DCEU News: Batgirl Gets Directors, Green Lantern Casting and Netflix Vertigo Show News

Heading into the last day of the month, here's some of the latest DC news that we got during the month.

Batgirl has bagged itself directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys For Life) to helm the movie for HBO Max from a script by Christina Hodson. No release date confirmed for the movie yet.

Blue Beetle is also in pre production, according to the director. Casting will likely be announced in the next few months.

Ta-Nehisi Coates Superman reboot will be casting a black actor in the role of Kal El. Regina King is one of several rumoured directors for the movie.

Aquaman 2 will start filming in July in the UK. Jason Momoa co-wrote the script for the movie.

HBO Max have announced a brand new animated series called Batman: Caped Crusader. The series will be produced by JJ Abrams, Bruce Timm and Matt Reeves.

They'll also be doing My Adventures With Superman with Jack Quaid voicing the title role. The show has gotten a two season order.

Sam Richardson has been cast in a role for the third season of Harley Quinn.

Mark Strong has confirmed he will not be reprising his role of Dr Sivana for Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods.

The Sandman has added Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine, the ancestor of John Constantine. Also joining the Netflix series are Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Patton Oswalt, Joely Richardson and many more.

Sweet Tooth will premiere on Netflix from June 4th. Robert Downey Jr is one of the executive producers for the series.

Titans third season will now premiere in August on HBO Max.

Injustice will be getting an animated movie.

Finn Wittrock and Jeremy Irvine have been cast as Guy Gardner and Alan Scott for the upcoming Green Lantern series on HBO Max. Filming will begin later in the year.

Batwoman and Legends Of Tomorrow will air on Wednesdays when they return in the autumn. The Flash will kick off a five episode arc with other heroes while Superman And Lois will return for its second season in 2022.

The CW have picked up Naomi for a series but passed on Painkiller.

Freddie Stroma has replaced Chris Conrad for the role of Vigilante in Peacemaker. The show will finish filming in July for a January 2022 premiere on HBO Max.

Meanwhile on June 8th and tying in with Pride Month 🌈 , there's DCPride, an anthology featuring several LGBT characters such as Batwoman, Midnighter, Apollo, Extrano, The Flash of Earth 11, Aquawoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn. John Constantine, Extrano, Pied Piper, Aqualad, The Question, Alan Scott, Obsidian, Crush and Dreamer. There will also be interviews with Matt Ryan, Nicole Maines, Javicia Leslie, Matt Bomer and Nafessa Williams. 

That's it for this month and Happy Pride everyone!!!!🌈🌈🌈🌈

My Review of Cruella (2021)

Written by Dana Fox And Tony McNamara And Aline Brian McKenna And Kelly Marcel And Steve Zissis

Directed by Craig Gillespie

Cruella: "How does the saying go? I am woman. Hear me roar."

Of all the classic Disney villains to try and retool as a charming antihero type, Cruella De Vil would've been the last one I'd ever consider to do this with. Even Once Upon A Time didn't dare to attempt such a thing but this punk era movie decided to give the most evil of Disney villains a modern makeover.

We open with a younger version of Cruella being given away by her birth mother, only to be adopted by a maid named Catherine (Emily Beecham). Named Estella, our unlikely antihero grows up in a loving home but struggles to fit in with her peers at school.

Still though she has an adorable dog named Buddy and when her adopted mother tragically dies, Estella finds herself an orphan before forging a new family with Jasper and Horace and their adorable pooch Wink.

Jumping into a decade later, the grown up Estella (Emma Stone) along with Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) are getting by as petty thieves but things take a more ambitious turn when Estella finds herself getting hired by the fearsome Baroness (Emma Thompson) to work at her fashion.

It's here where Estella soon realised there's a connection to the Baroness and Catherine and a mysterious necklace holds the key to Estella's true legacy. The Baroness's unhinged behaviour towards everyone in sight also reawakens a dark side in Estella.

Simply put, Estella adopts the persona of Cruella and along with the help of Jasper, Horace, shop owner Artie (John McCrea) and journalist Anita Darling (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Cruella doesn't waste time in upstaging the Baroness at every turn and in gloriously camp ways.

In a lot of ways the Baroness feels more like the classic Cruella than Estella herself, though the latter definitely has her dark moments here. While Estella harms no animals in this movie, she definitely had no problem stealing the Baroness's Dalmatians and letting the latter believe they had become a coat.

