The Comic Book: The TV Show: The Thread

#471

god ruby rose is such a specifically singular kinda presence but i kinda wish she had a lead role outside of the weird formula of the arrowverse

also they really just made luke fox into curtis 2.0 lol

#472

The LoT finale’s Monitor cameo had me in stitches. Also, the “hard pass on the crossover” call back. Also also, nice-guy Vandal Savage in hell playing jenga with Ray-Ray. Hopefully the crisis will bring back Zari somehow, she was my favorite legend .

#473

I wonder if the producers approached Echo Kellum to reprise his character, and decided to just go ahead and “do Curtis anyway” when he turned them down.

Oh and hey, Dougray Scott! I guess he’ll disappear after the pilot because there’s no way they can afford him in a reoccurring role.

#474

the tick is so well put together, season 2 feels like it managed both it’s literal and narrative budget expertly

genre shows almost always have moments where people act out of character to move a convoluted plot around or things that feel like filler and it’s nice to watch something that’s just all around solidly put together and funny and well performed

also if i’m not wrong the majority of eps in s2 were written/directed by women which is just kind of a neat thing

shame amazon’s not picking it up hope it gets renewed

sneakily funniest gag was how bronze star had no apparent onscreen powers or skills of any kind outside of everyone loving him

1 Like
#475

My theory is Bronze Star’s power is that everyone loves him, all the time. I’m almost certain nobody actually knows him, or has history with him.

2 Likes
#476

I remember saying to someone maybe two or three years ago about how I would love to see a netflix-style swamp thing reboot

Damned monkey’s paw

#477

It is underwhelming af so far yeah

#478

legion may have lost the plot last season character wise but it is still such a ridiculously indulgent and sumptuous visual buffet that it’s kind of just powerful on a basic level

like i really do not think there will not be a better or more powerful visualization of omniscience or half the other superpowers onscreen for while

based on his legion and better call saul episodes i really want to see andrew stanton direct another live action movie

i mean john carter wasn’t “good” but i feel like with the right collaborators/limitations he could make something on par with his pixar stuff

#479

interesting that on legion explicitly putting charles xavier and his wife in a post world war ii context means that the show is not a 1960s flavored alt-present but a present flavored alt-1960s which is an interesting distinction to me. somewhere between gotham city’s government mandated 1930s flavor and archer’s “whatever” attitude

anyway that was an absolutely gut wrenching and terrifying episode. the best from a pure emotional standpoint in a while

2 Likes
#480

catching up on legends of tomorrow and man it really is still the sam raimi-est tv show. it has absolutely leaned into enjoying it’s low budget and really does the best by almost all it’s actors. its amazing how well it managed to grow into itself over time. one of the few old-fashioned, 20+ episode broadcast season dramas that actually manage to use it to have the characters be a cozy sitcom family like TNG. it’s still got it’s issues but i wish all the dc tv shows managed to balance comedy and drama and genuine emotion this well.

1 Like
#481

This last season didn’t hit the high highs the previous season hit, in my opinion (Beebo!).

But it also didn’t sink to the low lows either (oof, that Elvis episode).

Still great though. Afaik it’s coming back after the holiday hiatus, which… I’m not sure how that’s supposed to tie in with the crisis . Or maybe it’s not supposed to? “Hard pass”?

#482

Wait wait is this just a reference to a mood or is actual Sam Raimi legit involved in this show?

#483

just the mood

#484

Damn.

#485
#486

so the arrowverse Crisis on Infinite Earths is bringing in black lightning, which i wonder if he’s from a different earth or not, brandon routh is playing kingdom come superman (in addition to the atom i guess), kevin conroy is playing a live action bruce wayne, burt ward is gonna be in it

i hope the smallville fools make it in

i demand justin hartley at least appear once on arrow before it’s over next year

4 Likes
#487

Let’s get some Dean Cain Superman in this piece.

2 Likes
#488

The Umbrella Academy is basically X Men meets The Royal Tenenbaums, which is an infinitely more interesting super hero commentary concept to me than The Boys.

It’s a shame the show is so sloppily executed, at least in the first episode. I hope it gets better.

Wasn’t there like a Wes Anderson directed X Men parody trailer a few years ago?

1 Like
#489

I regretfully must report that Swamp Thing just kinda blandly sucks.

Setting is great, monster effects are great, it’s just, the story and character arcs are so uninteresting. Also cannot believe who they picked as the main villain.

There is one concept I like a lot - that the Swamp Thing can see and communicate with anyone who is taken by the swamp, so he has this kind of swamp purgatory he can visit to talk with vanquished foes.

So, I got to episode 10, and the show just straight up ends, two episodes from the finale. I assume they got the axe before these two were put into production.

So yeah, Swamp Thing just ends without even getting a full season. Rough stuff.

Overall, the show has its charms - particularly the setting and the main guy playing Swamp Thing - but wow is the dialog awful, often, and the action uninspired. Characters will have exchanges that are stunningly stilted and ham-fisted, frequently saying things that make me shake my head in disbelief. Not quite bad enough to recommend as a “so bad it’s good”, just, man, not great.

The last big action scene has a squad of PMC soldiers go into the swamp to kill Swamp Thing, then do the "my god… we’re not hunting him… he’s hunting US! " bit before they proceed to shoot wildly and uselessly at CG vines until they all die.

At the end of the day, Swamp Thing was not as bad as Teen Titans, but it’s real down there as far as live-action DC goes. You could see signs of a better show a season or so down the line, but yeah, we’ll never see it.

Highlight of the show was Kevin Durand as the Floronic Man, who I thought nailed the part.

OH, and holy fuck, The Blue Devil appears. They started that plotline and were going all the way with it, and holy shit did that look promising. We get two or three scenes with the character before the show went down.

#490

It keeps up enough to watch an entire season, but at some point I think it’s the sunk cost fallacy that kept me around. The end definitely was bad enough that I will at least watch the first episode of a second season to see how they try to fix it.

1 Like