The End of the Arrowverse

You may have seen the trailer for James Gunn’s Superman movie appear on social media in the last month or so. Coincidentally (or maybe on purpose) December also had the series finale for Superman & Lois, the last of the so-called Arrowverse shows. It’s a bit sad that the significance of this finale kind of went over my head until I saw Grant Gustin and other Arrowverse stars posted on Instagram. Only a few years ago, my TV watchlist included all five Arrowverse series of the time and I was invested in each show. But after some poor storylines, some cancellations, and the pandemic, I lost my enthusiasm for the shows. That being said, it is the end of an era (cue Friends reference) so I wanted to highlight the good, the bad, and the ugly for these shows that I spent so many hours watching. 

Arrow

It all began here with Oliver Queen and but I was definitely not drawn into Arrow at first. I think it wasn’t until I watched some of The Flash with TJ that I decided to give the franchise a try (but naturally I had to start with Arrow). While it didn’t pull me in initially, I think Arrow might be my favorite of the Arrowverse stories overall. It incorporated wonderful flashbacks (giving me flashbacks of my days watching new episodes of LOST), it took chances introducing characters that led wonderful years of The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, and best of all it ended beautifully. Sure, Oliver’s sacrifice during "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was tragic, but the aftermath gave closure needed for the show to end (even if its final spinoff idea was never fully resolved). None of the other shows would have existed or have been successful without Arrow, so I can’t overstate the importance of Oliver’s journey. 

The Flash

First introduced during a two-part story on Arrow, Barry Allen sped onto the screen and became my favorite of the Arrowverse heroes. I know plenty of people got annoyed with Iris, but I loved their dynamic as the years went on (yes, even her “we are the Flash” comment). I really hoped for a satisfying ending to this series when the last season was announced. I’d grown tired of redeeming villain after villain in the series. Sure, that’s the ideal, but it felt like lazy writing to turn each big bad to a good guy. Even in the series finale event, the villain was redeemed. It became less of how fast Barry could run and more about how much he could talk people down.  

Constantine

It didn’t even last a full season before getting cancelled, but Constantine came around around the same time The Flash began. I watched this series once and I was bummed about how short lived it was—Constantine had some great characters. But at least some of the stories left hanging here got (kind of) resolved during Legends. I just wish Constantine’s friends would have come back too. 

Supergirl

Enter the multiverse! While initially separate from Arrow and The Flash, Supergirl quickly became an integral part of the Arrowverse. I wasn’t the father of girls when I grew to love this show, but it gave me an appreciation for Kara Danvers—especially in a time period when people will constantly criticize other female heroes (see Captain Marvel). I loved that Kara took the spotlight and Superman was a secondary character for once. But as much as I loved Supergirl, I grew frustrated with this series for the same reason as The Flash. Why do we have to redeem every character? At least with Supergirl, I felt like we had a somewhat satisfying-ish finale. Thank goodness they didn’t try to redeem Lex Luthor in the last season. That’s all I’m saying. 

Legends of Tomorrow

I love a good band of misfits. Add in a time travel aspect and it almost had a Doctor Who feel with superheroes. There were points that I enjoyed Legends more than the main shows, partly because the seasons were shorter and partly because they weren’t afraid to take risks. We got some wonderful original characters in this series and it was nice to not take the series too seriously. I hated that the series got abruptly cancelled on a cliffhanger. I wish they’d done a TV movie to wrap it up or at least resolve things verbally in The Flash, but no dice. It was never fully resolved and I’m still bitter. 

Black Lightning

At first I didn’t want to invest the time into Black Lightning, but it immediately went on my watchlist after it was announced that Jefferson would be on "Crisis on Infinite Earths". Only three seasons long, I think this series ended up a wonderfully self-contained story. Other than Jefferson appearing during "Crisis" and "Armaggedom", a singular underwhelming reference to STAR Labs kept this story unique in the universe. It was a story about a retired superhero, an educator, and his family. 

Batwoman

With a back door introduction to Batwoman, we got a new show during the "Elseworlds" crossover. I know there were lots of complicated issues with the cast that I won’t pretend to understand, but even with introducing a new Batwoman I think this show did well. Unfortunately, like Legends, this show was unceremoniously cancelled. At least some of the loose ends were taken care of during the other shows… except that Ryan’s Batwoman never met the other heroes during the course of her series… so that was weird. 