The reveal of the Baroness being Estella's biological mother however won't shock anyone. It's heavily telegraphed throughout the movie but it works and every scene that both Stone and Thompson share delights in so many ways.

Somewhat more surprising though was the heel turn of the Baroness's henchman, John (Mark Strong) whose switching of sides helped Estella bring about the downfall of her mother as well as the proper rebirth of Cruella De Vil. Cruella's here to stay but will this be a bad thing for the canine population? Only time will tell.

- The mid credit scene had Cruella gifting both Anita and former lawyer Roger (Kayvan Novak) with two Dalmatians that she named Perdita and Pongo.

- Artie is the first prominent gay character in a live action Disney movie, though his sexuality is briefly alluded to. There were hints that Jasper has feelings for Cruella as well.

- Standout music: Florence And The Machine's Cruella De Vil and Doris Day's Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

- Chronology: Mostly set in the 1970s and this movie had fun with it's setting.

Cruella might have changed the infamous baddie more than expected but don't expect all sweetness and light either, she's still bad though. Emma Stone has managed to equal Glenn Close (a producer on this movie too) as the legendary villain and with plenty set up to explore in a sequel, one can hope Disney give a second helping.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Superman And Lois 1x07: "Man Of Steel"

 

Written by Jai Jamison

Directed by David Ramsey

John Henry Irons: "You see, Kal-El, you're not the Man of Steel, I am."

Well, I definitely didn't see that coming. I was more than fine with Wole Parks playing a Lex Luthor from a different Earth but having him as Steel, aka John Henry Irons was a very nice surprise.

We've known since the second episode this guy wasn't a villain and as we've learned that he was married to Lois on his own world, we also now know that he has a daughter named Nat that he's promised to return home to.

Wole Parks definitely gave the performance of the episode as he sort of came clean to Lois while at the same time trying to kill Superman. The latter bit didn't work out so well due to Jonathan and Jordan and now John is in the DOD's custody, pondering what to do next.

The sequences to John's world, littered with multiple evil Supermen causing destruction was epically done, especially when Lois herself became a victim of one of them. I assume there's the danger one of those Supermen will make his way to our Earth as well. I can see them doing that instead of making our Clark even.

As for the actual villain of the season, Morgan Edge has hired Lana so that she unknowingly will help him get more potential Subjekts and Leslie had fun in keeping Superman, Lois and John distracted as well for good measure.

Then there was the plot with Jordan trying to control his super hearing, which led to some conflict between him and Jonathan before the pair were able to save Superman. I really hope the show isn't planning a love triangle between the Kent boys and Sarah but it looks like they might be.

- Chrissy was back this week as Kyle was absent. I thought Morgan was gonna recommend him as a Subjekt, though he still might.

- Nat is usually the niece of Steel in the comics and other media but here she's his and Lois's daughter.

- Brilliant directing from David Ramsey, who will also appear later in the season as Diggle.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Man Of Steel without a doubt is the best episode we have gotten so far. Brilliant character moments, wonderful flashbacks, plenty of high drama. This show just keeps on getting better and better.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 6x04: "Bay Of Squids"

 

Written by Phil Klemmer

Directed by Sudz Sutherland

Ava: "You think it was a bad idea letting Rory run on point?"

Nate: "Eh, we've had messier missions."

I guess when the effort has been made, Mick can actually scrub up. He can even take over the efforts to find Sara and somewhat almost cause World War Three while also finding his unique way to fix everything.

This was a chance for Dominic Purcell to do something and he did well as Mick led the team into the Cuban Missile Crisis and our reduced Legends split into three to tackle the mission itself.

Mick and Spooner who I think work extremely well together were the ones who inadvertantly gave Fidel Castro a nuclear device but the latter did not interact with them.

Instead Fidel's scenes were with Behrad who passed himself off as Che Guevara's cousin Jay and indulged in some marijuana candy and a sing song. Behrad partially succeeded in mellowing out Castro while Ava stole an alien from an operating room.

The alien in question turned out to be Kayla and when Mick booted everyone off the Waverider, a new team was formed in the ongoing quest to get Sara back while the remaining Legends figured they go and live with Constantine and Astra for a bit. Yeah. I can see John enjoying all that extra company.

As for Nate and Zari, their mission was to keep JFK and the overzealous General Kilgore from attacking Cuba as well. Some football analogies helped with that side of things along with a much needed conversation between Nate and Zari on the latter looking like his former girlfriend. I still think Zari works better with Nate than Constantine to be honest.

