SDCC 2018 - DC TV & Movie Universe Spoilers

It was certainly busy at SDCC over the weekend and for DC fans, there was certainly a lot to enjoy with various spoilers for the TV and movies to savour. However, I'll start with the movies first.

Aquaman: The movie made a splash with stars Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Amber Heard (Mera), Nicole Kidman (Atlanna), Patrick Wilson (Ocean Master), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Black Manta) and director James Wan showing up to promote the movie at long last. Apparently there was two trailers unveiled but only one released and it did a pretty solid job in promoting the underwater epic as Arthur and Mera work together to stop the former's half brother from bringing war to the surface by uniting the Seven Kingdoms. The movie is due for release on December 21st 2018.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDkg3h8PCVU

Shazam: Also getting it's debut at SDCC was of course, Shazam with stars Zachary Levi (playing the title character), Asher Angel (Billy Batson), Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) and director David F. Sandberg in attendance. The trailer released definitely revealed the fun of the DCEU (now being called Worlds of DC) with Billy getting to be superhero and having fun with his new powers while at the same time, having to go against Dr Sivana (Mark Strong). Think a superhero version of Big and you're pretty much there with what this movie is attempting to do. The movie will be released April 5th 2019.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6GEIrcvFY

Wonder Woman 1984: Despite filming only beginning last month, SDCC still managed to bag an exclusive as stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) rocked up to the event with director Patty Jenkins as audiences got a little taster of what's to come with this movie. Sadly the footage hasn't been released online but it did involve Diana kicking some ass with people talking about how undeniably 80s the movie feels. The movie itself is being treated as another standalone adventure rather than a sequel and while we don't know why or how Steve Trevor is back, we do know that it's really him and he plays a big role in this movie. We also know that Kristin Wiig will be playing the main antagonist, Cheetah/Dr Barbara Ann Minerva and that Pedro Pascal has an undisclosed role. The film will be released on November 1st 2019 and it won't be the only movie with Diana to come out next year as an animated movie called Wonder Woman: Bloodlines will also be out too.

Birds Of Prey: For now this seems to be the title of that infamous Harley Quinn Girl Gang movie that's being bandied about for a while. Directed by Cathy Yan, the movie will see Margot Robbie reprise her role of former Joker henchwoman/current anti-heroine, Harley Quinn and if the rumours are correct, the movie will feature live action versions of Black Canary, Huntress, Cassandra Cain and Renee Montoya as well as a Batman antagonist who hasn't been on the big screen yet. Filming for the movie is due to start in January 2019 with a likely early 2020 release date.

Joker: Not connected to the franchise formerly known as the DCEU, this standalone movie starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Clown Prince Of Crime will begin filming in September with an October 2019 release earmarked. Yeah, I like Phoenix as an actor and the Joker is one of my favourite villains but I cannot muster any enthusiasm for this one at all. It just feels absolutely pointless. Anyways, there's rumours that Deadpool 2's Zazie Beetz might be joining the movie as well.

Other DC movies to look out for in 2019 but on the animated front are Batman: Hush, Reign Of The Supermen, Justice League vs. The Fatal Five as well as Wonder Woman: Bloodlines.

And now let's have a look at the TV and streaming gods have to offer DC fans ....

Titans: Well, the trailer for this one generated some controversy on Thursday when Brenton Thwaites not so retired Robin uttered the meme inspiring words "Fuck Batman". Aside from that, there's clearly a gritty approach going on with this show as we saw not only the former Boy Wonder but also Raven (Teagan Croft), Starfire (Anna Diop), Beast Boy (Ryan Potter), Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and Dove (Minka Kelly) in action. I'll admit that going for the Netflix Marvel series approach might generate mixed results but for the debut show to be launched from the DC Universe streaming service later this year, I still want to give this one a go.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIYzdBAxcM8

