DCU Blog - March 2024 Edition: Teen Titans Movie Go, The Penguin Trailer Released And More

Another busy month for DCU fans with a lot of information being spilled. 

In news that will shock absolutely no one, it was revealed that The Batman Part II will now be released from October 2nd 2026.

Joker: Folie A Deux will be a jukebox musical and contain at least fifteen cover songs. Lady Gaga has written music for the movie.

A potential costume reveal for David Corenswet in Superman will likely happen when the character starts outdoor filming next month.

James Gunn has confirmed yet again that no film will be officially greenlit until there's a script DC Studios are happy with.

A movie focusing on the Teen Titans will be written by Ana Nogueira, making this her second script following Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow.

Patty Jenkins has confirmed that her Wonder Woman journey is over. She's recently confirmed to be back for Rogue Squadron.

My Adventures With Superman will get a comic series released in June, serving as a bridge between the first and second seasons.

Action figures for Batman Forever will be released during summer 2025. The set will include Batman, Robin, Two-Face and Riddler with parts to build the Bat Creature from Bruce's nightmare.

The Penguin will premiere in the Fall on Max. The first trailer released this month, hinting at a rather violent and dark show.

The second season of Peacemaker will begin filming in June as confirmed by Jennifer Holland.

Waller won't begin filming until next year and will come out after both Superman and Peacemaker Season 2.

Sean Gunn has mentioned playing a more grounded version of Maxwell Lord for the DCU.

Douglas Smith has been cast as Jimmy Olsen for the final season of Superman And Lois. Yvonne Chapman will play Amanda McCoy.

Another trailer for Suicide Squad: Isekai was released but a release date for the series has yet to be confirmed. 

Dead Boy Detectives will be released on Netflix from April 25th.

Production Weekly have listed a Constantine movie being in development.

That's it for this month. Let's see what happens next lol.

My Review of Titans 4x12: "Titans Forever"

 

Written by Richard Hatem

Directed by Nick Copus

Kory (to Dick): "There's always an end."

Destiny can be a funny thing. Sometimes it's set with absolutely no wiggle room whatsoever and other times, it can be altered. Sebastian Sanger, fully embracing his Brother Blood persona was determined to change destiny. He almost did it. 

However like every other villain in the history of fiction, Sebastian gravely underestimated the very people he was going up against and it cost him big time. Of course, it did look like until nearly the last minute that he was going to succeed in his ambitious plan to take out both Earth and Tamaran in one fell swoop. Or more specifically, the Icarus Gate.

Yes, that thing that Kory kept seeing in previous episodes made it's appearance and it seemed that her blue energy was the very thing that Sebastian needed to power it up and go ahead with his wacky plan. Yes, it nearly worked but then all the Titans, including Conner who recovered at the right time in order to bring about Sebastian's much needed downfall.

Saying that this season has been hammering home that Kory had to be the one to end Sebastian at the risk of her own life and she made that sacrifice. Then we got that lovely Christmas scene and Kory ended up being alive altogether. I think every fan who had an emotional vestment in Kory throughout the four seasons was happy to see her live here, myself included. I'm really glad she made it out of the series alive.

Not only that but Kory and Dick finally got together and it actually felt earned. I mean the show always was signposting them as an endgame couple and they delivered on that front. The way this episode ended for both characters was a great ending. It felt right for both characters and it felt earned to but of course, it wasn't just their endings that worked.

For all the writing problems this show has had, I actually do think every main character this season got the right ending. Conner got to finally meet Superman and learn to fly (though he needs to get the hang of it) while keeping LexCorp. Gar went into the Red, which was inevitable while Rachel went to college in Bludhaven and Tim got to be Robin in both Gotham and Metropolis and got to continue his romance with Bernard. All of these developments felt right and made sense for every character. Not to mention Krypto being the best too.

- Superman was a body double and we just saw his feet but at least Conner now has a relationship with his other dad.

- I'm surprised we didn't get a few more cameos in this finale but there was some archive clips when Rachel was trying to free Kory.

- Standout music: Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel during that last scene with Dick and Kory. 

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Titans Forever managed to stick the landing as a series finale and for a show that often had inconsistent writing, I'm really happy this delivered. Sebastian got a good comeuppance, the world didn't end and all our main players got the best outcomes. Your move, Doom Patrol.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x11: "Project Starfire"

 

Written by Jamie Gorenberg

Directed by Nick Copus

Kory (to everyone, re Sebastian): "There's only one way to end this .... My way."

It's weird to think that by next week  this show will have ended. One of the many casualties of the great Warner Brothers Discovery purge of 2022-2023 but at least unlike other shows, this should be ending on it's own terms.

This penultimate episode certainly upped the stakes with Sebastian and the cat and mouse dynamic between him, Conner and Mother Mayhem. By the end of this episode and fittingly enough, Sebastian was the one to come out on top and ascend to power. Oh and it looks like we might be getting a Trigon encore as part of the finale next week.

Conner's methods of keeping Sebastian close and distracted very nearly worked. Sebastian certainly seemed to see Conner as a friend and the two of them worked together to take out one of Mother Mayhem's acolytes before taking her out of the equation. Unfortunately for Conner he made the very mistake that May did and that was to severely underestimate Sebastian.

The bog plan having Kory's powers to activate an orb titled Project Starfire might have worked but Dick literally pulled too many plugs too early and the very thing that should've destroyed Sebastian instead turned him into Brother Blood. Given that we saw that look on Joseph Morgan months ago, of course the show waited until it's second last episode in order to showcase it. As a look, it's very snazzy for a baddie.

Sebastian wasn't the only one getting new threads this week. Getting Tim out of Metropolis and sending him back to Gotham, Tim finally got to be Robin and it didn't take long for both him and the reformed Red Hood to cross paths. Another thing this episode did was reintroduce Jason at the last minute but both him and Tim had some great scenes this week.

