The CW's DC Shows are All In

Now, I feel as though that Warner Bros. did a spectacular job in showcasing their new movies that are coming out in 2016: they had awesome trailers, the casts were enjoyable to hear from, and the crowd in Hall H, as far as I could tell, was enjoying their time there. Because, at the end of the day, these folks that make their way out to San Diego Comic-Con and take the time to wait in line that long do deserve some reward for their efforts. The DC movie panels definitely did the job, but that wasn't all that DC showed with.

 With the  massive critical success of the CW's first DC-licensed show, Arrow, they have since launched a spin-off titled The Flash, which was met with even more success, both critically and commercially. As a matter of fact, throughout the first three seasons of Arrow and the first season of The Flash, DC's creative team now feels confident enough that they have enough talent to showcase a group of both heroes and villains saving the world in a new upcoming project, titled DC's Legends of Tomorrow. The third show is said to launch by January 20016, and the first halves of both Arrow's season 4 and The Flash's season 2 are being used to help set that show up, when the time comes.

Now, take a moment, because that's a lot of information to digest. Be that as it may, I'm excited for this news, Making content for television isn't an easy thing, and in many ways it's more challenging than producing a film (not always, but sometimes).To see that Warner Bros. is putting this much confidence in DC's creative team to let them run, essentially, three shows at a time and trust that each one will be successful speaks volumes about what kind of company they are.

Even with all that positivity, I didn't like what I saw that came out of the panels. Honestly, not one of them gave us anything substantial to see or react to. To make it easier to read and process, I'll take each show's panel at a time, starting with Arrow...

 Finishing season 3, Arrow probably has the most curiosity in terms of what lies ahead for the main character, Oliver Queen/The Arrow. No spoilers here, but what essentially happens is Oliver has a reason where he doesn't need to be a moody archer anymore. In terms of giving fans something to look forward to, there were a few news drops - Damien Darhk is the season's villain, Oliver will return in a more traditional Green Arrow costume, and even his friend Diggle will finally be wearing an outfit. Beyond that, there was no trailer, nothing to physically see outside of the new Green Arrow outfit. The third season ended on a happy yet open note, and not a whole lot of questions were answered, not even really addressed. I can understand that as you're filming multiple episodes at a time, it's hard to edit and put together something physical to take with you to a plus-15 minute meet-and-greet for fans to see, but at least give us a little taster of what we might get to witness in three months time - a quick-shot of a new character, a glimpse of a fight scene, anything would have been greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, all that they brought was one or two pieces of concept art, some quick reveals by word-of-mouth, and a costume reveal. Unfortunately, that's the kind of showing that just discourages me to go see that panel next year.

Following Arrow was what was, in my opinion, the best show of the 2014-2015 season, The Flash. Now, just like Arrow, The Flash showed up with their cast and producing crew (all people who I think are awesome, just so you know), and they did bring with them some video - but it was essentially just a season recap. No costume reveals, no concept art, and a few character name-drops to go along with the season recap. However, this season recap came with something at the end - a clip of a blue speedster racing through Central City while we hear quotes from the characters - these quotes are helping to give hints about the tone of the next season. While that's certainly more than what Arrow gave us, I'm still not convinced it's enough to get me into the panel when I can hear about it half an hour later. See, it gets even trickier with The Flash because they have a lot of special effects work that they need to get done, which I can appreciate, but a lot of these actors were talking about how they all received the first three or four scripts of the season by the time they all came to Comic-Con: are we really expected to believe that they hadn't been filming at least some of the episodes, or that they hadn't filmed enough to be able to put something together for fans to see? It may be petty, but it's just disappointing to see, because you can meet these guys in the regular lines throughout the day - you don't need to take your afternoon or evening out just to go to a separate line to hear the cast and crew joke around with each other.

Closing off the CW's DC showing was DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which I didn't really expect much from in all honesty. And with that, I didn't get much. The cast was there, they answered questions, and that was about the extent of it. I mean, they dropped a pretty rad trailer back a couple of months ago when they revealed the show was coming, so my only real complaint was that the guy who is going to be playing time-traveler Rip Hunter, Arthur Darvill, wasn't there to talk about his role. Being that he'll be the newest one to join the crew outside of Ciara Renee's Hawkgirl, I was excited to hear what his purpose in the show was, and his connections to any other time-travelers we might have already met could be. Alas, what we got was much of the same, except even less was revealed at this panel. And after all was said and done, I can understand this - most of this cast is going to start out in the other shows anyway, so they probably haven't filmed much beyond what was clearly that early taster. If you haven't seen it and would like a bit more context of what I'm talking about, here's the link: DC's Legends of Tomorrow Trailer

Overall, it's nice to see that a television studio has so much faith about running three separate comic book shows at once, but that doesn't mean you need to go stop by their panel at next year's comic-con. These television teams need to get me excited about going to see them on a stage, and right now they're not really encouraging me to do so. Hopefully, as they get even more and more popular, that'll change. But for now, all I can do is sit patiently and wait for October to arrive.