- Arrow's seventh season (October 15th) will feature the returns of characters such as Brick and Bronze Tiger as well as the introduction of the Longbow Hunters. We're also getting a new gay character named Daniel Porter and a few mercenary characters as well as a returned Roy Harper.
- The Flash (October 9th) has cast Chris Klein as season antagonist Cicada for it's fifth season. Nora will have a difficult relationship with Iris while Tom Cavanagh will direct the 100th episode and Barry will get his Flash ring this season.
- Supergirl (October 14th) will have Nia Nal/Dreamer (Nicole Maines), Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer), Colonel Haley (April Parker Jones) as regulars along with Manchester Black (David Ajala) as recurring threat. Journalism will play a bigger role and the show will do it's own version of the Red Son storyline.
- Legends Of Tomorrow (October 22nd) will have Maisie Richardson Sellers play magical fugitive Charlie this season as well as new regular Alaska Yu (Ramona Young) and recurring Hank Heywood (Tom Wilson). Oh and expect a Beebo return.
- The crossover focusing on Batwoman will exclude the Waverider team but a series for Kate Kane is in development for the CW.
- Black Lightning (October 9th) will have 16 episodes this season with Jordan Calloway's Painkiller promoted to a regular this season. Anissa will have a new love interest too.
- Krypton's second season will introduce Lobo and some of Adam Strange's people. UK viewers will be able to see the first season soon on E4.
- DC Universe streaming service will also have live action series of Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol and Stargirl.

That's all the best gossip from SDCC in relation to the television and movie universe from DC. Some exciting stuff ahead.

Doctor Who - Series 11 Spoilers (SDCC 2018 & More)

Okay, first of all, it's not just stuff from San Diego Comic Con 2018 that I will be covering in relation to the upcoming eleventh series of Doctor Who but loads of stuff that's been hinted at and revealed over the last several months in relation to Jodie Whittaker's debut series.

Yesterday, the show attended SDCC with Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole, Bradley Walsh (not actually there but he made an appearance nonetheless), Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens and after several months of not revealing too much, yesterday decided to give us a little bit more. First of all though, let's talk about that leaked clip from the first episode of Series 11 from last month. It didn't get an outing at SDCC yesterday and heads are rolling over whoever leaked it but it did give us a bit of insight into the personality of Jodie's Doctor as we saw her interact with new companions Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) and Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) on an abandoned train. We also got a sneak peek of the new sonic screwdriver before it's proper outing yesterday as demonstrated in the above picture.

Meanwhile in the space of five days, we've had two trailers released for the eleventh series. The first trailer saw the new Doctor making her presence known to new companions, Ryan, Yasmin and Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh) while the second trailer showed us some clips of the new series but managed not to reveal a single monster. Instead we have the new Doctor dealing with post regeneration headaches and asking for some new friends. These trailer might seem a tad restrained compared to past ones and you could argue that Chris Chibnall might be hiding too much at this rate but both certainly succeeded in tempting casual viewers back in the fold though.

In terms of spoilers/rumours, here is what has been confirmed over the last few months, especially as of yesterday.

- There are ten episodes for Series 11, with the first episode being 65 minutes long and the remaining nine being 50 minutes long. There will be no two parters this season and each episode will be standalone.
- Segun Akinola has replaced Murray Gold as the show's new composer.
- Guest stars confirmed so far for episodes are Lee Mack, Alan Cumming and Shaun Dooley.
- There will be a Christmas special this year, set to be directed by Wayne Yip who directed the episodes The Lie Of The Land and Empress Of Mars as well as two episodes of cancelled spin-off series, Class.
- There are rumoured to be no returning monsters though there have been some set reports that indicate this isn't entirely true. Most of the monsters will be new though.
- Sharon D. Clarke's recurring character is called Mary and she's meant to be Graham's wife. Yasmin will be a police officer.
- Jodie has described her Doctor as being egalitarian with a gang of mates.
- A writers room was seemingly confirmed by Chibnall at the SDCC panel yesterday as well. None of the new writers have been revealed though. It's been confirmed there will be POC writers this series as well as a 50/50 male/female director split.
- One episode may be focusing on Rosa Parks while another could be looking into witch trials.
- Chibnall and Jodie have described the series as a good jumping on point for new viewers as well.

Well, that seems to be everything for now but given that we've had two trailers over the last few days and several promotional pictures and interviews, it seems like we're getting closer and closer to seeing the new era for ourselves. As someone who wasn't keen on the idea of a female Doctor, I can't help but admit that this looks very exciting. As the tagline for this series emphasising - the universe is calling.

Series 11 Trailer 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNy2kz-F0KQ
Series 11 Trailer 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEc-OQ_oqDk
SDCC Highlights: https://twitter.com/DoctorWho_BBCA
Press Release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/b06dcdff-2d81-4b63-bdb0-5b4e84bc1035

Series 11 will air on BBC1 and BBCAmerica in the Autumn. Date to be confirmed. Meanwhile for some of the Classic Series, scoot on over to Twitch.