Dick's little side mission for Tim certainly brought out the best in both him and once again Jason. The Robin suit Tim got was by far the best we've seen on the show and with Jason's own methods, Tim managed to up his game as a would be crime fighter. Now he just has to head back to Metropolis and help everyone else take out Brother Blood and save Conner.

- Mercy Graves begrudgingly helped the team with Project Starfire while spelling out the obvious parallels between Conner and Sebastian.

- Jason and Barbara (the latter off screen) were working together to take out Shimmer (also off screen). Tim figured out the Kaleidoscope code that Jason struggled with.

- Both Gar and Rachel mentioned moving on from the Titans. 

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Project Starfire was a strong enough second last episode, moving the Brother Blood storyline to where it needed to be for the big finale. The main story was great and the side mission with both Tim and Jason was also great. Now just the finale to go.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x10: "Game Over"

 

Written by Bryan Edward Hill

Directed by Jesse Warn

May (to Sebastian): "Without Trigon's power, you'll always be nothing."

Well, this took something of a turn for Sebastian, didn't it? Mommy Dearest really got into his head about his abilities and sense of self by belittling him that one time too often. Sebastian had enough and Mother Mayhem wound up being burned to a crisp. That should've been the end of the character but as the episode later revealed, she survived even if looking a bit worse for wear.

Sebastian had two people on his shoulder this week over summoning Trigon. With May being determined to reunite with her former lover, Conner was also working overtime to keep Sebastian from bringing his father back. First by befriending him, then by letting him launch Abraxus worldwide and all the while trying to destroy Trigon's horn. Needless, his effort were mostly in vain.

Conner's grey area way of dealing with Sebastian was a strong point of the episode. There's no doubt his Luthor side was influencing his behaviour this episode bit at the same time, at least he was trying to find non violent ways to disable Sebastian's power. He even stealthily helped the Titans when it came to take Abraxus off the table.

Abraxus got something of a deadly upgrade when Sebastian's game almost killed all of it's players, including Bernard. Yup, I thought we were going to get the "bury your gays" trope here bit it seems for now that Bernard is in a coma and will probably make it out of the series alive. What, I'm being optimistic here.

Going back to the Sebastian side of things, this episode we had both Dick and Rachel with a contact of Constantine's in order to sever the link between Rachel and Sebastian. We got some kind of zombie thing that Dick ended up killing and that was it, basically. Link severed and no more bond between half siblings. 

As for Gar and Kory, they were mostly trapped with half of the Doom Patrol for most of the episode. It was nice to see Cliff, Larry and Victor and some witty barbs between the pair, it was more about getting Gar and Kory to work through some of their own issues before finally getting out of the Red. 

- In case I didn't remember the Doom Patrol here were from a different continuity, Victor was still Cyborg in this one. Shame we didn't get to see Rita though. 

- This season has mentioned Constantine so many times that I keep expecting him to show up. Even Rachel wanted to meet him this week.

- Mercy was feeding Conner information throughout the episode to undermine Sebastian. I wonder if we'll see her in the last two episodes.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off. 

Game Over upped the ante with Sebastian's overall plans and Conner's grey area way of dealing with things. The other characters got their moments to shine, while also moving things along nicely. Looking forward to the remaining two episodes and hoping the series ends on a good note.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x09: "Dude, Where's My Gar?"

 

Written by Geoff Johns And Ryan Potter

Directed by Eric Dean Seaton

Gar: "I need to get to my family."

Stargirl: "I know how important family is."

Gar: "I get the sense that you do."

After two good but diverting episodes set in Caul's Folly, it was time to catch up with what was going on with Gar Logan and it seems that he had his own shit to deal with while his friends were up to their necks in Sebastian's ascension.

The first half of the season had been hinting about Gar's connection to the Red and here he learned that Freedom Beast (Nyambi Nyambi) had been looking for him for a long time. Gar's destined to be the Avatar of the Red, whether he likes it or not and Freedom Beast felt that Gar could only do this heavy task alone.

In a series of trips to the past we saw a younger and scared Gar coming into his connection to the Red and being susceptible to the pain and suffering of animals around him. This included one specific gorilla infected with anthrax being experimented on by Dr Myers and presenting Gar with a moral dilemma as freeing the gorilla would mean infecting the public.

However Freedom Beast found a way to deal with that particular dilemma while also pointing out to Gar that Niles Caulder was responsible for the death of his parents. After everything we saw with Niles on Doom Patrol, this particular reveal didn't exactly shock me. Speaking of the Doom Patrol, I've been missing them and this episode ended somewhere familiar.

With Gar being able to tap into the Red, this episode gave us a surprisingly fun little Multiverse adventure. Not only did Gar get to see himself in animation form but we also briefly saw the likes of The Flash (Grant Gustin), Shazam (Zachary Levi), Swamp Thing and Grant Morrison in a very fun cameo that should make any comic book fan smile.

On top of that, there was a lovely but brief interaction between Gar and Stargirl (Brec Bassinger) before the episode ended with Gar at the Doom Patrol manor and Cyborg (Joivan Wade) attending to him. It looks like Gar's reunion with the Titans will have to wait until next week and fingers crossed, we get some more Multiverse hijinks before then. 

- There was also some voiceovers of Kaley Cuoco's Harley Quinn and Cesar Romero's Joker from Batman 66. 

- The episode had a mid credit scene with Cyborg smiling and eating in front of the camera. Jinx hinted at a possible return for the finale and Rachel was the only other regular to physically appear in this episode.

- Nice tribute to Grant Morrison at the end, describing them as the true Master of the Multiverse.

- From where the events of the mid season finale left off from Gar's perspective.

Dude, Where My Gar? gave Ryan Potter the much needed and focus he deserved and he absolutely delivered here. Gar was at his best here, the flashbacks were great, the Multiverse nods were nicely done and I cannot wait to see what the next episode will bring.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x08: "Dick & Carol & Ted & Kory"

 

Written by Tom Pabst

Directed by Greg Walker

Sebastian: "What are we toasting?"

Conner: "To the future."