The Suicide Squad is shaping up to be Spectacular

Amidst the world of superhero movies, by late 2013, Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics were committing themselves to entering the fray with their own popular characters. When revealing their own film lineup to compete with Marvel, the third entry in the DC Cinematic Universe behind Man of Steel and the insanely awesome-looking Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is the David Ayer-directed Suicide Squad. This movie leads an all-star cast from Will Smith as the super-sniper "Deadshot", and the incredibly attractive Margot Robbie as queen clown creep "Harley Quinn", just to name a few.

Just like my discussion with the Batman V Superman trailer, I'd recommend that anyone unfamiliar with this property or anyone who hasn't seen the trailer to click on the following link to see it for themselevs, then return to discuss: Suicide Squad Trailer

With all that being seen and said, now we can talk about what we saw. I must say, for being an amalgamation of characters barely more recognized than the Guardians of the Galaxy, this trailer does a fantastic job of presenting to audiences the tone of the film, and the DC Cinematic Universe as a whole. What you get when you go see a DC movie is an idea that they're not afraid to go dark, both with its color palettes and its stories. They take characters that could otherwise be butchered to camp, such as a Harley Quinn or a Joker, and display them as damaged people, people that have been brutally and horrifically attacked in one way or another in their lives. DC isn't afraid to make it's viewers afraid. Some might say they do this directly because of Marvel's brighter and more lighthearted tone (which I can appreciate), but I believe that DC is very much so a more spiritual approach to the human condition - showing characters we know and love, like Batman in The Dark Knight trilogy or Man of Steel at the times when they can be at their lowest, and see them rise up stronger than ever before. This hopeful idealism of heroes facing their demons is something that will be interesting to see in a movie littered with villains.

Unfortunately, there isn't much to speculate on beyond what the tone of the movie this will be. The actors, aside from Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, and Viola Davis, were not seen enough to be able to make judgement or opinions on; be that as it may, what I saw from these three was phenomenal, and right on the money with their comic character counterparts. Viola Davis, for those of you who don't know, will be playing government agent Amanda Waller, a tough-as-nails woman who recruits and runs Task Force X, a.k.a. the Suicide Squad. Historically, she recruits low-level villains and threatens their lives or those the Squadders love in order to manipulate them to do whatever job she needs to do. As said in the trailer, if they fail, the government has an easy blame with the squad. If they succeed, the government can continue to utilize their talents and take credit at the same time. I'm excited to see what more Davis can do.

Seeing Margot Robbie on-screen confirmed all a lot of Harley Quinn, but mostly of her damaged, post-Joker relationship. For those unaware, debuting in Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn was a psychologist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel (clever, right?), who worked at Arkham Asylum. One day, her patient tasked to her was none other than the Joker. Fascinated with the criminal mind in general, and infatuated with the Clown Prince of Crime, Harleen became "Harley Quinn", Joker's right-wing gal and partner in crime...but also a subject of constant abuse. When Harley arrived to the comics beyond a child's television program, it's shown more graphically that Harley was often the subject of the Joker's anger and frustrations. However, no matter how much abuse Harley received, the Joker always knew how to win back her affections. We see in the trailer that this Harley Quinn is a damaged woman, and there are even a few frames in the teaser where we can see Margot Robbie without the Harley Quinn make-up...could we see her as the intelligent psychologist in some flashbacks? Perhaps, even, there will be a scene or two where it's revealed what exactly the Joker did to her. Whatever the case, I think most would be in agreement that Margot Robbie will be one of the best parts of the movie.

Speaking of clowns, the Joker quickly slipped in at the end of the teaser, and by God, if that wasn't the best part. Hearing Jared Leto's voice molded in a Joker-like manner and speaking those words is absolutely haunting, and you can tell that this guy definitely has given Ben Affleck's Batman a run for his money a time or two. I've already talked about the look of Joker, so to see him in action and speaking is a breath of fresh air. I don't envy Leto having to follow up Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight - that's a social bridge anyone crossing would fall through. Hopefully, however, after seeing what Leto's bringing to the table, fans will rest easy and root for him, just like I am. After seeing this teaser, I have absolutely no reservations about what Jared Leto's Joker will be - it'll be awesome.

