Yeah, this is the Spiderverse for the entire MCU, definitely. What If...? predates the Spiderverse by several decades. Calling the show the MCU Spiderverse is like saying Tony Stark is the old Ruri Williams.
So...I watched the backdoor pilot for "Painkiller" this week. Didn't like it at all. I don't know, the set design, the lighting, just the whole Akashic Valley thing put me off. Also wasn't thrilled about the "copycat" nature of the supporting characters as compared with those in Black Lightning (another former ASA guy and a medico, plus a high tech lair under an ordinary business), including the reveal on the villain at the end. Nope.
Bob Newhart wakes up in bed and tells Suzanne Pleshette he had the strangest dream...
Much like that pirate ship in Monty Python's Meaning of Life. The Crimson Permanent Assurance did return for an unwarranted attack on the main feature, only to have a larger building fall on it.
Wonder if we can get a Raymond Burr tribute. Ever see Pinky & the Brain: Tokyo Grows?
Mecha Godzilla, Nozuki aka Warbat, and a Skullcrawler Of Unusual Size should all be making appearances, based on the upcoming toy line.
There was a single reference to "all those years" Ryan spent teaching karate, but so far that's all the justification we have for her combat skills. Overall I liked both Ryan and Ryan-as-Batwoman more than I thought I might, but I agree with those that felt the episode was rushed, or compressed. Spoiler: I didn't want Tommy to impersonate Bruce for any lengthy period, but it felt like he got exposed too quickly to do any damage -- he even found the Batmobile for them.
And what's up with Ryan not being killed or even seriously injured by the kryptonite bullet that was supposed to have taken Kate out, and why does she seem to be infected by something that should only be harmful to Kryptonians? Normal humans affected by kryptonite only happened in Earth-167's Smallville, right?
It seems silly to refer to the Disney animated version as "the original", particularly since it wasn't a faithful adaptation to begin with.
Oliver was only broody because Dad killed himself. Also, five years of Lian Yu, Deathstroke, League of Assassins, and Bratva do not incline one toward a cheery disposition.
Marvel fans will show up in hazmat suits. Or hope to gain superpowers from exposure. "Bitten by a radioactive virus, she became Patient Zero! With her faithful canine companion, Vector..." Sorry, I'm on kind of a "dumb origins" kick lately. Reading several books like this and watching the 1st episode of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist will have that effect, apparently.
Comic book characters without comics would just be inexpressibly sad. Though I admit, I've been tired of $4 an issue for a while now. Part of me would be happy to time travel to repurchase and reread my first collection from the 60's and 70's, one week at a time, for 20-25 cents an issue off a spinning rack at a 7-11...and ignore most of what's happened in DC post-Crisis. And also...5G sounds awful.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Grodd Central City wgah'nagl fhtagn.
After two episodes, it does not impress. But I don't give up on Hugh Laurie easily, so...
Rational.
Yes, Weather Witch is a meta-tech user. She'd been an amateur meteorologist; on the day of the Enlightenment, her weather van was hit by a falling S.T.A.R. Labs satellite. A piece of the van was charged with dark matter and became her staff. Her presence suggests the Enlightenment took place on the merged New World, though, so the same argument applies: there could be more meta-tech users. Unfortunately something CW has accomplished here is something very much like the aftermath of the comics Crisis in'87: there's now no reliable guide for the viewers as to what happened over the past seven years. Some of those world shaking events, isolated to one TV show or another, may have played out very differently or not at all. The past few crossovers would certainly have been different, if only because there'd be no need for trans-dimensional tech to accomplish it. Good stuff in the last two episodes, though. The exterior of the unused, secret S.T.A.R. Labs research facility -- very appropriate, and not at all what I was expecting given the sparse warehouse/high school gym feel of the interior. Also... Spoiler: "You have failed...this...universe!"
I'm curious about this myself. In the comics... Spoiler: ...there are now (or were recently...I may be a reboot behind) two concurrent Flashes named Wally West, both of whom were Iris's nephews by different siblings.
Original recipe Wally -- who was The Flash at the time, having long since succeeded Barry Allen in that role -- was retconned out of existence with the the New 52 reboot in 2011, and replaced with a a Wally who brought a little more ethnic diversity to the DC superhero community. (CW Wally was based on New 52 Wally.) Then with Rebirth in 2016, the old Wally was pulled back into existence alongside the new one. Seems unlikely this same tack would be taken with Barry & Barry. Just saying there is precedent for multiple Flashes in the same space/time, neither of them visitors. Here's my entirely unsupported guess: every other set of dopplegangers on the multiple Earths were merged into single entities. But Barry's unique speed-based ability to change his own vibrational frequency interfered with that on a molecular ot even quantum level...his various dopplegangers merged, but down to two rather than down to one.