Superman: The Animated Series - Episodes 13-16 Reviews

Capping off the first season finale with the first three episodes of the second season as Superman faces another encounter with the Parasite, people from Krypton's past and a monster.

Episode 13: Two's A Crowd

I liked Parasite's debut earlier in the season so having him back for a second episode where he's actually more of a grudging ally/slight pawn for another baddie was an interesting enough move. The baddie in question being Earl Garver (Brian Cox) who has hidden a bomb and tried to use Parasite for his own motives before the latter had a change of heart. Also despite the lack of Lois in this episode, I did enjoy the team up with Superman and Maggie Sawyer here. 8/10

Episode 14: Blast From The Past Part 1

Kicking off the second season, it was time to delve into something a little Krypton related and having Superman release former criminal Mala (Leslie Easterbrook) take her under his wing was always going to be a disaster. It didn't really take Mala long from wanting to be Superman's partner in crime to deciding to take over the Earth when he spurned her advances for Lois. This one then ended with Jax Ur (Ron Perlman) being released from the Phantom Zone and ready to cause havoc. 8/10

Episode 15: Blast From The Past Part 2

Ah, the second part of this story and the momentum is maintained pretty well with a brief trip to the Phantom Zone for Superman and a near victory for both Mala and Jax Ur. Of course, both are shortlived and the villainous duo are sent back to the Phantom Zone for their own good while Superman considers the name Fortress of Solitude for his sanctuary. Lois has some good one liners in this episode but ultimately there should be better stuff ahead for her. 8/10

Episode 16: The Prometheon

Aside from the fact that this episode set up a future problem for Superman with the character of the General (Charles Napier), I really didn't care for this one. Don't get me wrong, the humanoid creature thingy looked decent enough, there was some fun action scenes and the last bit was a little sinister but other than that, I just didn't really find the episode that engaging to be honest. Very much a filler one. 5/10.

Next blog I'll delve into Livewire, Speed Demons, Identity Crisis and Target.

Batman 66 - Episodes 53-56 Reviews

Time for another chilling story with a different actor and while we're at it, some practical jokes too. Ah, sure why not?

2x19: Green Ice

To this show's credit, they've never overused a character like Mr Freeze but it has been interesting that each time he's appeared, it's been with a different actor in the role (Gotham will later have this dilemma with Ivy and others too). George Sanders debuted in the role and did a good job and here, it's Otto Preminger assuming the mantle of the chilliest villain going. In this episode alone, Freeze kidnaps Miss Iceland with the intention of making her his bride, turns the media against the Dynamic Duo, hijacks an Emerald themed party at Wayne Manor and tries to turn Batman and Robin into slushies. As you do. Not to mention henchmen faking it up as Batman and Robin too for good measure. 7/10

2x20: Deep Freeze

Keeping with the chills, there's something rather amusing in Freeze's attempts of changing Miss Iceland's feelings towards being an absolute disaster for him. Less amusing was him then turning her into an ice sculpture while being convinced that Batman and Robin were dead for a couple of moments. It's a strong second part to an overall decent second offering from Freeze. Watching the character in this series does serve as a reminder than he didn't always have a tragic origin story. Oh and there's the fact that the series responsible for his definitive story also had an episode with the same title as this one. 7/10

2x21: The Impractical Joker

Not one of my favourite stories involving the Joker to be honest. I think there was a case of the show needed to have him every so often, almost as though viewers wouldn't forget him but sometimes the story didn't always justify it. This one just isn't his best one, even if it does give him a nifty device that allows him to slow the Dynamic Duo down for a bit, even if they're quickly able to counteract the box's purpose before we even get into the second part. I did like the reference to The Green Hornet though in this one. 6/10

2x22: The Joker's Provokers

And it gets a bit dafter in this one. Much as I love the campness of this show, the idea of time travel does seem like a stretch even for this one. Here though, we've got Alfred in the guise of a security guard in order to help the Dynamic Duo thwart the Joker and minions. Sidenote: it's refreshing to see the moll, Cornelia not want to become good or fancy Batman too. It does make a nice change. Alfred's great fun in this episode and the Joker doesn't seem too concerned with another one of his schemes actually failing. Fortunately there's better stories for him on the horizons with these reviews but this one wasn't it. 6/10

Next blog I'll delve into Marsha, Queen of Diamonds/Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds and Come Back, Shame/It's How You Play the Game.