As for the rest of the squad, there's not much to say. They didn't do much, and we only heard tidbits from Will Smith's "Deadshot" and Jai Courtney's "Boomerang". Leaving more for fans to see is great, I'm just hoping that this doesn't become the clown show. I'd like to see plenty more from the rest of the squad, because there's a lot of talent to go around: Cara Delevingne as "Enchantress", Joel Kinnaman as "Rick Flagg", Adewlae Akinnuoye-Agbaje as "Killer Croc" (who I'm most excited to see more from), Jay Hernandez as "El Diablo", Adam Beach as "Slipknot", and Karen Fukuhara as "Katana" are all full of potential in the movie. Their characters are also varied in abilities, from Enchantress's magical connections to Katana's sword skills. This movie has a lot of good going for it, and I just can't wait to see it.

DC's Batman V Superman Comic-Con Showing

When Marvel is at home to stay, DC comes out to play.

Wow. Just wow. Those two thoughts where the first things that came to my mind after I saw all the things that had been offered up to the fans at Warner Bros. DC Comic's sections of their San Diego Comic-Con panels. Fans were treated to it all, both in the movies and in the TV. And now that the dust has settled and thoughts have been allowed to be collected, I'm ready to share my own; there you are, a nerd's opinion of nerdy stuff. This is free of charge, too, I hope everyone understands the deal they're getting here.

Oh, by the way, on the off-chance you didn't see the new trailer yet, click on this link to check it out before you read this - trust me, it will make more sense if you do: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Comic-Con Trailer

Anyways, the first thing to come out to the public in the high-definition version it was intended was the newest trailer for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. The trailer clocks in at about 3 minutes worth of footage, AND IT"S ALL SPECTACULAR.

For those of you who don't know, Batman V Superman takes place after the horrific events of Man of Steel, where Superman had an enormous fight with fellow Kryptonian, General Zod, in the city of Mertropolis. The fight causes both super-powered beings to crash into several buildings and cause massive damage to the city. Thousands of citizens died in the crossfire, including several members of Bruce Wayne's Metropolis branch of Wayne Enterprises. Oh, and for those of you who don't know, Bruce Wayne is Batman. So, yeah, Batman's not too happy about that.

The trailer shows us that the U.S. government has officially placed responsibility for the incident on Superman's shoulders, and have called him to a meeting to talk with him. Now, while we don't see the conversation that took place (you gotta pay for the ticket to see that, folks), I'm glad that the movie addresses what happened in Man of Steel. Far too often, I think movies will shove serious, shattering events under the carpet because everyone's supposed to understand what the hero was trying to do in the big picture. Here, however, the world is holding super-powered beings accountable for their actions, which I think shows a lot of maturity on the film's part.

Also, it's kind of cool that the leader of this whole Superman-accountability committee is the woman who voiced Elastigirl in The Incredibles. Superheroes collide in more ways than one, it seems in this movie.

So, besides the fact that we get to see characters like Perry White (Lawrence Fishburne), Lois Lane (Amy Adams), and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) return from Man of Steel, we get a new Batman in the form of Ben Affleck, and a new Alfred in the form of Jeremy Irons. Now, while I wasn't thrilled to hear Affleck was cast originally, I warmed up to the idea after seeing him in films like Argo and Gone Girl; this isn't the same Affleck we saw back in Daredevil, people. And, by the way, the man has clearly dedicated himself to this role. I mean, he's bulked up and he's even deepened his voice a bit; we're gonna get a perfectly fine Batman. With Jeremy Irons, I had no doubts. You can tell from the trailer he's trying to show Bruce the right way, that Superman isn't a threat, but clearly, it doesn't work out for him. However, although Alfred might not get as much time as he would in a full-fledged Batman movie, you can bet we're gonna get some damn good monologues out of him.

However, the fun doesn't stop there. We were also treated to bits and pieces of a new Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg, and our first footage of Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot. When it comes to Luthor, Jesse Eisenberg was never the guy who I envisioned would be playing him. He's a good actor, don't get me wrong, but not for this role. I always felt the role of Lex Luthor needed to be played with more gravitas in the presence, not in the intellect or the dialogue. Lex Luthor is a smart guy, but he also had a certain gravitas to his presence; Jesse can definitely do the smart, but I'm not yet sure about the intimidating. As for Gal Gadot, there's not much to say - sometimes she's dressed like a civilian, other times she's in her battle gear. There's no clear indicator that Gadot is gonna act the part well, but in the meantime she's definitely looking the part.

