Zack Snyder’s vision until it destroys them, aren’t they?

Correct. And why not? It worked...one time!

Did I miss the emo reboot of the Teen Titans? That looks...awful.