Superman & Lois

I was really looking forward to the idea of this show, as "Crisis" approached. But I was confused and disappointed that all of a sudden Clark and Lois had teenage sons that I was supposed to be invested in. I was willing to write that off with other post-"Crisis" changes… until they ended up making this series completely separate from the other shows. What was the point of making all the Arrowverse shows into one universe if they were gonna separate this Superman again? I’m pretty sure that was a post-pandemic decision. At least their new universe gave another great twist on Lex Luthor. Also, I think all of the shows should’ve had a ten-episode finale season like Superman & Lois did. 

Expanded Universe

One of the things I loved about the Arrowverse is that it didn’t stop with the CW shows. Throughout the eight series, we had legendary DC series and movies incorporated into the multiverse. CBS’s Flash was the most prominent, appearing a few times and clips during "Crisis" flashback. "Crisis on Infinite Earths" gave us insight into Bird of Prey, Lucifer, and Smallville. Other brief appearances and mentions included the 1989 Batman film, the 1966 Batman series, Ryan Reynolds’s Green Lantern, Superman Returns, the Flash from DCEU, and the series originally on the DC Universe streaming platform (Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Titans, and Stargirl). I would have loved for any and all of these to appear and reappear (I think Stargirl was supposed to crossover at one point), expanding the multiverse, but cancellations and COVID messed that up. Maybe we can get more multiverse expanding moments with James Gunn’s new DC movies. If the Arrowverse taught me anything it’s that anything is possible in a world of superheroes if you have the right writers. 

Reaction to DC's Future Announcement

 In all my friend groups, I'm the superhero guy. I used to collect the comics religiously, I've seen all the movies, I know all the lore, I'm the guy that everyone turns to after the after-credits scene and asks to explain who the purple guy is with the glove. So naturally since James Gunn announced what the plans for DC is going to be in the future, multiple friends have turned to me asking my opinion on it. 

Well, let's go through the announcement and go over what they're talking about, shall we? 

Consistency

Okay I get the need to determine what's set in what universe. Marvel's been very clear about what is and isn't canon where DC has been all over the map with where everything is, so I like this. My worry would be that we get another Ezra Miller situation where a performer can't stay out of the tabloids and they have to recast across multiple platforms, but hopefully DC learned its lesson. 

Shazam and Flash

These have been slated for a while now so I'm glad they're going to use them as part of the reboot, though I wonder how much needed to be changed after the fact in the films to make this happen. But also: WHEN IS SHAZAM GOING TO FIGHT BLACK ADAM?!

Blue Beetle

They've been pushing the new Blue Beetle for years now, which gives me heavy Miles Morales/Spider-Man vibes but not in a good way. Where Miles was received well because he was a version of a popular superhero portrayed by a person of a minority, this is the same thing except: Can anyone whose not a hardcore DC fan tell me who the last Blue Beetle was? Young Justice tried to make the new Blue Beetle interesting but even they've stopped using him. 

Aquaman 2

Let's not even get into the train wrech that's been going on behind the scenes with this one, save to say that if Aquaman 2 is even the least bit coherent I'm going to die of shock. 

Creature Commandos

Are you people serious? We're going to do a comic book from the 80's that was basically Avengers meets Monster High? I guess we haven't learned our lesson from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that this just doesn't work cinematically because these characters each have such a massive cultural footprint that watering them down for a team is an injustice to them and just creates a massive mess but here we are. 

Waller

Viola Davis has been one of the best things about the DC films, so yeah let's keep her rolling around. The Peacemaker franchise is not something I could see letting kids watch so if these guys end up teaming up with Superman down the road they're could be some awkward questions around who these people are and why we care. I'm glad to see Davis coming back though. 

Superman: Legacy

And of course during this part of the presentation they show an image from Superman: All-Stars, the only Superman comic to win any awards in decades. With all the media focused on Superman's kid out I'm betting anything it's going to be a Superman/Superman Jr situation. 

