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Mind Your Surroundings: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Other Superhero Universes


ArctisTor
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Yeah, the RT rating has been steadily lowering, along with the audience rating. It's only a percentage point or two higher than MoS now. 

 

This part of a positive fan review says a lot, I think:

 

If you watch this movie and at each key "unanswered moment" don't list off what comic they are referencing then you're missing out on 90% of what's awesome about this movie. It's not Snyder's fault that you went and saw a comic book movie without knowing anything about comics and didn't "get" the movie.

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If you watch this movie and at each key "unanswered moment" don't list off what comic they are referencing then you're missing out on 90% of what's awesome about this movie. It's not Snyder's fault that you went and saw a comic book movie without knowing anything about comics and didn't "get" the movie.

But it is Snyder's fault that you have to read the comic books in order to enjoy the movie.

 

My comic book days were a long time ago and I too have never heard of Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man or even Deadpool but that didn't stop them from being enjoyable films for the general audience.  If the DC movies are good for only those who are in the secret society of "being in the know", no wonder they don't do well at the box office.

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I watched the last few episodes of Supergirl to get caught up for the crossover event since the sneak peaks made it look fun. I still think it's cheesy and written at the same level as the rest of CW shows. The biggest advantage it has over the other shows is it has a lot of strong female characters and they are more interesting than the males. The villains are all still weak. Red K Supergirl was probably their most interesting villain. 

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But it is Snyder's fault that you have to read the comic books in order to enjoy the movie.

 

My comic book days were a long time ago and I too have never heard of Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man or even Deadpool but that didn't stop them from being enjoyable films for the general audience.  If the DC movies are good for only those who are in the secret society of "being in the know", no wonder they don't do well at the box office.

Oh, I have no doubt that BvS is going to make a ton of money just based on hype and name recognition of the title characters. The thing is, Marvel makes movies featuring their B or C-list characters, which gives them freedom to adapt them for general audience appeal without pissing off too many comics fans. But that also means they have to work harder to make a better movie because they don't have an audience group guaranteed to show up at the theater. I feel like DC knows people will show up just because it's Bats and Supes, so they don't bother trying for mass appeal.

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Considering this is DCs attempt at world building again after Green Lantern, one would think that they would make sure there movies hit it out of the park in every way possible. It's disappointing to hear that they apparently didn't learn their lesson. Hopefully they drop Snyder ASAP, or at least pair him with someone who can counter him good enough.

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Oh, I have no doubt that BvS is going to make a ton of money just based on hype and name recognition of the title characters. The thing is, Marvel makes movies featuring their B or C-list characters, which gives them freedom to adapt them for general audience appeal without pissing off too many comics fans. But that also means they have to work harder to make a better movie because they don't have an audience group guaranteed to show up at the theater. I feel like DC knows people will show up just because it's Bats and Supes, so they don't bother trying for mass appeal.

I had thought that the main reason Marvel Studios was making movies with their B or C-list characters was that they had sold the rights to their A list characters to other studios during their financial crises. So X-Men and Fantastic Four went to 20 Century Fox and Spider-Man went to Sony and Marvel was stuck with Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Avengers, who were these kind of goofy characters, slipping into obscurity. Which is why we only got Quicksilver for AoU, since Quicksilver was also being used in the X-Men movies. And why Sony was willing to cut a deal with Marvel Studios to return Spider-Man, since his last cinematic outing was, shall we say, less than amazing.

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I had thought that the main reason Marvel Studios was making movies with their B or C-list characters was that they had sold the rights to their A list characters to other studios during their financial crises. So X-Men and Fantastic Four went to 20 Century Fox and Spider-Man went to Sony and Marvel was stuck with Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Avengers, who were these kind of goofy characters, slipping into obscurity. Which is why we only got Quicksilver for AoU, since Quicksilver was also being used in the X-Men movies. And why Sony was willing to cut a deal with Marvel Studios to return Spider-Man, since his last cinematic outing was, shall we say, less than amazing.