And so endeth this two parter on quite an interesting note. With four episodes left to go in the series full stop, are we really going down a villainous path with Conner? Maybe we are, maybe weren't not. There's a part of me that's wondering if Conner's new found alliance with Sebastian might more down to him coming up with a ruthless way to stop the prophecy.

Speaking of Sebastian, the town of Caul's Folly took to him immediately, to the point where they were more than happy to see the Heretic (aka Rachel) killed in the process. Except for one glaring problem. Any harm that happens to Rachel also happens to Sebastian, even though May still was determined to take Rachel out of the equation.

Rachel did manage to get under Sebastian's skin during their scene together and needless to say that both her and Kory will likely be his eventual undoing. As for May, whatever hold she had on Sebastian has shown signs of waning with him being more openly challenging towards her and I wouldn't be surprised if she's killed off before the finale takes place.

As for Dick and Kory, most of this episode was them trapped still on Caul's Folly and being brainwashed into thinking they're married coupled named Ted and Carol. For the most part, Dick was resisting the conditioning by using painful memories to keep his identity while Kory found herself succumbing to the Carol persona that was being forced on her.

Eventually the pair did manage to rescue Rachel, find the source of the brainwashing and take it out but by that time, Dick also realised that Sebastian had the horn and was a step ahead of everyone again. Saying that, this episode certainly gave Dick and Kory fans plenty to go over with flashbacks to their past moments, traumas and ultimately bringing them a bit closer to one another.

Last but not least, Tim and Bernard had their own differences on feelings vs. facts or faith vs. science but between the two of them, they reunited William with Megan and their father and learned a little bit more about each other too. Also, it does appear that Bernard will be sticking around with the Titans as they're currently down two members.

- Gar sat this episode out again, albeit appeared in some archive footage. However the next episode should make up for his absence from the previous two.

- Jinx was confirmed to be dead in the previous episode, I should've mentioned it. Yet again, another reference to John Constantine. That's a lot for this character. Is it leading to something?

- Tim wasn't wrong about Dick looking good in pink. Minus Phil's blood of course.

- Chronology: Exactly where the previous episode left off.

Dick & Carol & Ted & Kory was a solid conclusion tom this two parter. Sebastian got a step ahead, formed an alliance and the Titans were reunited after spending most of the episode away from one another. Overall, it's a good start to this final batch of episodes.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x07: "Caul's Folly"

 

Written by Melissa Brides

Directed by Greg Walker

Carter (to Dick): "Take it easy Old Teddy. Things are going to be more sunnier from now on."

It's been a four month break since the events of the fort had of the season and in that time, it became apparent that the show was on the way out. Kicking off the second half of this season, we had this rather diverting start of a two parter I assume.

Picking up from the cliff hanger of last year, it seems that Rachel had sent everyone to a death dimension when shit was going down with Sebastian's rebirth. Rachel brought everyone back except for Gar from sad dimension and that's when things got a little different for everyone.

Dick and Kory caught up with an eccentric contact of the former's named Roberta who told the pair about yet another prophecy involving a horn of Trigon and of course Kory really having to level up, power wise in order to stop. Needless to say that Dick wasn't keen on discussing the possibility of Kory dying, much to her annoyance.

On top of that, during their search for the much needed horn, Dick, Kory and Rachel all wound up in a strange little place called Caul's Folly where they realised that they couldn't quite leave for good measure. Rachel found herself getting taken by Megan and her father, both of whom were desperate to leave the place while Dick's encounter with Carter saw this episode end on a strange note.

It was obvious from the start that Carter was a Trigon follower and Dick underestimated him when he shouldn't have. Not bringing Kory with him during that meeting wasn't his wisest of movies and given that both Sebastian and May appeared at the end, it looks like they're one step closer in their overall goal. As for Dick, it looks like he might be getting a new identity given the title of the next episode.

As for the rest of the episode, we had Conner going off on his own with his own plan to take down Sebastian. The reappearance of Mercy Graves was a pleasant surprise, even if she was mostly there to sow more division among Conner and his relationship with the Titans. She didn't really need to do much on that front but her devotion to Lex was something else here.

Last but not least, the romance between Tim and Bernard had some good turns here too. At first there was some awkwardness over Tim's last of response during the previous episode, then thy decided to be friends while trying to find the others. Then there was a stay in a motel and suddenly, the friends part was taken off the table. As a pairing, they're actually better written here than in the comics. 

- Roberta not only was an expert on Tamaraneon but also Klingon as well. We saw her briefly interact with Rachel too.

- Mercy's comments on Lex being something of a feminist actually checked out with the character. I just wish we had actually seen their relationship on screen.

- Standout music: Nice use of Pina Colada with this episode.

- Chronology: From where the mid season finale had left off.

Caul's Folly marked a solid second half opening for this final season. It's nice to see things move fast enough and there were a good few character moments within the episode itself. With all this talk of Trigon, I assume we're going to see the character one last time before the show ends for good.

Rating: 7 out of 10

DCU Blog - March 2023 Edition: Lady Gaga's Harley Revealed, Penguin Films, Titans Returns And More

Another month for the DCU and it's been very busy month with filming in New York with separate franchise as well as hints for the DCU itself.

Filming outdoors for Joker: Folie A Deux has revealed Lady Gaga's look for Harley Quinn or as she'll be mostly known as Harleen Quinzel. This version of the character may also be a patient at Arkham State Hospital.

A trailer for Blue Beetle will be released next week.The film is due in theatres from August 18th.

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods has made over $100 million so far in theatres. Sadly, it's the lowest grossing DCEU movie so far. 

Take with a pinch of salt but there's rumours of another Justice League movie, possibly based on The New Frontier comics.

Rumours have circulated that Clayface will be a villain for The Batman - Part II, though it has yet to be confirmed by Matt Reeves.

Casting for the title role for Superman: Legacy has not been decided yet, though certain scoopers are trying to get it out of James Gunn.

Ben Affleck has confirmed that he won't be directing any movies for the DCU but he did confirm that Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman will be in The Flash. 