Lanterns 

True Detective but with Green Lanterns... I don't even want to imagine what the budget on this thing is, and if the special effects aren't James Cameron's Avatar level it is going to be roasted by every geek in this solar system. Never forget the Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds and the digital train wreck that thing was. 

The Authority

Hay you know what this franchise needs? Even more unrecognizable characters to clutter everything up! Yaaaay! Seriously though adding these fools in is going to be DC's version of the Eternals mark my words. 

Paradise Lost

Game of Thrones but on Paradise Island... Notice he said the birthplace of Wonder Woman but did not mention Wonder Woman. I'm envisioning Gotham where they kept hinting and foreshadowing at stuff we already know about but ended up becoming a giant teasing waste of time. 

Brave and the Bold

Of course it's about Damien Wayne. You can't do anything without having Damien Wayne crawl out and start talking about how he's an assassin. I'm convinced that the whole Superman's son thing only came about so that Damien could have a playmate. As a Robin he's always been.... A thing... I get why Gunn would love him but I'm not all that excited for yet more Damien Wayne stories. 

Booster Gold

I've got to admit this one actually looks fun since I like Booster Gold and loved the old Justice League: International comics where he hung out. This could be really funny depending on who they cast as Booster and who he has to bounce off of. 

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Who is this universe for exactly? Marvel succeeded by appealing to young and old alike, but this sounds like a space horror drama and I doubt the year it comes out many little girls are going to want to dress as PTSD riddled depressing Supergirl. 

Swamp Thing

And we round off with, of course, Swamp Thing. Haven't we tried this 2 or 3 times before and it didn't work? Every time there's talk of a new DC anything somebody always mentions bringing Swamp Thing into it and every time they do he's a bust. Put Swamp Thing back in the swamp and leave him alone. 

Obviously besides a couple small sparks I don't have a lot of hope for the DC cinematic future. I want to note though that none of this is from superhero fatigue. I've been binging the X-Men cartoons lately and played Marvel's Midnight Suns all the way through and am still hankering for more, what I'm saying though is that this announcment didn't light my superhero heart ablaze like it should have and I sincerely hope that the more that Gunn promised will do that or else this whole thing is going to be in more trouble than the Justice League can bail them out of. 

-JOE

Before They Were Heroes: Arrowverse

As of the Legends finale last week, the Arrowverse has officially closed down for the year (also a new "Arrowverse" series, Stargirl, started last month, but that's a story for another time). The pandemic meant that some seasons got cut short, but there are worse things--Also we got the news of the surprise departure of Ruby Rose as Batwoman. In honor of the finales, I wanted to spotlight some of the leading actors and actresses and movies they were in before they were superheroes. My wife and I love picking up obscure appearances of our favorite actors appearing in “older” shows (like “Abed Nadir” appearing in Gilmore Girls). So I’m going to start with the main stars from the Arrowverse shows.

Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow) - Heartland

Before he was the playboy Oliver Queen, Stephen Amell appeared repeatedly on one of my wife’s favorite cheesy Canadian cowboy shows. Since Stephen Amell is Canadian I wasn’t too surprised that he showed up there, but it was kind of funny to see him show up when my wife was watching this show over maternity leave.

Matt Ryan (Constantine) - Criminal Minds

While Constantine was a short-lived series, he keeps popping up in the Arrowverse, first on Arrow and now consistently on Legends of Tomorrow. I never got to his appearance in Criminal Minds when I watched it with my roommates years ago, but I do remember the show and its intrigue. Kind of makes me want to go back and watch the show again (add that one to my watchlist). Side note: he also appeared in an episode of Torchwood, an adult Doctor Who spin-off.

Grant Gustin (Barry Allen/The Flash) and Melissa Benoist (Kara Danvers/Supergirl) - Glee

I’ve only watched a handful of episodes of Glee (it’s been perpetually on my Netlfix queue). They do have good music though. I’ve never seen the episodes with Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist’s characters, but having seen their Arrowverse musical crossover, I’m not surprised that they were on Glee for a while.

Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/The Atom) - Gilmore Girls

He was only a throwaway character back in the first season of Gilmore Girls, but he later became multiple superheroes in the Arrowverse. I remember his scene vividly, even though I had to jog my memory on his role, because I thought it was so cringey how these college boys talked up these high school sophomore girls.