Wait, so if... Spoiler:
the galaxy has exactly ONE Jedi in it, a Jedi who thoroughly flirted with the Dark Side (which, apparently, means that forever will it dominate their destiny:-)) and there is one other significant Force Sensitive PC. and we know from an earlier movie that Spoiler:
with the Sith, there are "always two" ...then does that mean balance has at last been brought to the Force? /jk
I'd subscribe to that comic, see the movie and buy the TV series on DVD.
So Routh Supes is BOTH Kingdom Come Supes (the way his friends died) AND Superman Returns Supes (has a son named Jason). Everybody wins! As well as the Chris Reeve Superman (tar-laced Kryptonite splits him into good Clark and bad Superman, forcing a fight between them) into two and fought himself in Superman III) and the gray-templed Kal-L of Earth-2, who married Lois and became editor of the Daily Planet. Batman's description of Clark as a "strange visitor from another planet, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men" ties in the George Reeves TV series and Bud Collyer radio series and cartoons as well.
One concerned a boy who lived in a sea floor base, a kind of mole monster that lived beneath the sea bed, and a spy named "Mr Lilibulero" or something like that. Not at all what you're thinking of, but the reference to a boy living on the sea floor triggered a fond memory of this book. Between it and several National Geographic/Jacques Cousteau TV specials in the 60's and the Sealab 2020 cartoon, I was determined to be a marine biologist for several years as a kid.
Any goodwill Sophie was just barely earning from me with her flashbacks and developments earlier in the episode were crushed when she (a married woman) threw herself at Kate and then, when rejected, threw herself back at her husband and bald-faced, outright lied to his face. Yeah, that was a big disappointment. I do not want her to heroically sacrifice herself and stay dead. Partly because I'd rather see her world gradually crash down around her, lose her husband and still can't get Kate back, cease to be Cmdr. Kane's favorite, etc. All without taking up too much screen time. You know what's messed up? I am FAR more interested in the redemption of Alice, and she frikkin' kills people. And enjoys it. And I still am far more invested in her development and growth. Alice is definitely the more [most?] interesting character. I don't expect she'll ever find redemption, but it is nice that she's modifying her behavior just enough to keep Kate alive. The recent realization that Kate never gave up on her clearly matters to her a great deal, but it'll never be enough to overcome over a decade of perceived abandonment, imprisonment and psychological torture. Julia was awesome, and had great chemistry with Kate. I hope she comes back. Kate now has TWO potential lovers/love interests that are way worth rooting for more than Sophie. Get with the program, show. I was kind of "meh" on Julia. I think that was mostly due to my being entirely unfamiliar with her from the comics; I'd literally never heard of her prior to this episode and from my perspective she might as well have been invented for the show. So despite having read otherwise in the past couple of weeks, my knee jerk reaction was still "So Alfred suddenly has a daughter...who's a badass agent of...something...and she has a past with Kate?" (See my previous rant on the too-large size of the extended Batman family.) So Kate is doing an Early Oliver and building a club in the slums (but yet is somehow across the street from a fancy restaurant). Well, neighborhood borders have to fall somewhere. This border happens to be on that street. Contrast is stark, but I can recall one time as a kid when it was raining steadily in my parents' back yard with not a drop in the front yard. It's interesting that Kate namedrops Mary to threaten the terrible restaurant guy rather than, say, her dad who more or less commands the Crows. Not to mention, the Kanes are supposed to be fairly well known, yes? Right, but social media buzz can make or break a restaurant, faster and more surely than one well known rich couple telling their friends not to go.
