The DC Comics TV & Movie Thread - A Thread for Talking about Detective Comics Comics Television Shows and Movies

[Sarcasmorator]

I really liked this show. Great job humanizing a one-note Suicide Squad character in a way that doesn't feel forced or cheap. I really liked the last scene: sitting on his steps, feeding the last of his jar of goo to a doomed alien queen because he's won, but he's not cruel, while the shade of his dead asshole dad sits grinning, promising to pop up whenever he's least welcome from now on.

One of the inherent advantages of taking a D-list nobody and making a show is that you're not hemmed in by previous characterizations. To do the sort of thing they did with Peacemaker to a character like Superman, they'd have to make a whole different show, like The Boys. But with this, they can take an established but loosely defined guy, and go "What if a shallow, jingoistic asshole...didn't want to be as much of an asshole anymore, because it makes him miserable?" And it's interesting how they go about it.

Also, I'm not sure there's a director around with a better understanding of which song would really elevate a scene than Gunn. Consistently makes an ideal choice you'd not expect.

He's also one of very few directors who can strike just the right balance of crudity and violence and poignancy and heart, pushing the limit of what I'm willing to buy into without going over the line.

 

[Rascally Badger]

Posting this mostly because it looks like Black Adam is actually just an undercover Justice Society movie and NOW I'm interested.

I can't describe how excited for Black Adam I am for that very reason. Easily my favorite superhero team, mostly because I am a big fan of dorky also-rans.

 

[jpfriction]

I’m not really a James Gunn fan but this was top to bottom fantastic. I guess I like his stuff better in small doses.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

I am a big fan of dorky also-rans.

I hear ya. Give me a Shadowpact or Justice League International movie please.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Watched the entirety of The Batman just thinking, wow, the Penguin is like really hot, right? What's going on here? That's a bold choice, of which I approve, really. And then I (re-)discovered he is played by Colin Farrell. (I was vaguely aware in the past, but I wasn't following this movie closely) Anyway, lol.

 

[4-So]

My favorite part of The Penguin in The Batman is when he's apprehended for questioning, and his feet are taped, and they just leave him there and he waddles out.

 

[Adrenaline]

I really don't think the identity of the actor playing a major character in a movie is a spoiler

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

I do not believe in the concept of spoilers at all, I would change the world so no once cared about them if I could, and like I said, I once knew about this information despite not seeking it out. But I forgot while watching the film and was surprised afterwards. So I'll say it plainly: in The Batman (2022 film), Oswald "the Penguin" Cobblepot is played by Colin Farrell. Hot Penguin 2022.

Anyway, I agree with this review...

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

My favorite part of The Penguin in The Batman is when he's apprehended for questioning, and his feet are taped, and they just leave him there and he waddles out.

I missed this while going to the bathroom I think. Sounds cute!

 

[Voncaster]

I watched the Batman today. Overall I enjoyed it.

I really liked the visuals and the first 2/3s of the movie. I liked the atmosphere the film makers created for Gotham. Everything post Riddler capture was less compelling and extended the movie unnecessarily.

There was a ton of Year One references: Bruce in street cloths scouting the city on motorcycle, Catwoman as a sex worker, and the cat scratch on Carmine Falcone's face. If you're going to take ideas from the comics, might as well take from one of the best.

 

[Rascally Badger]

I finished up Season 7 of Legends of Tomorrow, which hit Netflix in the US last week. You could feel either budget or covid constraints really keeping this season grounded. There was still a lot to love, but it was definitely less ambitious than previous seasons. That said, the finale had Booster Gold. And he was perfect. The show has not been renewed for a Season 8 yet, but you don't hire Dr. Turk to play Buster Booster Gold for one inconclusive episode, right?

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Yeah I'm not sure. I'm sure the people making Legends would be happy to keep going, but this last season felt like there was a lot of finality to it. Like, the only original character from the beginning is Sara, and they designed a very convenient out for her character here at the end of this episode. They had several episodes that felt like goodbyes/last hurrahs, and the entire season is very introspective about the nature of their travels and camaraderie and if they even need to be doing the jobs they do. The current cast is... a bunch of actual nobodies/original characters with no recognizable hero personas. I'd be ok with this show just being over and not coming back, or using it as a stealth launching point for a Booster Gold show.