Cress Williams (Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning) - Hart of Dixie

He’s appeared in a couple shows that my wife likes, but he had such a long-standing role on Hart of Dixie (he also appeared Grey’s Anatomy) that I chose this one. If I recall correctly he was the long-standing mayor in the small town. It was such a different role than what I’m used to in Black Lightning that it was cool to see the contrast.

Ruby Rose (Kate Kane/Batwoman) - Pitch Perfect 3

My wife and I were recently watching the Pitch Perfect trilogy. When we got to the third movie, I realized I recognized one of the singers of Evermoist. It was Batwoman! That’s the one that actually inspired this post. I didn’t realize she was a singer before making that connection (although I couldn’t actually confirm whether it’s her singing or not). -- Unrelated: I'm curious how things will go with them recasting her character for next season.

What other Arrowverse stars come to mind for you? I knew I couldn’t include everyone so I tried to hit the highlights.

Post-Crisis Arrowverse: Where Do We Go Frome Here?

SPOILERS FOR CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS

The Arrowverse’s epic 5-episode crossover had its finale last week. Over the course of the crossover, we saw the multiverse die and be reborn. Most of the deaths of the crossover were undone by the universe being saved, but there were a couple deaths (Oliver and Barry-90 to be specific) that were a bit more permanent. With all that happened over the Arrowverse in the course of five episodes, there are a lot of implications for where the CW will go from here.

Earth-Prime

Based on the little I knew of the Crisis comics, I wasn’t surprised that this happened. It made sense for them to consolidate our CW shows into one universe, instead of three. This could lead to more crossovers (I’ll cover that later), but it could also lead to some continuity concerns. For example, before Crisis, Lena was antagonistic towards Kara. Now apparently she and Lex are one of Supergirl’s biggest supporters? Does that mean that the course of Supergirl’s season will be abruptly changed? Is it part of Lex’s schemes? Or will it just be disregarded? It also effectively changes the backstory of many of our heroes. Like how did Barry and Kara meet, if he didn’t accidentally break into her universe? I’m guessing questions like these will be mostly ignored, but it’s just one thing that comes to mind.

Smallville, Birds of Prey, and Superman Returns

These series have been off the air for 10+ years, but as of this crossover all three of them are now officially part of the Arrowverse. It’s unlikely that we’ll have crossovers between these series and the current Arrowverse (especially since Smallville’s Clark Kent has given up his powers--though I’d love to see Tom Welling return again), but you never know. I watched Birds of Prey in preparation for the crossover and I would love to see more of them (assuming they exist in the new multiverse). On the other hand, Superman from Earth-96 could easily come back (especially for an episode of Legends); that’d be fun.

Titans, Doom Patrol, and Stargirl

In addition to the series that have ended, DC has its own streaming service with original shows, like Titan, Doom Patrol, and (coming soon) Stargirl. All of these were officially added to the Arrowverse during the prologue to the Crisis and the epilogue of the finale. I’ve never watched these shows (as the DC Universe streaming service requires a subscription that I can’t afford right now). It’s unlikely that Titan or Doom Patrol will cross over with the others later on, but it’s possible that Stargirl could cross over, as it’ll appear on both DC Universe and CW. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Justice League and Crossovers 

As the crossover drew to a close, Barry brought the main heroes from each show to the STAR Labs warehouse from the Invasion crossover and he unveiled a Justice League-like round-table. With everyone on the same Earth now and with a central base, besides the DEO or Star Labs, it seemed like they were prepping for more crossovers. We can definitely expect more crossovers to happen on an annual basis, as is tradition. However, the way Barry talked I wondered if we might get more mini-crossovers, like when Ray and Felicity visited STAR Labs in The Flash Season 1. Having Jefferson or his girls leave Freeland for an episode to help with an electricity-powered meta in National City could be a very easy thing to do now. Plus, I miss those kinds of crossovers. It made the universe feel more cohesive, instead of only getting together for world-ending scenarios.