That's pretty much what happened, they sold off X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Punisher, Electra, Hulk,  etc to other studios in order to avoid bankruptcy.   All they had left were their B, C and D list characters.  It's amazing what they've done with their lesser known characters and the empire they've built.  I'm very happy about the Spider-Man deal with Sony, and I'm hoping FOX will sell Fantastic Four back to Marvel so that we can get Dr Doom and Galactus in Infinity Wars.  

 

I personally think FOX has screwed up X-Men beyond all repair, Deadpool was awesome though, however as a Marvel comics reader I want all of my characters back under one roof together.  I want a Weapons X Program reunion with Deadpool, Captain America and Wolverine (Just like the Good, Bad and the Ugly Deadpool Mini Series).  I want Psylocke and Meggan in the (rumored) Captain Britain Netflix Series.  I want my 80's Cartoon in real life, give me Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (Spidey, Iceman and Firestar).

Edited by Morrigan2575
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I had thought that the main reason Marvel Studios was making movies with their B or C-list characters was that they had sold the rights to their A list characters to other studios during their financial crises. So X-Men and Fantastic Four went to 20 Century Fox and Spider-Man went to Sony and Marvel was stuck with Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Avengers, who were these kind of goofy characters, slipping into obscurity. Which is why we only got Quicksilver for AoU, since Quicksilver was also being used in the X-Men movies. And why Sony was willing to cut a deal with Marvel Studios to return Spider-Man, since his last cinematic outing was, shall we say, less than amazing.

I think that's kind of the point though, they sold off all of their 'A-list' characters and they were stuck with B and C list characters that wouldn't draw in the crowds like Spider-Man or X-men would. It meant that they did have a bit more freedom with what they could do, just because people (particularly those who didn't read comics) wouldn't go in with as many expectations, but it also meant that in order to be successful (i.e. make more money) they had to put in a lot of effort into making the films good. They couldn't really fall back on well people will come and watch this because it's a big name (which they can do now, because of how successful Phase One was). 

 

I mean, every time I tell someone that I'm not going to watch BvS I get the response 'But it's Batman and Superman', which does go to show that it's very much the big name that's drawing a lot of people in (I am extrapolating from my own personal sphere admittedly). That's not to say that people don't expect a good film, just that the big draw is certainly not anything particularly unsuperficial (is that the right word? It's not even an actual word). 

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I'm a bit worried for the next Deadpool. I truly believe this one was so great was because it was headed by two guys who truly get and love the character (Ryan and the director) and FOX didn't have any confidence in it and basically ignored it. Now that it made a bunch of money, their execs' grubby hands are going to want to interfere. I hope not.

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I'm a bit worried for the next Deadpool. I truly believe this one was so great was because it was headed by two guys who truly get and love the character (Ryan and the director) and FOX didn't have any confidence in it and basically ignored it. Now that it made a bunch of money, their execs' grubby hands are going to want to interfere. I hope not.

Oh totally. I can fully see the FOX suits screwing up Deadpool 2, it is a major concern of mine.  If they were smart they'd let Reynolds and MIller have full control but with more money invested brings more interference.

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Huh?! - Like, make up your mind, Zack Snyder - do you want a darker Flash or a lighter Flash?...

 

More Details on Wonder Woman and the Rest of DC's Cinematic Universe
James Whitbrook  52 minutes ago
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-tone-of-justice-league-will-be-lighter-than-batman-1766995989

Justice League
 

Deborah and Zack Snyder promise that the film will have a lighter tone than Batman v Superman—mainly because of the presence of the Flash:
 

Deborah Snyder: Justice League’ is a little bit lighter, ‘cause some of these characters — you know, Flash tends to be a little bit more comedic, I’d say.
 