I feel like there's probably a reevaluation of a lot of their CW shows at this point and what they're doing. Arrow, Supergirl, Constantine, and Black Lightning are all concluded or cancelled. Superman & Lois is going but it's almost completely divorced from Supergirl/the rest of the Arrowverse and pretends like none of that exists. All of the other HBO Max shows have nothing to do with the Arrowverse either and are all marked improvements in quality versus the CW's output. And now there's Naomi - which also is completely unrelated (and embarrassingly bad). The Arrowverse has shrunken down to just Batwoman and the Flash - both of which are atrocious shows. I'd be happy with them just closing the door on all these shows.

 

[Positronic Brain]

you don't hire Dr. Turk to play Buster Booster Gold for one inconclusive episode, right?

Oh my God, that's a great casting choice.

And now there's Naomi - which also is completely unrelated (and embarrassingly bad).

Uh. I wondered why they were promoting her so much in the comics. Hiring Bendis, have him develop a character as a media pitch and then forcing it to happen sounds pretty much like something WB executives would do.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I don't want to throw too much shade at Naomi, because it's very obviously a show targeting tweens and caters most of its dialog/plot/jokes/everything towards that audience. So me, an old stogy adult, not enjoying those aspects doesn't make the show bad, it just isn't for me. But oh lord is it not for me. And I think you can make a good argument that it's bad, actually.

 

[Bongo]

Somehow I was persuaded to go out to a theater to watch The Batman instead of waiting for streaming. The auditorium was nearly full and I’m probably gonna take a covid test later.

However, I liked the movie itself a lot. Gonna have to digest a bit on those Themes before I comment in earnest, however; all I can muster up at the moment is an appreciation for Michael Giacchino’s score and the following tepid quip: Batman’s superpower was always his wealth, but it manifests differently in various depictions, in this case meaning that cops don't hassle him

 

[Becksworth]

I got a chance to see The Batman tonight. Thankfully the theater only had one other group there, so slow night.

I mostly liked it. For most of the movie it was relatively lower stakes thriller/mystery compared to other bat-flicks. More Detective Comics than Batman like a lot of people were expecting, which made the big climatic finish feel all the more tacked on and like it was a studio mandate.

Also "tacked on because mandate on high" feeling was the Joker tease at the end. Especially considering the movie was kind of also low key teasing Hush as a possible future villain before that, what with the reporter Falcone "Hushed" for Thomas Wayne had Elliot as his last name (Makes more sense as a reason for Thomas Elliot to want revenge on Bruce than in the comics).

 

[Becksworth]

So a deleted scene that featured the Joker more was shared with media outlets. It better contextualizes Joker's presence in the film as being a Hannibal Lector/Calendar Man role in the story rather than a sequel tease. Honestly, I think they should have kept it in. The movie was already long as is. What's another five minutes?

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Young Justice Season 4 is back from hiatus. This last four episode arc has focused on Aqualad/Aquaman and Atlantis. This... might be the best representation of the Aquafam ever made? Like, the focused and deep examination of Atlantean society/mythos is great. The expanded characters filling out the Aquafam is also great. They're giving the Aquafam the kind of depth that rivals the Flashfam and the Arrowfam and the Wonderfam. It's even more coherent and interesting than my favorite Batfam and Superfam. If the new Discovery overlords at WB had any brains they'd give Greg Weisman more creative control over the DC brand.

The ending of the Aquaman Arc in S4 was so "Duh, hello Megan!" levels of obvious but awesome that it's honestly baffling that nobody thought to do this before. (Maybe someone did think of this? And I'm just ignorant to Aquacomics?) But Aquaman going "The Justice League has two Flashes and four Green Lanterns, I think they can handle two... no make that three Aquamen" is fantastic. And that's before you get to Mera being elected King of Atlantis. Just... so good. I don't know what's crazier. That we live in a world where YJ got a 4th season, and that it's better than it's ever been. Or that nobody seems to be watching it around these parts.

 

[Positronic Brain]

If the new Discovery overlords at WB had any brains they'd give Greg Weisman more creative control over the DC brand.

I've been saying this for anything Weisman has touched since Gargoyles.

 

[BEAT]

So peacemaker Is a fucking riot

 

[jpfriction]

Do ya really wanna taste it?