DCEU

Ever since Man of Steel, DC has been trying to create a cinematic universe akin to Marvel. They haven’t been as successful (and honestly I haven’t seen their movies), but with Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen showing up for his Crisis cameo, it’s now possible for movies and TV characters to cross over. Will they cross over? Probably not. DC likes to compartmentalize. But they could! And honestly THIS is the thing that could get me to watch all those DCEU movies. They have seven movies so far and with eight more on the way, tying it into the established, successful Arrowverse could be beneficial for them.

What were your takeaways from Crisis on Infinite Earths? I’m looking forward to seeing how the aftermath will play out on each show. I guess we'll find out the start of it with this week’s Batwoman and Supergirl.

6 Confirmed for "Crisis on Infinite Earths" (and 3 Rumored)

We've been having some fun with superhero crossovers lately. Avengers have been teaming up on and off since 2012, culminating in "Endgame" this year and the Arrowverse has been doing an annual crossover since 2014 (in addition to many mini-crossovers in between). Now the Arrowverse has its own sort of "Endgame" happening for their 2019 crossover. It's going to last for 5 episodes over 5 different shows and 2 months. It's supposed to be bigger than any crossover they've done before. We had all thought it was going to be just the five main super hero teams, but after SDCC, we learned it was going to be bigger than that. So here's where we're at currently.

CONFIRMED: Clark Kent/Superman (from "Supergirl")
Last we saw of Superman, he was heading off-world to Argo City to enjoy some Kryptonian culture and to save his fiancee Lois Lane from being kicked by a superpowered fetus. However, by the time "Crisis on Infinite Earths" happens, the baby should be born (assuming human/Kryptonian babies gestate 9 months like human babies). So it's a bit up in the air what he'll be doing when December/January comes around.

RUMORED: Joker (played by Mark Hamill)
Mark Hamill has been voicing the Joker in animated series and video games for years now. A rumor sprouted out recently that he will be coming to the Arrowverse for the crossover as the Joker. He previously played James Jesse on "The Flash". So either we'd have a Jesse James lookalike from Earth-1 or the Joker could be his multiverse doppelganger.

CONFIRMED: Lex Luthor (from "Supergirl")
Last we saw from the villainous Lex Luthor was his death, at the hands of his sister Lena. The Monitor visited his body afterwards. It's unknown what happened at that point, but since he's set to appear in the crossover, I think it's a fair guess that the Monitor has brought him back to life in some form.

CONFIRMED: Clark Kent/Superman (played by Brandon Routh)
Brandon Routh (who currently plays Ray Palmer/The Atom in the Arrowverse) will be playing a version of Superman during the crossover. He last played Superman during "Superman Returns". It's been alluded to before Ray said that Kara looked like his cousin (during the "Invasion!" crossover). It'll be interesting to see if this is the same Superman from "Superman Returns" or if it's a new Superman altogether.

RUMORED: Dick Grayson/Robin (from 1960s "Batman")
Burt Ward is confirmed to appear in the crossover, but his character is unconfirmed. He previously played Robin in the 1960s live-action "Batman" series, so it's rumored that he'll be reprising this character. If that's the case, 1960s Batman will be drafted into the Arrowverse. I guess we'll have to wait for more word on him.

CONFIRMED: Lois Lane (from "Supergirl")
Like her fiance Clark/Superman, Lois has been off-world since last year's crossover. Now she's coming back with a presumably superpowered baby. We don't know much yet about her involvement in the crisis (hopefully more than a cameo and a babysitter/mom role, but we'll see)

CONFIRMED: Jeffereson Pierce/Black Lightning (from "Black Lightning")
"Black Lightning" is coming into its third season. Up until now it's been kept separate from the Arrowverse. However, it looks like they're about to join. Their title hero will be joining the crossover, despite not having an episode of his own. We still don't know if "Black Lighting" exists on Earth-1 with "Arrow", "The Flash", "Legends of Tomorrow", and "Batwoman", if they're on Earth-38 with "Supergirl" or a separate Earth altogether. Maybe we'll get an answer here.