 Now, while we got a plethora of new features in this trailer, much more is still shrouded in rumors and much more is to come. We're still expecting a visit from Aquaman, played by Jason Momoa, as well as some version as the former Teen Titan Cyborg, played by Ray Fisher. However, there are also more unanswered questions we got from this trailer: Why did Batman retire originally? To which
Robin did the costume on display belong to? Why does Wayne Manor look so unkept? Where did Lex find that huge chunk of Kryptonite? That, along with the new things we saw from Suicide Squad, and the news we heard from The CW's Arrow, The Flash, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow give us a lot to talk about. Frankly, it's a bit too much to discuss in one post, so look around for my blog in the coming days to see the rest of my DC SDCC thoughts - plus the ones on 20th Century Fox's own showings. With all that being said, however, DC took the cake this year - and, with all honesty, it's about time.

What Kingdom Hearts has done for Gaming

Few game developers can claim they have the artistic supremacy and narrative finesse when it comes to making a video game. However, Square Enix can; with games that continuously get positive reviews, from Tomb Raider to Hitman, Square Enix knows how to please Western gamers and give them a good time. Their true claim to fame, however, has been their Japanese Role Playing Game, or JRPG, sensation known as Final Fantasy. The origin company "Square" led the groundwork for the game, and after merging with the company "Enix", what formed was the "Square Enix" that has brought millions of fans games to enjoy - and one of their crowning achievements is the Kingdom Hearts series.

For those of you who don't know, Kingdom Hearts is the story of three young friends (Sora, Riku, and Kairi) who have their home invaded by monsters known as "Heartless". With his friends separated across different worlds, Sora travels through multiple worlds to find them -  the gimmick? These worlds all happen to be the settings of your favorite Disney films. From the ocean depths of The Little Mermaid's Atlantica to Aladdin's Agrabah, Sora visited everywhere and took down all his foes with his iconic weapon - the keyblade. The keyblade is a sword endowed with magical properties, able to deal out melee-style swings, or conjure up spells to punish those who would cause pain.

However, you can't save the universe without some help. Travelling throughout the worlds with Sora is familiar faces Donald Duck and Goofy! After running into Sora, Donald and Goofy reveal they're looking for a friend of their own - Mickey. Claiming that he was captured by dark forces, Donald and Goofy decide to travel along with Sora to rescue all their friends. Facing both the Heartless and familiar Disney villains, Sora, Donald, and Goofy manage to undertake the impossible and rescue thousands of lives, if it is even for only a moment.

However, the success of this franchise isn't the fact that you can have the Genie and Donald exchange some witty banter. No, that's merely the tool that Square Enix used to get people to buy the game. What keeps this franchise going is its stellar narrative and its fluent control scheme.

Narratively, Kingdom Hearts touches on some seriously deep stuff, considering it's tagging right alongside a character named "Goofy". There are lessons of friendship and a surprisingly intense commentary on people's personal conflicts with lightness and darkness. Strictly speaking, it is slightly reminiscent of a certain lightsaber-weilding warrior's own tale, but it nonetheless is executed expertly. The dialogue can be corny at times, but what sells it is the voice acting. The actors are sincere and full of emotion, even with the odd Japanese-translated dialogue.

Control-wise, the series has evolved tremendously. Both melee and magic moves are organized in a playlist-style in which a simple button press activates the power you want to use. At first, this system worked in a sense in which melee and magic were kept separate and you had to go through an extra listing to use them; however, after Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, all moves were placed onto one, short playlist, with shorter cooldown times, allowing you to move faster and attack more swiftly. The best part is you really feel every swipe you make, every shot you take, you really feel the attack; the force against the enemy, the swish of the keyblade, the strikes of the light, you really feel like you're wielding it yourself. This game has some of the best combat controls of any series, second only to the Batman: Arkham series...but that's a story for another day.

And at the end of the day, many people agree that Kingdom Hearts has done something really special for gaming. For the kids that picked it up, it taught them lessons about believing in yourself and trusting in your friends. For adult fans, it reminded them that not every video game has to have gore or horrific imagery to hold your attention or grab you by the heartstrings. For console companies, this series has literally helped to push consoles - whether it's the PlayStation 2 and the debut of the series, or Dream Drop Distance on the Nintendo 3DS...which, coincidentally, led me to purchase my own 3DS. After over 10 years, Kingdom Hearts has become a positive reminder of the capabilities of gaming, both play-wise and in storytelling. And with what's coming up, it's never been a better time to be a fan.