- Sara, Gary, Constantine and Astra were all absent from this one and Behrad was forgotten about a few times as well.

- It was a little hard not to notice the flirty vibes between Mick and Kayla at the end of this episode.

- Standout music: Behrad's little Peace Time song was actually decent.

- Chronology: 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis for this episode.

Bay Of Squids might have had a cast shortage but it was a pretty entertaining romp that worked well with it's pairings to boot. Saying that, how much longer will Sara be separated from her team?

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Superman And Lois 1x06: "Broken Trust"

 

Written by Katie Aldrin

Directed by Sudz Sutherland

Clark (to Jordan): "When I first showed up in Metropolis as Superman, there was a lot of talk about what the world should do with someone who had powers like mine."

It's been a somewhat long two months since this show took its first break and while the first of Supergirl's final season was entertaining, I am glad this show has returned.

The main plot with Jordan and his power struggles really boiled over but less with the Tag storyline and more with his refusal to confide in Clark over having lack of control and old demons resurfacing during a football game in Metropolis.

This got made even worse when Jonathan suffered the consequences of trying to defend Jordan while Clark had it out with the latter about them not being so different. Then the episode ended on an appropriate cliffhanger as Jordan completely lost control and Clark had to bring him to the Fortress of Solitude.

Speaking of losing control, this was the first time in the season that we got see even Superman come close to losing it when the DOD went on the attack with Tag and had no problem using Kryptonite bullets as well.

Much as he pulls off all of Superman's lighter qualities, it's good to know that Tyler Hoechlin can also pull off the darker side when needed as well. I also liked that despite Tag attacking Jordan and taking Sarah, Clark was willing to try and help him.

As for Lois, I have to admit I loved her scenes with Lex or should we say Marcus and the two of them made for quite a team. It didn't take long for Marcus to show Lois the X-Kryptonite in the mines that Morgan Edge was using.

It also didn't take long for Leslie Larr to try and fail to kill Lois and her new friend and neither did it take Lois long to realise that Marcus was lying to her or to tell Clark about the X-Kryptonite. I like how things are moving at a strong pace with this show.

- Kyle was visibly annoyed when Edge have Lana a job and not him. It also didn't take Lana long to help Lois without telling Kyle either.

- Sam did very little other than to be a straight up pain in the backside to Superman and unsympathetic to Tag.

- No Chrissy Beppo this week but the Lois/Lex worked too well for it to matter.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off. Clark also told Jordan he's been Superman for twenty years.

Broken Trust was a strong returning episode for this show and it seems that the quality from the first five episode was still intact with this one. I'm impressed with how quickly certain things moved along too.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 6x03: "The Ex-Factor"

 

Written by Grainne Godfrey And Tyron B. Carter

Directed by David A. Geddes

Zari: "That's right, Dragon Girl is here to claim Da Throne."

I suppose it was a matter of time that this show would tackle the reality singing competition and going all a little Masked Singer was this oddball episode.

When Zari's ex S'More Money winds up hosting a show named Da Throne, it puts him in the unfortunate position of being killed by alien/robot hunter called Lord Knox.

The Legends go back in time to prevent the death, use the rules of Da Throne to combat Knox in a non lethal way while Zari and Constantine's relationship gets put to the test.

I said back in the premiere this relationship would work if it was more of a casual thing but it seems the writers really want to make them into a sweeping romance and I wish they wouldn't. I can't deny the actors have chemistry but it feels so forced that I can't get behind the pairing at all.

Even the show winning duet and declaration of love to the other Legends didn't win me over.  I don't want to spend the season complaining about it but it's definitely not something I'm rooting for either.

As for the rest of the Legends, Mick was largely in a funk with Sara still being missing while Ava and Spooner continue to build a nice friendship. As for Knox, they were a fun guest baddie that came to a bad ending courtesy of Mick's foot.

As for Sara and Gary - I did not expect the planet of Ava clones but it's about time that season big bad Bishop (Raffi Barsoumian) finally appeared and the episode ended with Sara meeting him in his own lair. Now let's see how effective a villain he'll be.

- Keeping with cast members working with real life partners, Raffi Barsoumian is actually Tala Ashe's husband.

- No Astra again this week but we did get Zari and Behrad's mother. Zari should probably fire her assistant though.

- Standout music: I guess Zari and Constantine's version of The Buzzcocks Ever Fallen In Love. 

- Chronology: 2045 Hollywood for this episode.