RUMORED: Clark Kent/Superman (from "Smallville")
As the CW's first DC show, "Smallville" has been rumored to be part of the Arrowverse for years now. Even though "Smallville" ended in 2011, there have been references to it sprinkled throughout the Arrowverse, particularly in "Supergirl" of course. During "Midvale" we had reference to Clark's friend Chloe (who was an original character for "Smallville") and her Wall of Weird. In addition, the "Smallville" theme played as Barry and Oliver fled to Earth-38 in "Elseworlds" (as well as the Kent Farm appearing as well) -- We even had Lois calling Clark "Smallville". If not Clark Kent, it's possible we could have a link to "Smallville" finally established in the Arrowverse.

CONFIRMED: Bruce Wayne/Batman (played by Kevin Conroy)
Kevin Conroy has been voicing Batman in animated series for years. I remember watching "Batman Beyond" almost 20 years ago and apparently he's been doing it ever since too. Now we get our first chance of seeing him as live-action Batman. It's unclear if this is the Earth-1 Batman referrenced in "Elseworlds", the Earth-38 Batman that Clark was said to work with, or a brand new Batman. Also would that bring "Batman Beyond" or any of these animated series into the Arrowverse?

Who do you want to appear in the Arrowverse? Christian Bale? 1990s Lois & Clark? The Teen Titans? Either way, I'm really looking forward to this winter's crossover

Arrowverse Wishlist

A few weeks ago I finally finished up binge-watching the DC Comics Shows (also referred to as a the Arrowverse). I happened to time it perfectly for the premieres of “Supergirl”, “The Flash”, “Legends of Tomorrow”, and “Arrow” next week. Now I’m not a DC Comics guru by any stretch (most of what I know is from movies in the past ten years, “Smallville”, and cartoons), but there are a few things I think it’d be cool to see in this next season of the Arrowverse. Full disclosure: No intended spoilers for the new season. However, I can’t promise that I won’t give spoilers to the end of last year’s seasons. All of this is just wishful thinking and possible speculation of what could happen.

Justice League: So the new Justice League movie comes out this fall and while it’s kind of been established that those big names (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc) will stay on the big screen and the others will stay on the small screen, it would be cool to see cameos by these characters. In fact, in conjunction with the Justice League movie coming out I’d love to see them appear, maybe in the crossover. I’m aware that this isn’t gonna happen, but I can wish. According to the posters, the movie will have Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Superman. The Arrowverse already has a Flash and Superman, but the other four could all have cameos in the four shows (Batman in “Supergirl”, Wonder Woman in “Arrow”, Aquaman in “The Flash”, and Cyborg in “Legends of Tomorrow”) and then have the whole team appear in the crossover. It’s almost guaranteed not to happen, but I think it’d be cool.

Joker and Harley Quinn: So since I’m already suggesting having Batman in “Supergirl”, why not have the Joker? Gotham has been referenced in Supergirl’s Earth, so it’s logical to assume he exists there at some point. And after he’s introduced we could have an “Arrow” and/or “The Flash” crossover to show him meet and have his dysfunctional relationship with Harley Quinn. I suggest a crossover since Harley Quinn was referenced to be with ARGUS on “Arrow” (she offered to give Diggle and Lyla counseling from her cell in “Suicide Squad” in Season 2). So have Batman and the Joker crossover into Star City. That could be fun right?

Backstories: With Oliver Queen’s missing five years concluded, the suspicion is that we’re gonna get backstories from other characters now. I’d love to see backstory from some minor characters. How did Paul and Curtis meet? What were Felicity’s growing up years like? And what childhood trauma could possibly explain why Merlyn is so crazy?

More Superman: We already saw some Superman in Season 2 of “Supergirl” but I’d love to see more of him. Regardless of the rest of the Justice League, I would love to see him in the crossover episode. Maybe get some backstory on him and the Kents after he arrived from Krypton? We kind of have a cocktail of Superman stories vaguely mixed together to give us his history with Lex Luthor, but I’d kind of like to see a little more of what happened there. Speaking of which, let’s see some Lex. Any chance we can pull Michael Rosenbaum in to take the role back?

Hawkgirl and Hawkman: It’s been a year since they left the Legends, so it would be interesting to see them again. How is their fated love working out? Whether it’s with the Legends or with another set of heroes, I’d love to see them turn up again. Just don’t have anything between her and Ray again. I didn’t care for that.

