The OtherArena

[Bob Morris]

CW is to blame for promoting the crossover as starting on Supergirl. The writers and producers called it a "four-way crossover" but that the Supergirl episode wasn't going to be focusing on the crossover storyline.

I actually thought that Arrow worked very well... of course, I've watched almost every Arrow episode and, in the context of it being the 100th episode and that Arrow tends to be a more "grounded" show than the others, it works well in that context.

True, Arrow wasn't heavy into the "crossover" storyline, but I thought it did enough to balance the crossover material plus Arrow's 100th episode and the show being what it is. From the standpoint of an Arrow show, it was easily one of its best episodes.

With that said, you really need to be watching Arrow to understand how it all worked. If you never watched an episode, you'd have no idea how to relate to everything.

The other thing I liked was that Flash and Legends of Tomorrow touched upon the ramifications of the Flashpoint storyline in the Flash. LoT kind of got shafted, though, in which the storylines relating to that show got pushed to the side.

It was a tricky balance, though, to try to get every show well represented, especially with the way the actors' contracts are written (they can only make so many guest appearances on another show, and each actor has a different contract). There was also the issue of "well, if we have Supergirl in every situation, she can pretty much take everyone down without a problem" so the writers had to find ways to take her out of certain scenes. (The Justice League animated series had the same problem with Superman... only in their case, they made Superman "a wimp" whereas with Supergirl, she was at times a "bench warmer.")

But I liked it better than Dave did. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I've watched Arrow quite a bit.

My favorite moment from a character standpoint was probably when Ollie Queen and Sara Lance reminisced about how all this started because they boarded the Queen's Gambit and it got shipwrecked.

My favorite moment from a "geek out" standpoint was Ray Palmer (played by Brandon Routh) observing Supergirl and saying "she looks like my cousin" and then doing the double take -- a great nod to Routh's past role as Superman.

I'd give it an A-. But that's me being an Arrow fan and knowing everything about what was going on with the episode and what made it special.

[Steve Yohe]

I read somewhere that Supergirl is stronger, has more powers, and is older than Superman......true?---Yohe

[Bob Morris]

The backstory behind Supergirl was that her Krpytonian family, like Jor-El, believed that Krypton was in danger and were prepared to send her off on a rocket to protect her cousin Kal-El (Superman). But her rocket got thrown off course and she was in "suspended animation" until it landed on Earth.

So, yeah, she was older than Superman when they left Krypton, but by the time she landed on Earth, she was younger from the "biological" standpoint.

As for her powers, her body does a better job metabolizing the yellow sunlight that gives Kryptonians their powers. So, in theory, she could be more powerful, but she has less training that Superman.

She doesn't have more powers, though. Heat vision, X-Ray vision, flight, super strength, near invulnerability... all powers Superman has, but nothing different. (Super breath isn't played up in the comics any more.)

[Bob Morris]

Spider-Man Homecoming trailers are out. IO9.com has both the U.S. and international trailers in this post.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-spider-man-homecoming-trailer-is-here-guest-starr-1789897745

[Steve Yohe]

Hey....word going around is that Ben Affleck wants out of the Batman films. Coming out of a huge bomb of a action movie...that he directed...he must be in a depression. For him to back out of this role....would really hurt his career & would be a huge mistake. If this does happen....they need to go back to the Batman that worked for everyone. And the old actor has said he wants to go back.

Ridley Scott will not direct a Batman...unless he got a huge deal. He has gone out of his way to tell people he doesn't like comic book films. And Scott is a major producer on his own.---Yohe

[corrado]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/warner-bros-courts-mel-gibson-suicide-squad-sequel-974436

Goodness gracious, this is shaping up to be a bad week as it pertains to the future of the DC Cinema Universe

[corrado]

The latest Justice League trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cxixDgHUYw

Seems the breakout star of this movie could be Aquaman.

[Dave Dymond]

So last night was the season finale of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which is part of the CW's "Arrowverse" along with Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl.

I watched the entire first season of this show, and enjoyed it for the most part. Pretty much from the start of season 2 I found the writing to be ridiculous and full of plot holes (even for a comic book time travel show) and I finally tapped out around 3/4 of the way through episode four, the episode during which they travel back to the Civil War. The way the show depicted the way slaves were treated was so glossy and homogenized I just couldn't sit through it. I know it was a TV show, but some topics shouldn't be dramatized unless you're prepared to be realistic. That kind of suffering should not be grist for bad Science Fiction.

After I quit watching I had been reading episode recaps online through the rest of the season, and I saw an article on one of the entertainment sites I frequent, which featured an interview with the showrunner. He promised shocks, deaths and some sort of game changer in the finale, that would change the tone of the whole show.

Against my better judgment, I watched it. What a bunch of garbage. I'm pretty sure Vince Russo wrote this crap. The plot was unnecessarily convoluted, with multiple appearances by the same characters and nonsense about inserting people back in their timelines and erasing their memories. Oh, and now the Legends can erase people's memories with a handheld flashy thing, because apparently none of us have ever seen Men in Black.

Yes the episode was full of shocking deaths - which were then all erased by the end of the episode. The only major change to the cast was Rip leaving (again.) And the big game changer for next season is apparently that they're going to be ripping off Jurassic Park, or something. If you did a shot every time they ripped off another Sci Fi show or movie (that had done this genre better) like Doctor Who, Star Trek, or Men in Black, you'd die of alcohol poisoning before the end of the episode.

This show really went off a cliff this season, in my opinion.

[jdw]

Non-spoiler, just tweets from people who have seen it already:

The First Reactions to Spider-Man: Homecoming Are Finally Here
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-reactions-to-spider-man-homecoming-are-final-1796384082

Some good buzz there.

[jdw]

Here are the MCU movies as of the moment in chron order. We need to get some ranking lists. :)

Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America
Avengers
Iron Man 3
Thor 2
Captain America 2
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers 2
Ant-Man
Captain America 2
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Spider-Man

[corrado]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_6yBZKj-eo

The New Justice League trailer. It hints at a certain someone returning at the end.

[jdw]

It was out last year that he was filming for the movie. :)

[Bob Morris]

So I had a moment to think about where I'd ranks the Marvel films so far. Here's where I'd rank them -- more thoughts maybe later.

1. The Avengers (sentimental reasons)
2. Captain America 2
3. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (watched it again and liked it better the second time around)
4. Guardians of the Galaxy 1
5. Captain America 3
6. Spidey Homecoming
7. Iron Man
8. Doctor Strange
9. Iron Man 3
10. Ant-Man
11. Captain America
12. Thor
13. Avengers 2
14. Iron Man 2
15. Thor 2
16. Incredible Hulk

[Steve Yohe]

Dark Horse is now starting a Conan meeting Wonder Woman comic. How stupid can you get! Conan is supposed to be a real human (kind of...I know) and WW has major super powers. Who wants to see WW kicking macho Conan butt?

Marvel, when they first started a Conan comic, made the decision to not put Conan into the marvel world. It stood on it's own. Conan was flesh & blood & could die....and did at the end....well the old man took a boat to America & was never heard from again. Turning him into just another superhero goes against all the rules of the books made by Roy Thomas. Maybe in the next one Tony Shark will give him a suit to wear & have him flying around.

I have a least two of every Conan comic and many copies of the books. I'm thinking about giving it up.---Steve Yohe

[Bob Morris]

Steve,

You probably want to stay away from the DC superheroes titles in which they meet Warner Bros. cartoon characters, then.

(I own two of the titles, BTW.)