Superman: The Animated Series - Episodes 9-12 Reviews

Into my third venture of episodes and we've got the debut of an intergalactic bounty hunter, the return of a childhood sweetheart and the hint of something darker on a rather aptly titled planet.

Episode 9: The Main Man, Part 1

With this series opening with a three part story, I was a little surprised that they'd launch in with a two parter early again but here we are. In this one we've got intergalactic bounty hunter, Lobo (Brad Garrett) capturing his latest bounty, Sqweek for his latest client, only to be snatched by the Preserver and given the job of capturing Superman for the latter's collection of sole survivors. This first part is a fun set up, giving us a great take on Lobo and it gets even better when after the latter succeeds in snaring Superman, he winds up being added to the collection as well. 8/10

Episode 10: The Main Man, Part 2

Keeping with the fun of the first part, this second part certainly adds to proceedings as both Superman and Lobo are inevitably forced to work with one another in order to defeat the Presever. It's a fun team up with both of them putting their differences aside to make for a solid pairing. There's also a great reveal of what the Preserver really looks like Lobo gets to keep his freedom, give Sqweek to his client and even laments about Superman's solution for the other captives. Definitely a fun story to watch. 8/10

Episode 11: My Girl

Briefly seen in the opening three parter, it was time to catch up with Lana Lang and a fair bit has changed since then. She now seems to be a successful fashion designer and is romantically involved with Lex Luthor. However this episode didn't waste time in having her realise that Clark and Superman are the same person and having her help her friend against an arms dealer associate of Lex as well for good measure, even when it put her in serious danger. There was a nice bit of foreshadowing with Clark and Lois towards the end of this one too. 7/10

Episode 12: Tools Of The Trade

The end reveal with Mannheim arriving on Apokolips and meeting Darkseid is the highlight in an episode that otherwise, I found something of a chore to watch. I didn't really care all that much for the rivalry between Mannheim and the Metropolis PD or even the rivalry between Maggie Sawyer (I think this episode marked her debut) and her fellow detective and even Superman didn't feel as well utilised in this one as well. A misfire for me. 6/10

Next blog I'll delve into Two's A Crowd, Blast From The Past Parts 1 and 2 and The Prometheon.

My Review of Superman Returns (2006)

Written by Bryan Singer & Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris
Directed by Bryan Singer

Superman: "Listen; what do you hear?"
Lois: "Nothing."
Superman: "I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one."

Before he'd win us all over as Ray Palmer/The Atom on both Arrow and Legends Of Tomorrow, there was a brief time in which Brandon Routh was Superman. It's not often as talked about, probably due to both Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill's versions of the character being more prominent within the media but for one movie only, Routh more or less made us all believe that a man could fly again.

Oddly set within the continuity (or at least inspired by it) of the Reeve movies, Superman Returns has the titular hero returning to Earth after being absent for five years and catching up with a world that has changed around him. The biggest change being that Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) is now married to Perry White's (Frank Langella) nephew Richard White (James Marsden) and has a little boy named, Jason (Tristan Lake Lebeau), who is heavily implied to be Superman's kid throughout the movie.

I'm not going to lie. In terms of chemistry, both Routh and Bosworth don't really radiate much chemistry, even though they're believable enough in their dynamic as Lois and Clark and Lois and Superman. Heck, in Superman's absence, Lois even wrote a scathing article on why the world didn't need Superman even though this movie proved otherwise of course.

Of course while things have dramatically changed for Lois, things somewhat remain the same for Lex Luthor. This time around played with a slightly darker tone in Kevin Spacey, the bald billionaire still wants to cause chaos and kill Superman and yet again nearly succeeds in both before getting his respective comeuppance.

Spacey's take on Luthor isn't quite as beguiling as Hackman's was in the way but it's still preferable to what Eisenberg would do with the role a decade after this movie's release. Lex gets to have some decent scenes with both Lois and Superman and also has another ditzy female assistant with Parker Posey turning in a charming enough performance as Kitty Kowolski and character wise, she's better utilised that either Richard White or Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) are in this movie.