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I would gladly listen to the full BEAT breakdown on Peacemaker

 

[BEAT]

I mean I can TRY but I think all I'd end up with is "It was a lot of fun and I really liked it!"

 

[BEAT]

I was genuinely surprised by how much I loved it, seeing as Peacemaker's Whole character in The Suicide Squad was "the douchebag." Just designed from top to bottom as a very one-note nobody. I just didn't see there being a whole series worth of STUFF they could do with him.

And then suddenly he WASN'T and they totally DID have a whole series worth of stuff to do with him and I was like "Oh fuck oh shit oh fuck"

 

[BEAT]

Also John Cena is a much better actor than I think anyone gave him credit for.

 

[BEAT]

Also saw THE BATMAN like two weeks back or so and DAMN that was a hell of a thing.

I feel like there was TOO MUCH in it at times. For example the whole the whole "WHAT IF MY DAD WAS BAAAAAAD LOL JK" kinda didn't really add anything and could probably have been written out pretty easily, but on the whole? yeah I was pretty much transfixed from start to end.

We've finally hit the point where I have WAY better feelings for everything DC has done in the last few years over everything Marvel's Done, and I don't think that's JUST because my intense hatred for the Walt Disney Company is all-consuming. At least part of this comes down to variety. Every DC project feels like it's completely its own thing. Shazam is 100% a kids movie for Kids. Aquaman is a fever dream adventure movie. The Suicide Squad is a splatstick action comedy Joker is an intense character study. And now THE BATMAN is... also an intense character study but a profoundly different type of intense character study.

I know Marvel Movies are different from eachother, we can point out the ways they're different from eachother all day. But they are calculated to be similar enough to not alienate anyone who sees all the marvel movies because they like all the marvel movies and expect certain marvel movie THINGS, and I think that's sort of to their detriment now. By contrast DC movies blew up their supposed house style by the time Justice League Rolled around the first time, and I think that lead to a lot of... freedom?

Like.

I don't feel like THE BATMAN or PEACEMAKER take the rest of the supposed franchise into consideration when they do anything. They just go with what feels like it will work best in that exact moment, fuck the rest of the "series" nobody gives a shit about that right now.

Meanwhile every scene in something like Black Widow has to exist within the narrow constraints of "THE MCU" hanging over its head like the sword of Damocles. And I'm not even talking about how I KNEW HOW IT ENDED BEFORE I STARTED WATCHING IT. Everything in it felt... mechanical. Perfunctory. Precision made to serve a purpose and fill in a wiki page. It wasn't BAD but it never grabbed me.

IDK this post kinda got away from me.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

We've finally hit the point where I have WAY better feelings for everything DC has done in the last few years over everything Marvel's Done...

This is how I feel, and breaking off on a meta tangent: Lots of ppl at the top of the food chain at WB/DC are getting replaced right now; several big name resignations in the past week. Presumably replaced with people from the Discovery side of things. I don't feel an ounce of pity for a single one of those suits, and most of them probably deserved to get fired long ago. But it'll be interesting to see what becomes of everything here. Because whatever or whoever was calling the shots at WB, DC has been firing on most of its cylinders lately and HBO Max is easily the best streaming service currently out there. And they're about to be run by the people that brought you the daytime cable tv wasteland that is:

Food Network
HGTV
TLC
Animal Planet
Travel Channel
Oprah Winfrey Network
etc, etc.

On the one hand, I have a marked affinity towards DC stuff, and a lof of what WB is doing these days, esp on the HBO/Max side of things.

On the other hand, I will do nothing but gleefully cackle if giant ugly monsterous corporate neofeudal entity goes down in flames of their own accord.

So tl;dr: popcorn.gif

 

[Bongo]

I mean, it was execs on the HBO Max side of thing who made insane bank on confirmed popular movie Zack Snyder's Justice League while execs on the WB side were the ones who tried to tank the whole thing for inscrutable reasons. Getting a bunch of cable TV washouts might still be an upgrade. Media execs are all stupid but some of them can count.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

The guy running HBO Max was one of the first heads to roll; Discovery's stated intention is on merging Discovery+ with HBO Max.

 

[Bongo]

Dang. I guess streaming will not save mass media after all.