Thanks to toy releases, Dark Flash has been confirmed as the actual villain of The Flash movie.

Filming for The Penguin series has revealed Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni and Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone.

Tickets have sold out for SnyderCon. The event will take place between April 28th-30th and will include screenings for Man Of Steel, Batman V. Superman and Zack Snyder's Justice League.

Sweet Tooth's second season will be released on Netflix from April 27th.

Casting for Creature Commandos is imminent. Frank Grillo has been rumoured to be part of the casting for the show.

The second half of Titans fourth season will be released on HBO Max from April 13th. Jay Lycurgo will be suiting up as Robin and there will be an appearance from Stargirl in an episode.

My Adventures With Superman will premiere on Adult Swim later this year.

Batman: Caped Crusader has received a two season order and will stream on Netflix. More details to follow soon.

The series finale of The Flash will air on the CW from May 24th.

And that's it for the month. I wonder will get revealed next month as we edge closer to the DCU kicking off.

DCU Blog - January 2023 Edition: DCU Chapter One Slate Announced And So Much More

James Gunn really did decide to wait until the last month to reveal part of his DCU Slate and boy, did he deliver in a six minute video to social media and press.

Chapter One titled, Gods And Monsters gave us quite a bit to mull over as well. Breaking it down, here we go ....

First of all of, Batman and Superman fans are getting fed yet again. The Batman - Part II will be released on October 3rd 2025 and will be part of DC's Elseworlds while The Brave And The Bold (older Batman with Damien Wayne as Robin) will be part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU.

James Gunn has confirmed that Superman: Legacy will release on July 11th 2025 as well as Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. It has yet to be confirmed if Sasha Calle will reprise her role for the movie.

Also getting movies are The Authority and Swamp Thing with release dates to be confirmed for both projects.

The Flash will reboot the universe but actors such as Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and Zachary Levi may still factor into this new universe. Speaking of Wonder Woman though.

HBO Max will be going all in on several shows. Paradise Lost: Wonder Woman will be a prequel series set on Themyscira in the vein of Game Of Thrones.

Lanterns will be a True Detective style space cop series focusing mainly on Hal Jordan and John Stewart with other Lanterns set to appear. Booster Gold will also be getting a series.

Viola Davis Waller series will also use characters from Peacemaker as the show was confirmed to be going ahead.

An animated series titled, Creature Commandos, written by James Gunn will also go ahead too with some of the characters eventually making it into live action projects.

Talent who will be working with James Gunn and Peter Safran include Christina Hodson, Jeremy Slater, Drew Goddard, Cristal Henry and Tom King to name a few.

Gunn and Safran also had a meeting with former Batgirl directors Adi' El Arbi and Bilall Fallah for a potential DC project.

Meanwhile in expected news, both Titans and Doom Patrol will end with their remaining episodes due to be released on HBO Max in the new few months.

Superman And Lois has at least one or two seasons left. Michael Culditz has been cast as Lex Luthor for the upcoming third season, airing March 14th on the CW.

Stephen Amell, Keiynan Lonsdale, David Ramsey and Sendhil Ramamurthy will be reprising their respective roles in the final season of The Flash, starting February 8th on the CW.

Sunny Mabel and Ethan Embry have been cast as the parents of Stephanie Brown for the Gotham Knights show, airing March 14th on the CW.

The Penguin series begins production in February in New York and will set up The Batman - Part II while Marsha Stephanie Blake has been cast in an undisclosed role.

Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special will premiere on HBO Max from February 9th.

Wow, that was a doozy to get through. What a way to kick off the first month of 2023. Looks like DC has one hell of a future ahead of it.

My Review of Titans 4x06: "Brother Blood"

 

Written by Richard Hatem

Directed by Jen McGowan

Sebastian: "I'm so tired of being nothing."

And by the end of this episode, Sebastian Sanger went from being a nobody into a rather dark somebody. We might have gotten him in his official costume in spite of those promo pictures released before the season was released, but either way, say hello to Brother Blood.

This episode had to result in Sebastian finally embracing his dark side. Mother Mayhem has done well as an antagonist for the Titans but she was always meant to be the warm up act in favour of her son. I am surprised that she made it out of this one alive but I suspect she will not make it past the mid season premiere next year when Sebastian inevitably usurps her.

Even in this episode she came close to death at least twice. In both cases she managed to think ahead. First with outsmarting Conner and then by seemingly killing Jinx, who also got a new costume and was embracing being a Titans member. Is this end of Jinx just before we were getting used to her? I hope not. However there was an ending of sorts in this episode.

Sebastian drinking the blood and tapping into his powers managed to write the Titans (except Gar, more on him in a bit) out of existence. Now that was one hell of a cliff hanger moment for the show. With no magical allies, how the hell are Dick, Kory, Rachel, Conner, Tim and Jinx going to get out of this one? Well, there's likely one solution.

The solution of course being Gar. He's been connecting to the Red more and more and this episode finally saw him able to access the Red just in time to save himself from extinction. Right now, Gar, Bernard and STAR Labs are the Titans only hope when this show does make it's eventual return.

As for the rest of the episode, Conner got one hell of a makeover of his own doing and embraced the Luthor side of himself a bit too much for everyone's comfort. I'm not sure Joshua Orpin entirely pulled it off but it was an interesting side to see with Conner and I'll be curious to see where it will go in the second half of the season.

 - Kory's kinetic energy really went from 8% to 80% in half a season, huh? Rachel also became the White Raven here too.

- Dick's response to when Tim told the group that he kissed Bernard was funny enough. Jinx also uses a pineapple and mango conditioner.

- After the events of this episode, there's no way the show can have Dick remain sceptical about prophecies.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off. The second half of the season will premiere in 2023.

Brother Blood provided a strong cliff hanger to what has easily been the most consistent season so far. I've really enjoyed the scaled back cast, new characters such as Bernard and Jinx, more focused and engaging villains and overall better pacing and the increased supernatural elements. Here's hoping that the remaining six episodes can end this season (and likely series) on a high.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x05: "Inside Man"

 

Written by Joshua Levy And Prathi Srinivasan

Directed by Jen McGowan

Sebastian: "Thank you for being so kind to me, Rachel."