In terms of movies, it's not actually a bad one as such. All the leads are fine in the role and Routh's near resemblance to Reeve is actually striking enough to make you believe this movie could exist in the continuity of the latter's. Saying that though, Lex's plot is a bit too run of the mill at times but the movie does succeed in giving the character a decent return.

- Noel Neill appears at the start of the movie as Lex's elderly wife who dies while Jack Larson is the bartender in a scene with Clark and Jimmy. We also got some Jor El, courtesy of this movie being allowed to use recording of Marlon Brando in the role.
- Amy Adams who would play the role of Lois after Bosworth, actually auditioned for this movie. Then again, she was also in Smallville, which Brandon Routh auditioned for.
- Zod was meant to appear in the movie, but the role got scrapped at the last minute.
- Even though this film was a box office failure, it actually out performed Batman Begins, which was considered a success.

Superman Returns isn't quite the triumph for the Man of Steel that everyone was hoping for at the time. While it's a movie that could've lost about half an hour and maybe gone for a different antagonist other than Lex Luthor, it's a decent enough take on the character with Routh being charming enough in the role.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Batman 66 - Episodes 49-52 Reviews

And it's now time for some Liberace (no really) and someone vying for Mayor. I bet you can guess who though.

2x15: The Devil's Fingers

Of all the people to guest star in this show, I have to admit to being genuinely floored with Liberace being brought in as a guest baddie. Even more impressive was the fact that the show decided to give us double the fun with him too. On one hand, we got to see him as concert pianist, Chandell, who had set his sights on Aunt Harriet and not for love while on the other hand, he was also the gangster twin brother, Harry. Both roles are fabulously played, there's a lot of Aunt Harriet for good measure (this two parter is her best in the whole series) and you got that moment where the Dynamic Duo were about to become sheet music as well. Delightful. 9/10

2x16: The Dead Ringers

The second part of this story really upped the ante. Having both Bruce and Dick fake their deaths to smoke out both Chandell and Harry's scheming was interesting along with the brothers inevitably betraying each other. However the best moment of this episode was Harriet just showing us all what a total badass she could be when she realised that Harry was posing as Chandell and she pointed a gun at him, quickly realising that he was scheming to marry her to get the Wayne inheritance. Seriously, this was a side to Harriet that the show really should've delved into more often. There is a bit of redemption story for Chandell as he and his brother have gone on a long tour. The fact that this two parter was the highest rated episodes for the series isn't too much of a surprise though. 9/10

2x17: Hizzoner The Penguin

Penguin running for Mayor? Oh, go on, then. This won't be the first time Oswald will go for the job and it won't be the last either. In this episode alone, he does a lot to curry public favour and with Batman lacking the pizzazz in his own attempts to run against Oswald, it's a little easy to see why Oswald was wooing people left, right and centre in this one. I even love the devious bit where some voters decide to put Batman and Robin in a trap and Oswald chooses not to get involved. He really is a politician is that Cobblepot fella. 8/10

2x18: Dizzoner The Penguin

Okay, failed attempts to get rid of the competition to one side, at least the Penguin upped the entertainment stakes when trying to be Mayor, even if he later had to resort to a little kidnapping in order to get a recount that didn't work out for him. Still though, Batman got the job, gave it back to Linseed (who can look forward to getting it snatched away from him in a year's time) and even found himself getting other offers to run for different offices. I think for now, we're probably better for with Batman as a crime fighter than aspiring politician. 8/10

Next blog I'll delve into Green Ice/Deep Freeze and The Impractical Joker/The Joker's Provokers.

Superman: The Animated Series - Episodes 5-8 Reviews

Second blog for this particular animated show and within these episodes, Lex makes his hatred towards Superman known while Parasite, Metallo and Brainiac come out to play.