Zack Snyder: One of the things that lightens it is having Flash or having characters that are more optimistic. [batman v Superman] is particular to characters who are having a crisis of conscience, which sort of draws them together.
*  *  *

Meanwhile, Zack Snyder tells Yahoo that the film will be a little like The Seven Samurai:
I’m getting ready to start ‘Justice League’ on the 11th of April, so in like two weeks we start shooting, and it’s an intense, awesome, and gigantic undertaking because Bruce [Wayne] is having to go out and sort of ‘Seven Samurai’ the Justice League together, which is fun.

It’s slightly monumental, and at the same time they’re starting to grapple with this coming threat.
*  *  *

Wonder Woman
 

Gal Gadot discusses how the Diana of the solo movie is different to the one that appears in Batman v Superman:

The Wonder Woman you’re going to see in Batman v Superman is a very different Wonder Woman that you will see in the standalone movie. The Wonder Woman that you see in Batman v Superman is a woman who has been around, and she’s very experienced. She understands a lot about man. Whereas in the standalone movie we are telling the grown-up story. Diana becoming Wonder Woman, and this was a story that was never told before. When she starts this journey, she’s very pure. She’s more naive, she’s this young idealist who does not really understand the complexities of life and the complexities of men.

Edited by tv echo
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I don't know that I'd love Captain America as much as I do if he weren't played by Chris Evans. I'm betting he'd be a humorless stick-in-the-mud played by a lot of other guys, but Chris Evans was the ONLY thing I really liked in the first couple Fantastic Four movies, and I think he's fantastic as Cap.

In general, I think Marvel has just aced their casting. RDJ was born to play Tony Stark. Chris Evans. Chris Pratt. Actually everyone in Guardians, including Peter Serafinowicz as the totally rando kinda jerk good guy. Scarlett. The guy who plays Falcon. Mark Ruffalo. I even quite liked the Olsen who plays Scarlet Witch. (I like Hemsworth as Thor, but the Thor movies bore the crap out of me.)

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Marvel definitely ACED their casting, but let's see how they do with the second wave of B/C/D list characters.  I definitely get the vibe that we will be seeing more and more characters we don't have a clue about in upcoming movies. I think Marvel has earned enough trust that their movies will sell, but they need to fully commit to knocking each one out of the park.

 

Grant it - they seem to be doing that but I hope they don't get lazy.  I still haven't seen GoTG even though I hear it's great.  I will at some point I'm sure, but I just had no interest in it.  I didn't have much interest in Ant Man but I wanted to take my 8 year old boy to the movies for his birthday and that movie could not have been MORE perfect (he loved Thomas when he was little so he laughed and laughed over the giant train).  I mean, Ant Man might rank among my favorite of Marvel films because everyone in the family loved every minute of it - no bored kids, no bored adults - win/win!  Then we happen to have a kid who loves Black Panther and another who loves Miss Marvel so those are highlighted on our calendar.  But movies like Dr. Strange?  Eh, I'm not opposed to it, but I'd have to see really good buzz first to get me interested.

 

Whereas, the minute they announced they were doing a Wonder Woman movie, I knew I could buy my tickets.  I'm just happy good things are being said about her for what little time she was in BvS because I want her movie to be good.  I feel like I've waited my whole life for this movie. :)

 

I'm kind of glad they are at least talking about Flash being comic relief and Justice League being lighter in tone.  It should be.  I guess maybe the early criticism of how dark BvS is might be enough for them to try to take a slightly different approach with JL.  I mean, it's not too late to add a little comedy even if the scripts are already written.

 

******** A live action Spiderman and his Amazing Friends would be ALL kinds of awesome!!!!! 

 

******* Oh and I think Marvel can use some characters who belong to the Avengers as well as X-men as long as they work around their origins stories.  I believe that is why Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch in Avengers were given the experimentation origin rather than "Magneto's kids/mutants" origins.  I'd really like to see them get permission to use Wolverine.  There is so much Captain America / Wolverine comic history - it would be a shame not to get them in a movie together.