Last week we left off with Conner throwing up a snake and the gang turning STAR Labs into a sanctuary for Sebastian. This week, Conner puked up another snake and protecting Sebastian from his destiny predictably went south. There are some things that just cannot be avoided.

Joshua Orpin can do possessive/evil pretty decently and he did a rather good job as Conner spent most of the episode under the influence of Mother Mayhem's control. He nearly took out Dick during his attempts to get Sebastian out of STAR Labs, only for Jinx to knock him out with some magic. Then he spent a good portion of the episode tied up with Kryptonite as Dick and the gang worked on a way to get Conner back.

I have to admit having Gar go into Conner's boy as a virus had the makings of a right disaster to the point where even Jinx began to pray for things to go right. Fortunately for everyone, Gar managed to succeed in getting the possession out of Conner and seemed rather pleased with the latest development of his powers. Nice to see that plotline got resolved quickly enough.

As for Sebastian, he really wanted to avoid his destiny as best as he could and he had some lovely bonding scenes with Rachel. Yes, this episode went to town emphasizing their similarities with even Kory and Zadira arguing over what to do about Sebastian. Ultimately Kory resisted in killing Sebastian, only for the latter to surrender himself to Mother Mayhem instead.

Sebastian becoming Brother Blood or at the very least making his moves to doing it were inevitable but handled well. Now that we've had him as a sympathetic figure for a good portion of the season, it'll be interesting to see how he will fare once he's in full villain mode. Something tells me that Mother Mayhem will go the same way as Gina did in this episode too.

Last but not least, there were some nice moments for two couples in this episode. Kory got to see the same fantasy of Dick and their future child that he saw last season and after some awkward flirting, Tim and Bernard actually kissed in this episode. Fans of both couples should be happy with these side plots overall.

- Again, this was the third episode in a row to mention John Constantine. I don't want to presume anything but it feels a bit too coincidental or possible trolling at this point.

- Elko is a diner chain with one being in Metropolis for Kory, Rachel and Sebastian to hide in.

- This episode also mentioned the Red during Gar and Jinx's conversation as well. 

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Inside Man took that idea a bit too literally but this was easily the best episode of the season. There was so many great character moments and I'm looking forward to seeing how the mid season finale moves the story along even further.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x04: "Super Super Mart"

 

Written by Tom Pabst

Directed by Boris Mojsovski

Dick (to everyone): "Zombie Deathstroke?"

Well, he did show up, via a body double in zombie form and largely under the control of Mother Mayhem before new Titans team member Jinx took him out. Overall, not the most exciting of returns for Deathstroke but it is what it is.

However what this episode mostly was doing was making the most obvious of revelations known to all of the main characters. The Organization aka Trigon's Cult want Sebastian Sanger for their doom prophecy in spite of the fact that the prophecy was meant to be a girl (like we'd forget about Rachel's backstory) but Sebastian's mother had other plans.

Before doing the whole 'I thought Sebastian's mother died', we'l it turned out that May Bennett/Mother Mayhem is Sebastian's real mother but at the time of his birth, the Organization had deemed her a failure and kept her locked below the asylum. That was until the place burned to the ground as we witnessed back in the first season and became a Super Super Mart in the aftermath.

Of course it didn't stop the current Titans along with Jinx and Sebastian from exploring down below, coming around a creepy children's book with some doom laden prophecies that Dick kept dismissing to Kory's understandable annoyance before Tim filled everyone else in on Sebastian's backstory and about two hundred zombies tried to kill everyone. 

Apart from Jinx getting to use her powers to freeze them and that brief altercation with zombie Deathstroke, the show didn't really do anything too great with them. Well, apart from having Conner getting stabbed by Deathstroke and later puking up a snake in STAR Labs so you can tell where that's going to go as the gang try to keep Sebastian away from his witchy real mother.

This episode certainly succeeded in filling out May's backstory. From being unappreciated in jibs to an easy target for Trigon's cult to effectively forcing her own path and using her own extremes to get her son to fulfill his destiny. With Conner clearly under her control and two episodes to go before the season breaks, May will undoubtedly achieve her goal.

- This was the second episode in a row to mention Constantine. Is it too much to hope we see him (played by Matt Ryan) in at least one episode? Probably.

- Jinx really challenged Conner on his aversion to magic as well as Superman's own moral code. Tim's reaction to Rachel and Kory's past was amusing though. Gar also pointed out about the Blood Moon cycle and Bernard really wants to go on a date with Tim.

- Standout music: Season Of The Witch nicely used at the start of the episode. 

- Chronology: Flashbacks to 1996-1998 and 2019 to flesh out May's backstory and connection to Trigon and Sebastian.

Super Super Mart did a good job moving things along, even though most of the reveals were coming a mile off. This season does feel like it's slightly retreading the first one but so far in a good way. Only two episodes to go before Sebastian does go down a dark path.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x03: "Jinx"

 

Written by Jamie Gorenberg

Directed by Boris Mojsovski

Dick: "I hate magic."

And yet going down the supernatural route in a bigger way might end up being the best thing this series has actually done. Three episodes in and we've got a pretty formidable adversary in Mother Mayhem and a burgeoning one in Brother Blood. I'm quietly confident this season might actually stick the landing.

Following the Titans getting their asses handed to them by Mother Mayhem and Rachel seemingly losing her powers (which she seems oddly relaxed about), the gang quickly realise to fight magic they need some magic on their side. This would be where the rite character came into the mix.

Yup, Dick and Kory took a brief trip to Bludhaven to retrieve the mischievous Jinx (Lisa Ambalavanar), only for the latter to quickly evade them, get hold of a dark elf's heart and watch as Kory turned into stone, this taking the latter out of the mix for most of the episode. On the plus side, Dick and Jinx made a rather decent team.