Episode 5: A Little Piece Of Home

Two big things in this episode. Okay three if you count the giant robotic dinosaur that Lex uses to try (and fail) to kill both Superman and Lois Lane in this episode. Anyways, the two other big things include the introduction of Lex's right hand woman, Mercy Graves (Lisa Edelstein), who wastes no time in proving her willingness to do anything her boss asks of her while the second thing was the introduction of Kryptonite, which Lex quickly realises can be used to weaken Superman and does so before the latter manages to get rid of it for now. 7/10

Episode 6: Feeding Time

Parasite isn't one of my favourite Superman villains but for an introduction episode, this was actually pretty good to be honest. We got to see the lowly Rudy constantly being trampled on by everyone before his transformation into Parasite and you could sort of get why he'd enjoy lording his new abilities, especially when he had the power to subdue Superman himself and keep him prisoner. This was also a great episode for Jimmy, who stepped in and helped Superman against Parasite while the ending nicely hinted that he hadn't forgotten everything. 8/10

Episode 7: The Way Of All Flesh

It didn't take long for Corben to be brought back into the show and I'm a little surprised (though not by much) that they went down the Metallo route so quickly with him. Lex was certainly at his most ruthless with the way in which he tricked John in agreeing to become Metallo and the fights between the latter and Superman, especially on Luthor's yacht were nicely done though. Of course Metallo meets a tragic end of sorts with the hint he'll resurface again while Lex has the upper hand on Superman, which he revels in pointing out. 7/10

Episode 8: Stolen Memories

Keeping with moving things along in a nice pace, Brainiac actually made his way to Earth and didn't waste time in forming an alliance and trying to tempt Superman into letting him take over the planet as well as destroying it. Of course Brainiac's great plan doesn't work out and while Lex might be seething at being duped by the intelligence, Superman found a good way to deal with him while at the same time, we got see the Fortress of Solitude for the first time. 8/10

Next blog I'll look into The Main Man Parts 1 & 2, My Girl and Tools Of The Trade.

Batman 66 - Episodes 45-48 Reviews

Into another slew of episodes and this time around, both the dilemma of time and eggs play a part with our baddies in question.

2x11: The Clock King's Crazy Crimes

Ah, the Clock King. A man who is a stickler for timing and can often be something of a mixed bag, baddie wise. Here he is played by Walter Slezak who does a pretty good job in making the character interesting enough as the Clock King uses the guise of a pop up artist to fool the Dynamic Duo in one rather interesting scene. Another and keeping with the theme of this baddie was having both Batman and Robin trapped within an hourglass as part of the cliffhanger for this one, which I found pretty great. There's also a rather nice cameo from Sammy Davis, Jr in this one too. 7/10

2x12: The Clock King Gets Crowned

With the Dynamic Duo out of the hourglass pretty sharpish, the second half of this story focuses on the Clock King's attempts to rob Wayne Manor and even try to take poor Aunt Harriet as a hostage before being outwitted by Bruce and Dick. It's a bit of a letdown after the first part being the stronger of the two. This is the only time we see the Clock King and while Slezak is good in the role, the story does peter out a little in this part. 6/10

2x13: An Egg Grows In Gotham

After King Tut, my favourite original villain for this series is Egghead and with Vincent Price in the role and fully mebracing the silliness of his eggscellent punning character, it's hard not to have love Egghead here. In this story he kidnaps Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and two other billionaires and quickly deduces through his own instincts that Bruce must be Batman. There's also a subplot with an Indian Chief that's amusing enough and Egghead's own batches of eggs seem to range from the acidic to the infectious laughter kind. An eggscellent debut for this baddie. 8/10

2x14: The Yegg Foes In Gotham

Thanks to his alliance with Egghead, Screaming Chicken is now the owner of Gotham and it's not long before he's betrayed by the latter and the city has gone into some mini-chaos due to Egghead's control over things. This also included trying to get the Dynamic Duo banned from the city before Egghead literally ended up with egg on his face following a fun confrontation with Batman and Robin in Old MacDonald's coop. There's also another moment where it looks like Gordon is addressing the audience when talking to Mayor Linseed over the city needing the Caped Crusaders as well. 8/10

Next blog I'll delve into The Devil's Fingers/The Dead Ringers and Hizzonner the Penguin/Dizzoner the Penguin

Superman: The Animated Series - Episodes 1-4 Reviews

It's been overdue and I would've started this a bit earlier in the month but got distracted with real life for a while. Without a further ado, it's time to dive into this animated show, which opens with a three parter and has a creepy Toyman in the mix.