The Ex Factor definitely brought the reminder of a certain ITV show that's not been around for a while. It was an entertaining take on the genre, but now it's time to up the ante with the alien story.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Our Father's Eyes

It's been a while but here's a look at some of the stuff I've been watching over the last few weeks.

Batwoman: We're two thirds into this show's second season and things have gotten fairly interesting. Black Mask while not perfect has been a better baddie than Safiyah and the twisted reintroduction of Kate Kane now played by Wallis Day feels like something out of Gotham - in the best way possible. Alice is always a blast, I liked the girls night episode with Ryan, Sophie and Mary, Stephanie Brown's inclusion was nice, especially for her scenes with Luke. Right now Jacob's snakebite addiction is the only weak link  this season.

Schitt's Creek: It's taken seven months but I finally finished this wonderful series and this last season was so much fun, I didn't want it to end but alas, it's over.  The last episode with David and Patrick's wedding was a good one to end with along with Johnny and Moira leaving for pastures new and even Alexis going on a journey of personal growth in this last season. Then there's Stevie being the best ever, Roland proving that he does have Johnny's back when it counted, Twyla being secretly rich, Ted and Alexis breaking up, fun snarky comments from Ronnie, Jocelyn almost taking on a new career and a brief reappearance from Jake. I'm so glad I saw this show all the way through.

Supergirl: There's no denying that Melissa Benoist's maternity leave definitely put the writers in a position where they needed to be their most creative in terms of Kara's reduced screen time. The Midvale two parter had fun with younger versions of Kara, Alex and Cat while putting Nia and Brainy at the forefront and for the better too. I'm glad the Phantom Zone plot has been resolved as the gang managed to rescue both Kara and her father and I can't wait to see what mischief Nyxly will get up to now that she's also in National City.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier: If you were worried that Sam was never going to become Captain America, then the last two episodes were not only a treat but you've got a movie on the horizon to see even more of Sam in his new role. This series was excellent from start to finish, not just with Sam and Bucky's respective journeys but also for characters like John Walker, Sharon Carter, Zemo and Karli. That's two Disney+ shows the MCU have knocked out of the park. 

The Flash: I'll be honest - I'm finding this season something of a slog to get through. The main plot with the forces isn't that particular gripping and even things like Cisco and Chester time travelling and the whole Killer Frost trial hasn't landed as well as they should've. Although I did like the actor playing Speedforce Nora, overall the second half of the season needs to give Barry a more gripping antagonist to work with.

• Fox have cancelled Prodigal Son after two seasons.
• Carlos Valdes and Tom Cavanagh will be leaving The Flash this season.
• The CW will now air new programming on Saturdays next season.
• Grey's Anatomy has been renewed for an eighteenth season.
• The reunion special of Friends will stream on HBO Max from May 27th.
• Netflix has renewed Bridgerton for a third and fourth season while the second season is currently filming.
• Netflix have also cancelled The Irregulars after one season.
• Loki will stream Wednesdays on Disney+ from June 9th.
• Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter will play a married couple in an upcoming Disney+ series.
• UK viewers wil be able to watch the second season of Love Victor from June 18th on Disney+.

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 6x02: "Meat: The Legends"

 

Written by Matthew Maala And Morgan Faust

Directed by Rachel Talalay

Spooner: "You can still find your girlfriend."

Ava: "I know we will."

Spooner: "And I just didn't shoot enough of them."

If this episode feels familiar to you, it's probably because you have seen both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Torchwood tackle something similar in their runs.

The idea wasn't a classic back then and it's not really one either in this episode but instead of alien meat driving people crazy, it's a housewife and a supply of alien goo that she's giving her husband for a burger restaurant.

It's where the gang wind up this week in Ava's efforts to get Spooner to use her abilities in tracking Sara and while Spooner is a little too gun happy at times, the adventure was a nice way to let her know there's nothing in her and to bond with Ava.

I did like Spooner being critical of Ava's leadership skills while also having a nice rapport with Constantine. Ava didn't quite embrace Spooner's desire to destroy more aliens but they did work well together in taking out the moth looking alien this week.

Meanwhile Nate, Zari and Behrad found themselves on burger duties and while Nate and his shorts gained a set of admirers, the episode also managed to resolve the issue as to which Tarazi sibling should be wielding the air totem. The answer was both and it took original Zari to resolve that issue. I'm really glad we're still getting to see her on the show.