Putting their former history to one side, Jinx made for a fun foil for Dick with the two of them working together. While Dick made some fancy moves fighting off Lironne and her men, Jinx had a five million debt she needed to pay off. Dick might have stopped one of her chances to get it of her debt but still managed to get her on side in order to help with their Mother Mayhem problem.

Speaking of Mother Mayhem, she doesn't waste time trying to get all her eggs in one basket, does she? More bloody deaths and setting Sebastian up for murder so she could get him at his most vulnerable in order to complete her ritual for him. She nearly had him, only for Conner to step in, and snag Sebastian away from her clutches. For now, that's a temporary victory for the Titans.

As for the rest of the gang, well Jinx freed Kory from being stoned while Tim and Conner worked on the former's training with Bernard. I liked the trio of Conner, Tim and Bernard as they made the link to Sebastian before Dick and Kory did. Conner also seemed to be going through the motions of being defeated by Mother Mayhem for most of the episode.

Last but not least, Gar told Rachel about his visions and we got a trippy enough sequence where the two of them spotted a tree covered with animal sacrifices. Skin walking was mentioned a lot in this episode, so I'm assuming that's the next step in the evolution of Gar's abilities. 

- We got mentions of both Two Face and John Constantine (pronounced the same way in The Sandman). It seems those figures are a reason why Dick and Jinx are at odds with one another.

- Kory's former mentor showed up in her subconscious to warn about more destiny related stuff. 

- A little bit more flirting with Tim and Bernard in this episode as well. 

- Chronology: Exactly where the previous episode left off.

Jinx did a good job with the title character's introduction while upping the supernatural content and pushing Mother Mayhem further along as a villain. Again, it's still early days but this season seems to be coming along rather nicely.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x02: "Mother Mayhem"

 

 

Written by Bryan Edward Hill 

Directed by Nick Copus

Dick (to little girl): "The good magic always wins."

Finishing off the double bill that HBO Max gave us to launch the fourth season, this episode definitely didn't waste any time. Either with Conner getting arrested for Lex and then him later getting exonerated for said murder too.

Conner's little downtime in a Kryptonite lit holding cell did get him into brooding mode over the way he's perceived and how much of his other father's son he really is. Of course, Conner was also determined to get the hell out of Metropolis, only for the main villain of the season to have some ideas for both Conner and the Titans.

Mother Mayhem in these two episodes so far has managed to live up to her name. She's collecting things for her cult, attacked the Titans with relative ease and even managed to give Rachel something of a white haired transformation. On top of that, she also seems to have Sebastian Sanger in her sights and set up various pieces in order to draw him to her cause.

Speaking of Sebastian, although we're still a bit off from him actually transforming into Brother Blood, the build up has been rather entertaining. We got to see him share a nice scene with his mother before her death as well as a disastrous business pitch. Sebastian might be determined to change the world but not in the way he's hoping to do.

As for the rest of the episode, we learned that Lex was a little too interested in researching Kory before his death and the latter's attempts to get answers from Nelson only resulted in the latter dying the same way as every other Lexcorp worker did. 

Then we had the strange man in the mask and his fight scenes with Rachel, whom the latter nearly killed, only for the Nightmare Man to kill himself. Now with Rachel's new look, has she lost her powers as well? Or like Kory has she gained newer ones? Either way, this supernatural theme is working for the show this season.

- Gar fell unconscious at one point in the episode while in the woods with Tim. He also talked about the sound of animals dying.

- Sebastian's pitch seemed to be a much grander and community oriented take on Tetris. I get the feeling that tech company that rejected Sebastian will be killed next.

- Dick gave his leather jacket to the young girl who lost her mother at the start of the episode.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Mother Mayhem followed up the first episode pretty well and the title villain already feels like an improvement to Scarecrow from last season. It's early days but this season does feel more organised and hopefully it'll stay that way.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Titans 4x01: "Lex Luthor"

 

Written by Richard Hatam

Directed by Nick Copus

Mother Mayhem: "You see Mr Luthor, someone always pays."

Before I start this review, let's get two things out of the way first. First of all, this show has always been a mixed bag quality wise and I'll be surprised if this season turns out to be the one where they finally get their shit together and two, it's also very likely that this season will be the last one. It's also being split into two parts.

Going by the title of this episode, you've guessed it correctly. - Lex Luthor finally arrived on this show and to his credit, I think Titus Welliver did a good job here. Saying that, no point getting attached to Welliver's take on the character because after one meeting with Conner, he ended up dead. No, Conner didn't do the deed but predictably enough, he's been made to look like he did.

The person actually responsible for Lex's demise on the other hand happened to be one of our main season big bads. Mother Mayhem aka May Bennett (Franka Potente) warned Lex at the start of the episode after he tried to bin her off from their dark deal that someone would pay a price. Safe to assume that Lex didn't expect it to be him though.

With Lex dying, you could be forgiven for thinking he might have lasted longer than one episode and that he would've spent more time getting to know Conner. He certainly put up the charm and willingly answered all of Conner's questions. Lex also had some brilliant scenes with both Dick and Kory, so it's a pity the show runners couldn't have sorted out something longer than what we got with Lex here.

Of course Lex seemed to be focused on a dark magical plot. It's a plot clearly being lead by Mother Mayhem but also one that has pulled in Rachel. The latter of course having bloody visions and also a psychic attack at the same time that Lex was dying. Of course Rachel's not the only person connected to this dark magical plot.

There was also the introduction of Sebastian Sanger (Joseph Morgan). A reserved taxidermist who's invented something that could make people happy and also someone seeing the same visions as Rachel and experiencing the same stuff as Rachel. He's going to be Brother Blood fairly soon, but for now, Sebastian does seem to be struggling to figure out what's happening to him.

As for the Titans themselves, Lex Luthor and impending dark danger aside, this episode actually had them feel like an actual team. Having a smaller group this season could definitely work to the show's advantage, though I suspect certain characters will likely show up in the second half of the season when they're needed to.