Marvel's Daredevil is simply EPIC

After the horrific showing that was 2003's, Fox-produced escapade with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, Marvel proper reclaimed the rights to the Crimson Crusader and proceeded to utilize him in a way they wanted to - more explicit, more violent, and, obviously, more connected to the Avengers' universe. But where a television show like Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. relies on events from the major films to influence certain plot points, Marvel's Daredevil consciously works to keep itself as creatively separate from the exploits of the Avengers as much as it possibly can. Is it successful in all of its endeavors, separate from otherwise? Well, if you read my title, then you know that, yeah,  it does.

 The premiere season introduces us to up-and-coming Hell's Kitchen lawyer Matt Murdock, a blind man with heightened senses he uses to protect the oppressed from  criminals and thugs. By day, Matt works with his best friend Foggy and newcomer Karen in the law world to protect the citizens who cannot protect themselves; by night, Matt dons a mask and becomes the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, protecting the innocent without anyone knowing them. However, even with all his efforts, Matt finds himself face-to-face with the devil himself in the form of murdering psychopath Wilson Fisk, who faces his own demons as he tries to bring his home up from the ashes.

This first season was an absolutely stellar one. Marvel gives us a show that has it all - action, intrigue, character development, etc. While this is clearly a departure from the original Daredevil, you can tell influence has been taken from the likes of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins or the CW's Arrow; that isn't necessarily a bad thing, far from it. If you're gonna borrow ideas, those aren't the worst. However, when you've invested your time into the comic book-movie universes as I have, it can grow slightly fatiguing to see the repeated dark tone every time - that's a big hurdle to be able to cross. Whereas you can get away with more lighthearted movies over and over again, like the Marvel movies have, darker tales weigh down on a person far more emotionally, and therefore needs to be taken in in small increments. Honestly, there were some sequences that were so aggressively violent that I couldn't move on to the next episode. I had to give it a day or two before I could continue the journey with these characters.

However, after the shock value of that violence dies down, you  do eventually return for one important reason: the characters. As Marvel always does, they go with the talent to portray their characters. I don't know where they found Charlie Cox, but I don't care, this guy is awesome. Cox grabs your attention in every scene, suited up or not. What grabbed me was the way he used his voice so expertly; as he plays a character who lacks the use of his eyes, his voice, more than anything, conveys everything you'd need to hear from him. Cox cleverly used pauses, inflection changes, and whispers so effectively that you never look anywhere else - the audience member themselves actually uses their ears more than their eyes in this show when Murdock is on the scene. And Charlie Cox isn't the only reason to come and stay - Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson as Matt's partners Karen Page and Foggy Nelson compliment Matt's own darkness with comedy and a bit more laid-backness nicely. Honestly, these are some of the most delightful characters you'll meet in the Marvel Universe.

However, not everyone in Hell's Kitchen is as eager to play nice. See, the reason this section of New York City is in such a bad place is because clean-up in the aftermath of The Avengers is slow and tedious in Hell's Kitchen - and one man that wants to fix is home is Wilson Fisk. Large, soft-spoken, yet incredibly violent, this character is portrayed ingeniously by Vincent D'Onofrio. The scary part about this character is that several times throughout the season, you genuinely feel sympathy for Fisk; his backstory is actually quite tragic, but that's for you to figure out for yourself. And in there lies the brilliance of his character: when you couple his often shy and simple demeanor with his terrible past, you, the viewer, often feel compelled to just go up and give Fisk a big hug. As I watched this show with my brother, we would often look over to each other and say, "I don't know who to root for". This villain is probably one of the most compelling in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even more so than some of those that have appeared in the films. However, each audience member is reminded at least once an episode that Fisk is the villain; he's a very emotional man who has a serious anger problem, and a lot of strength to be able to deal great amounts of pain onto those who get in his way. You don't want to run into this guy on the street, trust me.


When it comes to television shows, the two most important aspects are the story and the characters, and Marvel's Daredevil Season 1 nails them both on the head. While the violence may become too much for some, especially considering this is a Marvel franchise, the trials and tribulations of both heroes and villains kept me coming back for all 13 episodes, and have locked me down for the second season as well. I can't recommend this show enough, and if you're a Marvel fan already you have no excuse to skip out on this - you'll only be robbing yourself of an incredible experience. Action, drama, mystery, it's all here for you, and if you like thinks like Batman or Arrow, what is here is much of the same. And don't worry, because if you've heard the news, Marvel has some very big plans for season two, so stick around...

Rating: 9/10