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I totally agree (except I quite like the Thor movies, but I can see why they arent everyone's cup of tea) about the casting. Every casting choice Marvel makes sounds like a complete mess, but turns out to be perfect casting. They're ability to find the perfect actor for every random part is just amazing, and a huge part of why Marvel is the giant empire it is today. Like, I would not be surprised to find out that Chris Evans really was taken to a lab somewhere to be turned into the perfect Captain America. He is just that perfect in that part. I feel like a lot of actors would have played Thor as just a dumb action star part, but CH has so much warmth and wit in his performance, it actually becomes a compelling character. Even the more supporting characters, like Colbie Smothers as Maria Hill, make a big impression and do good work just in smaller supporting roles.  And a lot of the casting choices were pretty risky, with Marvel going with lesser known actors, or actors playing against their normal "type". They took risks that actually paid off.   

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This is kinda fun - pick a Flarrow character, pick a time to travel to, pick a Beyonce song, pick something to wear, pick a trait you value most, and then see which LoT character you end up being - Ugh! I got the Atom...

 

Which Of “DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow” Are You?
Feb. 8, 2016, at 12:19 a.m.   Mat Whitehead
http://www.buzzfeed.com/matwhitehead/save-the-hawkman-save-the-world#.qcJlRkgxd1

Edited by tv echo
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@nksarmi, you should really watch GotG, I think with your son. I can't offhand think of anything inappropriate for an 8-year-old...I mean the bad guy wants to take out a whole planet, but I don't think that kind of thing in a comic book movie upsets kids nowadays? It wasn't any more graphic than Ultron. GotG is GREAT fun. There's tons of things for kids, and fun things for adults that the kids won't really notice. I adored it. Probably in my top three Marvel films (Iron Man 1, Winter Soldier, and GotG...the first Avengers close behind).

 

I think the Thor movies are kind of too big for me to connect with? Aliens and realms and all that. Those movies also nail their casting, with the one exception, for me, of Natalie Portman. Now I think she has only ever had really good chemistry with Jean Reno in The Professional, which I know is gross bc she was like 12. I actually think she does have a little bit of chemistry with Hemsworth, but she just doesn't do it for me. I think she's a cool person IRL, and a fine actress technically speaking, but she just leaves me cold in nearly every role.

 

And yep, the secondary and tertiary and even lesser roles in Marvel flicks are really well-cast, too. It's totally amazing. Like I legit loved Serafinowicz in GotG, and he had maybe a dozen lines.

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This is kinda fun - pick a Flarrow character, pick a time to travel to, pick a Beyonce song, pick something to wear, pick a trait you value most, and then see which LoT character you end up being - Ugh! I got the Atom...

 

Which Of “DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow” Are You?

Feb. 8, 2016, at 12:19 a.m.   Mat Whitehead

http://www.buzzfeed.com/matwhitehead/save-the-hawkman-save-the-world#.qcJlRkgxd1

That makes two of us! blah! I wanted Sara!

With that being I can see some similarities between me and him..

Edited by foreverevolving
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Me three. Yuck :(

 

 AyChihuahua should take the quiz. :P

Okay, but if I get the Cane Toad, Imma cut somebody. 

 

I FUCKING knew it!

 

You got: Atom!

You’re smart, charming, driven, and pretty damn perfect. While the rest of us are trying to figure out if you’re even real, you’re probably too busy with your head in some books to notice!

 

(P.S., just like the Cane Toad, I'm NOT charming. But unlike him, at least I know it!)

Edited by AyChihuahua
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Lol I got Stein :p

You got: Martin Stein!

OK, this isn’t be the first time someone calls you a genius, and won’t be the last! And with your razor-sharp wit and cunning, you’re a pretty formidable foe, even at your age. ;)

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I got Rip Hunter, the first time I did it. I'm thinking whichever character you end up with may have a lot to do with which decade you choose. 'Cause I kept changing from Felicity to Digg and from an Astronaut to a Cowboy, but always the future and I still kept getting Rip.