- STAR Labs guy Bernard Fitzmartin (James Scully) wasted in time in giving Tim his number after the latter got his bo staff. Tim also seemed very keen on sending Bernard selfies.

- Gar got a suit of his own, Dick a fancy car while Kory has only accessed about 8% of her newly discovered powers.

- Nice trip into the Daily Planet archive section. The actual paper itself has been around since 1775.

- Chronology: About a week since the events of the previous season finale and es, we've traded Gotham for Metropolis this season.

Lex Luthor got the season off to a solid start with Titus Welliver doing a solid job as the scheming billionaire, only to be cut short. Still though, the team felt like a team, maybe for the first time since the show began and I'm intrigued by the supernatural threat as well. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

DCEU Blog - DC Studios Gets It's Leaders, The Flash Meets Red Death And More

October certainly didn't disappoint with some major DC updates unveiled. As usual, it's an exciting and volatile time to be a DC fan, depending on whatever news hits first.

The biggest news item would be that DC Studios finally has it's head guys. Step up, both James Gunn and Peter Safran. The former will tackle the creative side while the latter will tackle the business side. 

Both men will work with various creatives and characters being prioritized include Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Harley Quinn.

Rumoured projects include a sequel for The Flash movie to be written by Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom scribe David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick.

Bruna Marquezine has confirmed her Blue Beetle character is named Jenny, though other places have said she was called Penny in the movie.

Not only did Henry Cavill finally reprise his Superman role in Black Adam but he also stepped away from The Witcher and a sequel to Man Of Steel is in development. He's really back guys.

As for fans of The Batman, the sequel likely won't hit theatres until 2025 but not only will The Penguin HBO Max series start filming next year but the Arkham show has announced Antonio Campos as it's showrunner.

Joker: Folie A Deux has added Harry Lawtey to it's ever growing cast. Filming begins in November for the sequel to the 2019 mega hit.

It seems for now that the Zatanna film has been scrapped. Yup, don't expect anything to emerge from JJ Abrams WB contract.

The first half to the fourth season of Titans will premiere on HBO Max from November 3rd. Expect the second half in 2023.

The first half of the fourth season of Doom Patrol will premiere on HBO Max from December 8th. Expect the second half in 2023.

Jeremy Irvine and Finn Wittrock have been released from their contracts from the Green Lantern series as has the showrunner. The show will now be redeveloped to focus on John Stewart.

The ninth season of The Flash will see Javicia Leslie appear as Red Death. Meanwhile Jon Cor's Chillblaine will be a regular and Richard Harmon will appear as the Owen Mercer version of Captain Boomerang.

Filming for the first seasons of both Gotham Knights and Dead Boy Detectives has taken place. Expect some more news on both shows fairly soon. 

Patty Jenkins has confirmed that the script for the third Wonder Woman movie has been completed.

That wraps up the big stories for this month. Let's see what the next one brings.

DCEU Blog - Constantine Sequel A Go, Joker Sequel Adds To Cast And Black Adam Is Imminent

Well, it's been another fun, messy and chaotic time to be a DC fan. Here's a rundown of what's gone down over the last month.

In news that absolutely no one saw coming, Keanu Reeves will reprise his role in a yet to be dated sequel to the 2005 movie Constantine movie with Akiva Goldsmith penning the script, Francis Lawrence directing and JJ Abrams producing with Bad Robot.

As for the HBO Max series, both that and Madame Xanadu are being shopped around. I wouldn't hold your breath on either of them getting picked up tbh.

Blue Beetle has apparently had it's first test screening, though no major spoilers have leaked aside from a rumoured runtime of two hours and forty five minutes, though I imagine that will be shortened.

In news that also won't shock anyone but there's no DCFanDome this year though we might get some DC related content at next month's NYCC.

Henry Cavill is yet again getting heavily rumoured to be appearing in both Black Adam and The Flash. Take it with a serious grain of salt.

Leslie Grace has leaked a few clips of filming for Batgirl on her social media accounts. Unfortunately the film will not get a release due to the tax write off.

James Gunn has recently confirmed the second season of Peacemaker will start filming in the next few months.

Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Jacob Lofland have all signed on in undisclosed roles for Joker: Folie A Deux.

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods will feature director David F. Sandberg's wife Lotta Losten as a new character given that her previous one died in the first movie.

Jason Momoa has hinted at more than one version of Batman for Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. Both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck did film scenes for the movie.

Michael Bishop will replace Jordan Elsass as Jonathan Kent in the third season of Superman And Lois, which has begun filming. Chad L. Coleman has been cast as Bruno Mannheim.

Pennyworth: The Origins Of Batman's Butler premieres on HBO Max from October 6th. The fourth seasons of Titans and Doom Patrol will premiere in November and December respectively. Exact dates to be confirmed.

Brec Bassinger will appear as Stargirl in a crossover with Titans while Titus Welliver has been cast as Lex Luthor for the series.

Richard Harmon has been cast as the Owen Mercer version of Captain Boomerang for the upcoming ninth season of The Flash.

Well, this ends another month of DC content. Let's see what next month brings. 

DCEU Blog - Wonder Twins Go, World Needs Heroes And More

It's been a busy month and with The Batman finally releasing this week and review embargoes about to be lifted, it's an interesting time for DC fans everywhere.

Early in February, DC/WB released a trailer titled The World Needs Heroes showing new clips from The Batman, The Flash, Black Adam and Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, confirming that all four movies will release in 2022.

More scoopers have been confirming that Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and even Henry Cavill appear in The Flash movie. Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller recently appeared in the first season of Peacemaker.

Constantine: The House Of Mystery, which sees Matt Ryan reprising the role in animated form will be released on May 3rd. 

Matt Reeves has also confirmed to the absolute shock of no one that a sequel for The Batman is currently in development.  

Black Adam scribe Adam Sztykiel will write and direct a Wonder Twins movie for HBO Max.

Zack Snyder's Justice League is up for a fan favourite Oscar nod. You can vote for the scene where The Flash runs through time.

An upcoming episode of Superman And Lois will see Jonathan Kent (Jordan Elsass) don a Superboy look. The second season is currently airing on the CW.