I am a fan of 70's, pre-TDKR Batman. There is a lot I don't like about directions Batman has been taken since then, in comics and especially in movies. I won't go into it all here; it's a long list. I still think of myself as a Batman fan, though. That said, I don't want to see Batman or Bruce Wayne in Batwoman. I don't even want to see him in Crisis unless, as DQ mentioned, it's Batman from a different Earth. This is Kate's show and needs to remain unsullied. She's not a placeholder for Batman's eventual return. Bruce skipped out, Kate stepped up, and even a guest appearance by Bruce would feel like a step back. Also, while I was fine with Superman making a couple of brief appearances on Supergirl, I hated the way they were handled. Yes, it's Kara's show. No, Clark should not have swooped in to save the day when Kara couldn't handle something. So far so good. But that mewling, subservient "Gosh, Kara, you were always stronger than me" b!!!%**@ really stuck in my craw. Given that they both have to hold back most of the time, there should usually be no discernible difference in strength levels between them; they should be equal in power for most purposes. If they really have to test their ultimate limits, I feel like Superman should edge out Supergirl simply due to his greater muscle mass: he should be storing more solar energy.
So, yeah, I guess I'd also be worried about what they'd decide to turn Bruce/Batman into in order to make it clear to the casual viewer that he might be the OG, but he's not better. He just has more mileage.
I'm trying, and failing, to see Bette Kane in Mary. No insult to Mary that to me she's not pre-Crisis Betty Kane (Bat-Girl) or post-Crisis Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane (Flamebird), but it's not a connection I would ever have made, and if that's what the showrunners are going for, color me baffled. Honestly, Mary's probably the closest thing we'll see to the Bruce Wayne persona in this show: by day seemingly a shallow idle rich partier, by night secretly doing something worthwhile.
Flash! Ah-Ahhhhhh! And Chunk was a nice surprise. Although, y'know, not chunky.
So...I have a pretty strong hate on for comic book antiheroes in general, and what I think of as "casually reformed" villains in particular. I was fine with the concept of the Suicide Squad in comics, because no one pretended they (including Waller) were good guys. And yes, Margot Robbie was fun to watch as Harley in the Suicide Squad movie. But I'm just never going to be on board with Deadpool, the Punisher*, Harley Quinn, etc. cast as anything remotely resembling heroes. * So, with that too-long disclaimer out of the way, I wasn't the target audience to begin with for a movie that even includes Harley as anything other than straight up villain. But that trailer looks less like "Birds of Prey meet Harley Quinn" than it does "Birds of Prey get cameos in Harley's solo film."
Well, there you go: just retcon Magento as a concentration camp test subject, recipient of a Nazi super soldier serum, frozen in ice for a few decades. Problem solved.
[gasping for breath]Must make...one...last...issue...[/gasping]
They've had plenty of good stories, but continuity? That story rewrote continuity, replacing Superman's origin. Which was at the time based on the post-Crisis Byrne rewrite, which had replaced the Silver Age rewrite. Oh, but DC isn't to blame for all of that. It's all Dr. Manhattan's fault. [/SARCASM]
I get that it could be a force vision of some sort. However, giving her a new bad-ass weapon and not having it actually get used in reality would be pretty lame. Is it really a "new" weapon, though, or a rehash of Darth Maul's two-bladed sword staff? /jk
It would be difficult for them to do a worse one. Studio says "Hold my beer."
Can't keep a decent sci-fi show on the air, but Zombie Tidal Wave -- that they can do. Needs to rebrand itself as the Schlock Netork.
Talent for understatement you have, yes.
Agreed. The above trailer seems to want to convey "dark comedy", which is no more appropriate for The Boys than it would have been for Watchmen of V for Vendetta.
It was built in an area where the border with Leng is especially thin, specifically in order to take advantage of the edritch energies that leak through. Perhaps those energies affect the local ecology enough to allow mutated grasses to grow and sustain the aurochs.
That would be neat, particularly if they riffed off of one of the arcs where Morgana (or Kulan Garth)... Kang's World! Kang's World! Party time! Excellent! Party on, Kang. Party on, Kulan Garth.
Chris: No matter what anyone at DC says, I don't believe hypertime ever really went away. (My God, I hate hypertime! Biggest cop out in the history of comics, allowing for the total abdication of all responsibility for anything remotely representing continuity, anywhere or anywhen.) Thomas: ...and that's another thing! I resent the renumbering(s) and realignment(s) by DC of...okay, their universes. *I* live on Earth-0, and the default setting for the DC multiverse is Earth-1. Sorry, I'm feeling particularly grognardic today.