 

Okay, but if I get the Cane Toad, Imma cut somebody. 

 

I FUCKING knew it!

 

You got: Atom!

 

Aw... You and Palmer are totes MFEO! (I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Please don't kill me. I'm aware that your hatred for him runs deep.)

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I got Rip Hunter, the first time I did it. I'm thinking whichever character you end up with may have a lot to do with which decade you choose. 'Cause I kept changing from Felicity to Digg and from an Astronaut to a Cowboy, but always the future and I still kept getting Rip.

 

 

Aw... You and Palmer are totes MFEO! (I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Please don't kill me. I'm aware that your hatred for him runs deep.)

 

Lol I chose the future and I got Hawkgirl. So, my powers include bad acting and never actually using my powers when they're needed. Great.

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Ok I got Hawkgirl but since I don't actually KNOW any Beyoncé songs I think this is a bad test for me. And just because I want to see the pyramids when they were first being built.....

 

Ok see I knew - I changed the song and got Stein... I wonder how many different results I can get with those songs!


Okay, but if I get the Cane Toad, Imma cut somebody. 

 

I FUCKING knew it!

 

You got: Atom!

You’re smart, charming, driven, and pretty damn perfect. While the rest of us are trying to figure out if you’re even real, you’re probably too busy with your head in some books to notice!

 

(P.S., just like the Cane Toad, I'm NOT charming. But unlike him, at least I know it!)

 

If it makes you feel any better - I love Ray on Legends.  He's cute, adorable, occasionally funny, and still really smart but also a little self-doubting.  It's a pretty good mix so far compared to how they wrote him on Arrow.

Edited by nksarmi
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Brief but positive Arrow blurb...

 

9 Batman Knock-Offs That Utterly Miss The Point Of Batman
ABHIMANYU DAS YESTERDAY 12:30 PM
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/03/9-batmanknock-offs-that-utterly-miss-the-point-of-batman/

Appendix: Batman Copies Who Actually Work Really Well
*  *  *
Oliver Queen is often presented as a pretty close copy of Batman — but when that’s the case, he usually does capture most of what’s great about Bats, especially in the Arrow TV show. ...
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I specifically choose things so I could get Sara. 

 

You got: White Canary!

You’re a fierce soul with a hunger for action and adventure, and you can take on anything that life throws at you! Keep fighting the good fight!

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You're all going on my list.

Lol. I got Atom too. I don't know any Beyoncé songs though so that was a random pick. It probably had to do with picking the future to go to and Felicity as my character.

Sooooo, did everyone see LoT's ratings? .4 and 1.23?

Yeah, it was a rerun. LoT comes back next week. It's actually kind of nice how they ended up scheduling it. Two uninterrupted blocks of eight episodes each.

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A friend of mine pointed me to the Mother Jones review of Bats v Supes, and the review itself is a masterpiece:

 

http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2016/03/batman-v-superman-but-its-actually-glengarry-glen-ross-and-they-fight-over-the-good-leads

 

 

It is incomprehensible! Nothing makes any sense! We all understand that plots in these movies don't make sense. Of course they don't. That's standard. But in this movie nothing makes sense on a scene level. In a lot of movies that make no sense on a plot level, the person will say, "I am going to rob this fruit store," and you can quibble about why a person would rob a fruit store, but the characters in the movie accept it and go about robbing the fruit store and we go along with it. They have conviction and authenticity and they really try to rob that fruit store good, even if we in the audience think they are being ridiculous for robbing a fruit store, because when it really works, it doesn't matter. In Batman v Superman the characters say, "I am going to rob this fruit store," and then go into the fruit store, throw fruit in the air, paint the walls with fruit, pay for the fruit, use the fruit as puppets in improv comedy, have a dance party with the fruit, build a home in the fruit store, burn the fruit store down, exit the smoldering husk of the fruit store and announce, "I robbed the vegetable store."