Michael Keaton has been spotted on set filming for the Batgirl movie. A recent report has suggested that the movie will get a December release on HBO Max.

An addition on IMDb Pro has suggested that a Nightwing movie may be in development. Take that one with a pinch of salt though.

UK viewers will be able to see the current seasons of both Legends Of Tomorrow and The Flash on SkyMax from March 22nd. Edit: It may be April instead.

Titans fourth season have added Joseph Morgan, Franka Potente and Lisa Ambalavanar to the cast. They will play Brother Blood, Mother Mayhem and Jinx respectively.

Doom Patrol will add the character of Casey Brinke, the heroine also known as Space Case. Casting has yet to be confirmed.

The CW are going ahead with Gotham Knights and the main roster will comprise of Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown, Tiffany Fox, Julia Pennyworth, Harper Row and her brother, Cullen. The pilot should begin filming later next month.

That's a round up of this month's stuff. Let's see what next month brings.

My Review of Titans 3x13: "Purple Rain"

 

Written by Richard Hatem And Greg Walker

Directed by Chad Lowe

Dick (to the Titans): "I've got a great idea. Let's get the hell out of Gotham."

That's probably not a bad idea, Dick, but wherever you lot go, trouble follows, so it wouldn't really matter if you remained in Gotham or whatever. Saying that though, this season did manage to get enough of the city and this Scarecrow plot has finally come to an end.

This episode was the gift that gave with Crane's downfall coming from some good old fashioned team work and Dick being savvy enough not to do what Crane was banking on him doing. That and a rather swift left hook from Tim certainly helped matters too. Tim might want to practice on his fighting skills though, but he'll get the chance to next season.

Seeing Dick, Jason, Gar and Tim work their way into Wayne Manor while Rachel, Kory, Kom, Donna and Conner work with the Lazarus Pit, magic, the elements and electricity while Barbara and Vee handled the hacking side of things. It's stiff like this that I want to see the show do more of. The purple rain effect itself actually looked pretty decent in the grand scheme of things. 

With Gotham on the verge and Crane rightfully suffering at Arkham, thanks to Rachel, the Titans leaving for San Francisco was the right thing to do. I don't know if that means they'll stay based there next season or if something brings them to either Metropolis or Star City, but either way, I do think it's right for them to leave Gotham. I'll miss Barbara though if this episode was the last time we'll see the character.

As for Jason, he redeemed himself bit just about. I genuinely thought he had some great scenes with both Dick and Bruce but unless the character is getting a spin-off (something which Curran Walters seems to hinting at), I get the feeling this won't be the last time we'll see him. Jason still has amends to make and one person on his list needs to be Dawn and needs to happen onscreen.

As for Donna and Blackfire, I'm sure we'll see both of them as well next season too, but it did seem like their paths were also away from the Titans. Donna found herself getting a job offer at ARGUS from Vee and Blackfire herself still has the possibility of getting back to Tamaran, thanks to Conner making amends for sabotaging her previous attempt. Conner messed up last week but he definitely did the right thing here.

- Vee mentioned a certain Roy Harper as being a member of ARGUS. The character was mentioned last season, so will he actually appear next season?

- I can't believe Gar didn't know who Selina Kyle was but Tim did. Tim knowing wasn't a surprise but Gar not knowing was.

- Given the title of the episode, I'm genuinely surprised the actual song itself didn't feature. 

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Purple Rain was a better ending to a season that started off well, dropped the ball for several episodes, then managed to regain it's footing. There seasons in and this show still has teething problems that I'm not sure it can or even wants to solve at this point. I hope next season some changes are made and enforced to keep the series on an even keel.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Titans 3x12: "Prodigal"

 

Written by Jamie Gorenberg And Bryan Edward Hill

Directed by Carol Banker

Crane: "September has come. It is the month for dying."

Just one more episode and we'll be free from this Crane storyline. Just one more and he'll likely be gone foe good, given that Vincent Kartheiser certainly didn't make a good impression on set while filming this season of the show. 

Speaking of Crane, both him and Jason naturally turned on one another and given that the latter and outlived his usefulness anyways, it was only natural that Crane would do the last part of his grand plan alone - destroy Gotham City once and for all. It was also at this point that Jason decided it was rime to switch sides, but only because his plan to kill Dick went sideways.

As predicted both Rachel and Gar Dick to the Lazarus Pit and after a battle of wills with Crane and seeing a potentially bright future, Dick managed to come out the other side and get Jason on board with helping to save Gotham. He also pointed out that Jason's days as a Titan were truly over but that the latter still had a chance of redemption. Why do I get the feelings a certain something is being hinted at?

As for Rachel and Gar. yes, they kept watch over Dick and realised that Conner and Krypto were no longer around but they also had a lovely conversation about their abilities. We finally saw Gar turn into something else - a bat while Rachel also talked about how she overcame her father as well.

Elsewhere Donn and Tim largely bickered over the latter's overeager desire to be a hero in Gotham. However while Donna was right to call out Tim's reckless streak, he was pretty handy to  have in fighting off  some of the corrupt GCPD members this week. I say he will be dinning that Robin next season but he definitely does need to be trained up first.

Last but not least, Starfire told Blackfire the truth, they made up, the latter was set to become queen on their home planet again and then Conner deliberately sabotaged her chances of getting home. That was not cool at all, Conner. Actually this whole episode was Conner at his petulant worst. Not a side I want to see with the character.

- Barbara managed to escape from her cell and regain control over Oracle and looked pretty badass in doing so.

- Dick's daughter in that dream sequence. I say it's safe to assume that Kory is meant to be the mother.

- Batwoman's current season has been playing around with items from the Rogues. In this episode we got to see some from Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Scarecrow of course.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Prodigal is something of an improvement slightly on the previous two episodes. At least all the pieces are in place and with any luck, the finale can maybe bring this season to something of a decent closing. I'll just be happy for Crane to be gone.

Rating: 7 out of 10