While I don't think of this as especially spoilery -- not huge plot points -- I'll cloak them anyway. Talkin' 'bout my generation
Spoiler:
Chen reveals that she and her sister are third generation twins working for Monarch. In the family photo she showed, I wondered if any of the women depicted had played "Mothra fairies" in earlier Toho movies. "-----teen and counting"
Spoiler: For purposes of this film, Monarch has been monitoring 18 known "titans". I didn't catch many names, even with the news items coming up at the end: Behemoth
Also, Stone Mountain (Georgia?) was listed as an outpost/containment site? WTF came out of there??? This site claims to have identified "all 17" of the titans in the film, but (a) I think we were told there were 17 after Godzilla, and (b) I believe Scylla was noted in the news items at the end as being the basis for Greek griffon legends, so it wouldn't be the spider titan. But this is not the only online site identifying it as such. (Honestly, neither makes a lot of sense when Scylla of legend is described alternately as as having the upper body of a woman, the tail of a fish, and a waist encircled by six dog heads...or a creature with twelve dangling feet, six long necks and grisly heads lined with a triple row of sharp teeth.) This site lists Easter eggs for the film. Apparently the outpost numbers had a significance of their own.
Post-credits scene spoiler: Spoiler: Godzilla 3: A Charles Dance of Dragons aka Revenge of the Lanisters
I kind of read it more as "What if Ultra-man landed on our Earth" but sure... Dru-Zod works too. I must be tired. For a full five seconds I was thinking "what does a Japanese space robot have to do with anything?" Yeah, the Earth-3 villain may be a better match.
I have heard this pitched as "What if Dru-Zod, not Kal-El, was the last survivor of Krypton?" At first that seemed like a stupid pitch, because either way an infant arrives, and would be entirely shaped by his rural Kansas upbringing. Then I thought "but if Zod is presented as a true psychopath..." As I understand it, it's widely believed that while sociopathy is a "nurture" thing, psychopathy is largely genetic. So in that light it would make sense. I'm sure there are no explicit references to actual DC properties of any kind; the "what if" that I heard was merely a shorthand explanation.
It'll air on Sundays, so I wonder if this is going to be paired with Supergirl on Sunday and Charmed will get moved to another night (Charmed would pair well with Riverdale IMO). SUN - Batwoman/Supergirl MON - All American/Black LightningTUE - Flash/Arrow WED - Riverdale/Nancy Drew THU - Supernatural/Legacies FRI - Charmed/Dynasty
And then set a record that will be very difficult to break. It may even be necessary to go back in time, create a blockbuster movie that will suck up moviegoers' cash shortly in advance of Iron Man, and drive down ticket sales that would otherwise have kicked off the MCU.
Cavalry is best used to flank, not charge up the middle toward an enemy they can't see.
Why do you have your army outside the castle walls? There are reasons why you build walls after all. It was established that Winterfell was not adequately provisioned for a siege, which is exactly what they'd have faced if they'd kept their forces inside the walls.
Think about how that battle would have gone with the Night King and Viserion absent. The living dragons would have been unimpeded, the army of the dead would not have been replenished in mid-battle, etc. The Night King would then have left a large enemy force behind him, never a good strategy.
Not disputing what the Russos have said about about time travel works in the MCU, but personally I have always hated the notion that decisions (whether "every decision" or "significant decisions") spawn alternate universes/timelines. The notion seems to clearly violate the laws of conservation of both mass and energy on an unimaginably huge scale. Cap decides to be with Peggy; to accommodate him, the multiverse spontaneously duplicates a few quadrillion living beings and the necessary space to contain them? Even if you argue that a timeline isn't a universe, and isn't made up of mass or energy, but merely adds another dimensional axis to the universe, it still seems like you are altering the n-dimensional shape of the universe, and shouldn't be able to do that "for free." Anyway, it is what it is. No further thread hijacking from me.
Did anyone else notice that John's stepdad is General Stewart? This ever more strongly sets up Diggle being Earth-1's John Stewart. I'm fully expecting him either getting a green lantern ring at the end of Crisis next season, and/or immediately after Arrow's end at the end of Crisis, for the CW to announce a Green Lantern show. I did notice that, but I'm not expecting a Green Lantern series. My take was a hint that on one or more other Earths, John took his stepdad's name and [in an unrelated event] became a Green Lantern.
Rey is a gender-altered clone of Luke. If they can have things like lightsabers exist then this is within the realm of possibilities. Sloppy gene altering if they just targeted gender. They also changed her hair color, eye color...
Probably doesn't help with the Luthor/Sivana comparisons that they have John (Lionel Luthor) Glover playing Sivana's dad.
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