 

The best thing about this film is the ending. And not the substance of the ending, which makes no sense; it's the existence of the ending because it means I am no longer stuck in that theater watching this awful movie. And yet even this is a letdown! The ending carries the explicit threat that this saga will never be over. Warner Brothers has gone all in on this version of the DC characters for their own comic universe. Next will be Suicide Squad and then Wonder Woman and then Justice League. These movies will apparently all be terrible, but we'll see them anyway because that's life.

 

Delicious.

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BvS is at 29% on Rotten Tomatoes today. It just keeps going down. 

 

I really think it's a mess of a movie. It will make tons of money because it's Batman and Superman but it won't make a lasting impression like the first Iron Man did for Marvel. 

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A friend of mine pointed me to the Mother Jones review of Bats v Supes, and the review itself is a masterpiece:

 

http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2016/03/batman-v-superman-but-its-actually-glengarry-glen-ross-and-they-fight-over-the-good-leads

 

 

 

Delicious.

 

I don't think it's as terrible as in described here, I think the final 3rd is OK and does make me want to see what happens next, but it is pretty bad and nonsensical for a good chunk, and they should definitely boot Snyder or whoever was steering this mess. So glad I didn't pay money to see it.

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I don't think it's as terrible as in described here, I think the final 3rd is OK and does make me want to see what happens next, but it is pretty bad and nonsensical for a good chunk, and they should definitely boot Snyder or whoever was steering this mess. So glad I didn't pay money to see it.

Will you please explain the jar of urine? I need to know what in the hell that's about.

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7 Things to Know About 'Supergirl's' Crossover With 'The Flash'

Why is Barry the only CW superhero crossing over? Why not anyone from Arrow?

It all boils down to the fact that Barry's abilities allow him to travel throughout the multiverse.

"[barry] was the door, the gateway," Berlanti says. "He's the only one who had the capacity to open that door, and hopefully now it's [staying] open. In a perfect world, it probably would have been both of them [Gustin and Arrow's Stephen Amell]. But logistically that would have been a nightmare to try and do both shows. We had to facilitate one."

The showrunners were also intrigued by how "similar" Gustin and Benoist are as actors.

"Barry and Kara both have a light to them," Kreisberg says. "They're definitely heroes that are daytime heroes that live more in the light. Watching the two of them form this instantaneous best friendship was really exciting for us to explore in this episode."

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Since I have no plans to see the movie I went into the BvS movie thread. And WTF

they are saying that Batman brands his victims with the bat symbol and is pretty much a boarder line alcoholic.

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Melissa and Grant are adorable together. The ice cream bit was super cute. I feel like this will be one of those times where I really like Barry more outside of his own show. I hope Barry gets to meet Alex and J'onn, too. I would much rather see him interact with Kara's family than James and Winn, tbh.

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They had damn well be Green Apple ranchers, ya know, for symbolism.

 

Hee.

It was cherry....

 

 

Will you please explain the jar of urine? I need to know what in the hell that's about.

 

 

It can be a big spoiler if you haven't seen it. 

The Senator says something about pissing in a jar and calling it Granny's somethings Ice Tea, and Lex literally does that before bombing the senate hearings. It was gross and actually cements Lex as a villain that is annoying, gross and just really wants to prove he is smarter than you. Very millennial.

 

 

Since I have no plans to see the movie I went into the BvS movie thread. And WTF

they are saying that Batman brands his victims with the bat symbol and is pretty much a boarder line alcoholic.

 

 

Batman comes off as deranged during the Batman vs Superman fight. And he is branding criminals and it is a death sentence in jail, and he knows this.

This would not be a problem in another superhero movie for me, but it's weird because Batman's thing is that he doesn't kill and this goes against it. Also kinda makes him hypocritical in his vendetta against Superman.

If they had had a Superman 2 where Superman caused chaos based on and encounter with Red Kryptonite, it would have served as a better starting point for the Bruce Wayne hatred..

Edited by Genki
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