NOT Another New Wells: We’ve had three incarnations of Harrison Wells so far, including Thawne. I’ve heard he likes to play a variety of characters, but I would like to have some consistency. The character changing up too much gets frustrating for me. With Jesse on Earth 3 to replace Jay, maybe we could have Harry back to help Team Flash again? He’s my favorite of the Wellses anyway. HR was…. Meh.

Superman Villains: I don’t know what is planned for next season of “Supergirl” obviously, but I would love to see some Superman villains make (at the very least) cameos. Zod, Lex (as I mentioned above), Braniac, etc. would all be cool to see. Maybe not as big bads, but for short, substantial story arcs in the season. I suppose the same could be said for some other classic DC villains. Why not have some big names attack Central City and Star City too? Problem is that most of the ones I know are Superman and Batman villains, which I’ve chosen to put in the “Supergirl” Earth.

Rip Hunter: I know Rip was on his way out of the Waverider at the end of Season 2 of “Legends of Tomorrow” but I want to see more of Rip. He was the man who got the team together and then his disappearance was one of the driving forces behind Season 2. I’d love to see him and Sara co-captain the ship. Why not? (Plus maybe dress him as a Roman at some point as a nod to his role of Rory Williams from Doctor Who? Please!)

Smallville Cameos: Like I said before, Smallville is where I know most of my DC Comics stuff. I'd love to see some of the actors return for cameos. Maybe have Tom Welling meet Kara? Kyle Gallner (Bart Allen) could meet Barry. Lots of ways this could work. Smallville could also be another Earth in the Multiverse I suppose.

A Speedster-Free Year: Besides Barry, Wally, and Jesse that is. We’ve had three speedster villains in a row as the big bads in “The Flash”. In some ways I actually expect them to break this pattern with the new villain. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if they still throw in a speedster somewhere. Please no. I love the speedsters and all, but unless it’s a Kryptonian sneaking across a breach, I would prefer to not see an antagonistic speedster in this season of Flash.

Historical Figures: One thing I've enjoyed among the mundane aspects of Legends of Tomorrow is the inclusion of historical figures. HG Wells, George Lucas, King Arthur, George Washington, JRR Tolkien, etc. There are infinite figures we could see. Just a few I'd like off the top of my head include CS Lewis, Winston Churchill, Shakespeare, etc.

In DC's Newest Live Action Series, A New Hero Rises

Last week, the latest live action television adaptation of a DC Comics character aired on CBS. This new series, developed in part by producers of Arrow and The Flash, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, adds a lead female protagonist to DC's current line-up, with Melissa Benoist cast as the title character. This new series is Supergirl.

Poster advertising the new Supergirl Television series

A few months back, when I saw the trailer advertising this series, I was intrigued by it, in particular because it was introducing Supergirl into a universe where Superman not only already existed, and was already well established, but was doing so without actually introducing Superman.

The trailer created a lot of excitement and hype for this new series. Unfortunately, at least for me, the series pilot, while having some great moments, did not live up to that hype as a whole. Much like the Green Lantern movie that was released about four years ago, I see the pilot for Supergirl as decent, though not particularly impressive, but due to the expectations the advertising beforehand set up for it, made it come off as a let down.

Though the actress cast as Supergirl definitely has the look for the part, she doesn't have the characterization of Supergirl that I've seen portrayed in the comic books over the last ten years. Whether this is due to how Benoist interprets the character, is do to the fact that the character in the TV series is in her mid-twenties rather than in her teens as the comic book character is, or that the writers were going another direction with her, this is not the Supergirl that has been seen at least since the character was killed off in the comic books in the mid-eighties.

As mentioned earlier, Superman is well established on Earth when Kara arrives. The problem I see is that in the beginning of the episode, Kara is thirteen years old. The episode then jumps to 11 years later. This would put a Superman that was already well established when Kara was a teenager likely into middle age by the time Kara decides to take on the role of a hero.

Is the Superman of this show beginning to show his age?
And is that the real reason that his face is never shown?