As for Sara and Gary, they crash landed on a mysterious planet, followed a dog, encountered Amelia Earhart, only for her to turn out to be an alien. Sara also got poisoned and Gary went into wedding planner mode before the two got some unwanted company by the end of this one.

- This episode was basically an origin story for Big Belly Burger, which was unexpected.

- Mick just randomly disappeared halfway through the episode and Astra was a no show.

- Spooner's arc also seems to factor in her mother while Gary was traded to Kayla by his family. 

- Chronology: October 10th 1955 in San Bernardino.

Meat: The Legends ain't no classic episode but it's oddly more fun than expected and certainly had its gory enough moments to boot. Spooner is slowly becoming a good addition to the show but I do hope they don't prolong Sara and Gary being separated from the group for too long.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Pet Sematary (2019)

 

Written by Matt Greenberg And Jeff Buhler

Directed by Kevin Loach And Dennis Widmyer

Jud: "Sometimes dead is better."

Confession time: I've not seen the 1989 adaptation of this particular Stephen King tale so I can't in all honesty say whether the 2019 version is better or worse. I can however give an honest perspective on this version nonetheless.

Story is mostly the same, albeit with some cultural changes. A doctor named Louis (Jason Clarke) and his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) move from Boston to Maine with their children and it's not long before they realise that strange things happen in their new town.

When the daughter Ellie (Jete Laurence) wanders around the pet sematary and encounters the rather odd Jud (John Lithgow), it's soon revealed that the dead don't stay that way and come back a lot different than when they left.

Elie learns this when her cat returns and has become so feral her father has no choice but to get rid of it. The cat then reappears during Ellie's birthday party and tragedy then strikes for the family when Ellie is killed.

Of course learning nothing from the cat, Ellie is brought back to life by her grieving father and then turns on him and her mother before killing poor Jud.

The ending is an unsatisfactory cliffhanger but the lead performances are fairly strong with the movie looking very chilling and atmospheric, especially during the night scenes. Also that cat was more menacing than Ellie herself.

- There's a sly reference to Cujo at one point in the movie by Jud.

- I still find it a bit odd that Ellie called her cat Church after Winston Churchill but it's amusing when you realise that John Lithgow played him in The Crown.

- The Easter release of this movie was timely considering its resurrection theme.

- Chronology: I assume 2019 as to when the movie came out.  

Pet Sematary is probably not the strongest adaptation of a Stephen King work but it's charming nonetheless. The cast are solid as is the direction and atmosphere in general and overall that works for me.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 6x01: "Ground Control To Sara Lance"

 

Written by James Eagan And Mark Bruner

Directed by Kevin Mock

Sara (to Gary): "We didn't make it."

It's been eleven months since we've last seen this chaotic crew and the previous season ended with Sara getting abducted by aliens. Yes, we've gotten to that point in the show where aliens are now on the menu.

On top of that, there's also the reveal Gary himself is an alien and that along with his fiancée Kayla was sent to abduct the best of warriors, including Sara. I guess, it somewhat explains a lot about Gary.

While the Legends are also aware of Gary's secret, they're also desperate to get Sara back and soon find themselves recruiting former alien abducted Spooner Cruz (Lisseth Chavez) to the cause and I have to admit, I'm mixed on the character though already it seems like she will form a bond with Behrad.

While Ava and Nate made up the leaders in Sara's absence and Mick remained unhopeful, Constantine tried and failed to track Gary to get to Sara while Zari and Astra provided their own support to John who admitted to being out of his depth regarding anything alien.

I have to admit that despite Matt Ryan and Tala Ashe having really good chemistry, I'm not keen on the Constantine and Zari pairing and even less so when Astra made the juice cleanse comment. Keep them as a fling, it might be fun but a full blown romance we could do without.

Speaking of romance, it seemed that Sara was going to propose to Ava before being snatched and no doubt when the pair do reunite, we're gonna get that wedding. We still have another fourteen episodes to go but I say we'll get the nuptials before then.

- New title sequence features Gary, Behrad, Astra and Spooner.

- Keeping with the episode's title we saw David Bowie (Thomas Nicholson) while Kayla had Spartacus for lunch. Ava and Nate also found the DEO destroyed.

- The episode was in memory of Scott Carroll.

- Chronology: London 1977 and present day as well.

Ground Control To Sara Lance is a strong enough opening episode. While I'm surprised it's taken the show this long to actually tackle aliens, it'll be interesting to see them pull the idea off. I'm also hoping Sara and Gary are reunited with the Legends fairly soon.

Rating: 7 out of 10