Granted, a middle-aged Superman could still work (it's something we've seen with some versions of the Earth-2 Superman, as well as with the Kingdom Come Superman). The problem I see is that the writers of this episode would like to do crossovers with Arrow and The Flash, which would place Supergirl in the Arrowverse. The way civilians react to vigilantes, superheroes and meta-humans in Arrow and The Flash, I have a difficult time believing that this could be the same world where Superman has been around for over ten years. It just doesn't fit.

Without giving away any major spoilers, I will also say that the role that Kara's adopted sister is revealed to play in this episode (and will apparently continue to play through the season, and possibly the series) feels too convenient. It comes off as rather contrived, and nothing more than a plot device to get Kara involved with other characters.

Chyler Lee plays Kara's adopted sister, Alex

One thing that doesn't make sense (and this is true of many Superman origin stories as well) is why she wears glasses. After she takes on the superhero identity of Supergirl, they make sense. But when she had no intention of ever taking on a superhero identity, why would a Kryptonian, with superhuman vision, be wearing glasses? It's definitely not about fashion, as Kara is clearly depicted to be fashionably inept. So what's the point in wearing them?

Melissa Benoist plays Kara Danvers, who wears glasses, even while having supervision,
and even before she ever decides to take on a hero identity

Lest this turn into nothing more than a rant of everything that was wrong with the pilot episode of Supergirl, there were some things I definitely liked about it.

Kara's adopted human parents are played by Dean Cain (who played Superman in Lois & Clark: the New Adventures of Superman) and Helen Slater (who played the title character in the 1980s Supergirl movie). I appreciated this nod to the previous material. I liked how it carries on the tradition started in The Flash with casting John Wesley Shipp (who played the Flash in the 90s Flash TV series) as Henry Allen, as well as bringing back Amanda Pays and Mark Hamill to reprise their roles as Dr. Tina McGee and the Trickster that they played in the previous series.

Helen Slater (who played Supergirl in the 1980s film) and Dean Cain (who played Superman in Lois & Clark)
play Kara's adoptive parents

I also like the continuing tradition of bringing in characters from the ensemble cast from the comic books. Some, like Cat Grant, are portrayed in a very similar way as they have been in the comic books. Others, like James (Jimmy) Olsen, are portrayed very differently. While still others, such as Hank Henshaw, still remain to be seen.

Choosing to use Kara as her name in her civilian identity is also an interesting choice. Originally I was opposed to it, as it the character in the comic books has almost always gone by Linda in her civilian identity. But when I think about it, if she had grown up never intending to be a hero or take on another identity, why would she not use the name she had gone by throughout her life? Going by Kara in her everyday life makes sense.

Again, without giving major spoilers, I found the apparent source of the villains that Supergirl is apparently being set up to fight this season intriguing. It's definitely more refreshing than the Smallville villain of the week that received his or her powers from exposure to Kryptonite, or even the improvement of the villain of the week meta-human created by the particle accelerator explosion typically used in the first season of The Flash. That being said, I hope that they go beyond just the villain of the week formula, though I am interested in seeing where they go with this.

I also like that Superman can be casually mentioned in the series without ever really being fully shown. It's a reminder of Kara's history and culture, while reminding us that she is not her cousin. I will say, however, there is a line of talking about him too much. As this was the pilot, and an origin story, I'll give the numerous mentions of Kara being Superman's cousin a pass, though in the future, I hope that this will be more balanced, as talking about him too much (even without him being seen) takes the focus away from the characters in this series.

This is as much as is ever shown of Supergirl's well known cousin, Superman

And finally, I do like Supergirl's costume. It is more styled after the classic costume. And as Kara is trying different styles, they even poke fun at the bare midriff style of costume that has been seen in more recent years in the Supergirl comics. The costume that Supergirl ultimately goes with is a good fit for Kara's personality.

Bare midriff may be the modern costume style for Supergirl,
 but it's definitely not Kara's style

I do intend to continue watching Supergirl, and seeing where the show-runners take this series. However, I cannot say that I am excitedly waiting for the next episode in the same way that I was watching the first seasons of both Arrow and The Flash. This series still has a lot of potential, and I hope to see it reach the same level as I've come to expect for a live action TV series that depicts DC Comics characters.