Episode 1: The Last Son Of Krypton, Part 1

Like I said, this series opened with a three parter and the first part of that one is set during Krypton's final day. Jor El (Christopher McDonald) is worried about his planet's destruction and despite not being initially believed by his wife, Lara (Finola Hughes), he soon discovers that Brainiac (Corey Burton) is aware of the planet's imminent demise and is more interested in saving himself than figuring out a solution to save Krypton. As the planet begins it's final moments, there's only enough time for Jor El and Lara to put their son in a pod and send him to Earth. 7/10

Episode 2: The Last Son Of Krypton, Part 2

Speeding things up a bit here, we open with Jonathan (Mike Farrell) and Martha Kent (Shelley Faberes) finding baby Kal El's pod, adopting the child inside it and calling him Clark Kent. as a teenager we also see Clark (Jason Marsden) develop his powers in front of his best friend and crush, Lana Lang (Kelly Schmidt) before learning of his heritage and moving to Metropolis and getting himself a job at the Daily Planet. There our adult Clark (Tim Daly) becomes Superman and develops a fun rivarly with fellow reporter Lois Lane (Dana Delany) while a media event with Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) ends in disaster. 8/10

Episode 3: The Last Son Of Krypton, Part 3

Ending this three parter, the focus shifts onto Lex's own corruption as he happily admits to Superman that he's played a huge role in building Metropolis while Lois herself ends up in danger when she uncovered  Lex's plot to sell the LEXO-SKEL SUIT 5000 to Kaznian terrorists, via their agent John Corben. This won't be the first time in the series where Lois winds up in danger but already I am loving the rapport with her and Clark and even the added rivalry between herself and fellow reporter, Angela Chen (Lauren Tom). The episode also ends on the note of an escaped Brainiac looking for Clark as well, which should be interesting to see unfold throughout the series. 8/10

Episode 4: Fun And Games

After a three part opening story to debut the series, it was time to see what the show could do with something more standalone and the result are rather creepy. Toyman is a villain I'm a little lukewarm on but here, thanks to a chilling design and voice performance from Bud Cort. This Toyman goes out of his way to get revenge on a mobster while also dressing up Lois in a creepy doll costume and forcing her to report what he wants her to before Superman arrives to save the day. It's a pretty strong episode and surprisingly a little dark in parts. 8/10

Next blog I will look into A Little Piece Of Home, Feeding Time, The Way Of All Flesh and Stolen Memories.

My Review of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)

Written by Christopher Reeve & Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal
Directed by Sidney J. Furie

Lex Luthor (to Superman): "Goodnight, sweet prince. Parting is... inevitable."

Going by this line, a part of me wonders if there's some UST between the Man of Steel and his most popular adversary. It certainly would explain a lot about Lex's obsession with Superman but at the same time, it's this movie.

The very movie that despite actor Christopher Reeve had some story involvement in was also the same one where he'd tell co-star Jon Cryer that they were basically filming a turkey. Is Reeve right on that matter? Let's face it, this movie is far from loved, even if it has the bonuses of a third outing for Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor and Margot Kidder back in a far bigger role as Lois Lane.

Unfortunately though, this movie is also another reason as to why these superhero movies are better off expanding on other prominent baddies though. You would've thought by this time someone would've attempted to have used the likes of Bizarro, Doomsday or Darkseid for one of these movies instead of having Lex coming back for another round.

This time around, he's sprung from prison by his dimwitted (but we're supposed to believe he's an actual genius) nephew Lenny (Jon Cryer) and by stealing a strand of Superman's hair that the latter donated to a museum (bit of a reckless thing to do there, Clark), Lex then creates his own super soldier unimaginatively called Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow).

Nuclear Man is another baddie specifically made for the movies and he's not a very engaging baddie. Namely he's a mindless drone for Luthor, even copying his 'father's' speech pattern at various points in the movie but there is a decent enough battle between Nuclear Man and Superman in space before Lex is sent to prison yet again and Lenny is sent to an all boys school where hopefully he's never seen again either.

In terms of threats, the quest for peace had the potential to be interesting but it just didn't come together that well. On the other hand, we also had Perry White (Jackie Cooper) temporarily lose control of the Daily Planet to David Warfield (Sam Wanamaker) and his daughter, Lacy (Mariel Hemingway) - the latter with an overt interest in Clark and who actually a far better written character than her father was in the whole movie. Needless to say though, Perry did get control of the Daily Planet before the very movie did end.

As for Lois, this was a better movie for her than the third one but even still aside from an odd quadrangle involving herself, Lacy and both Clark/Superman and realising that she cares for Clark, her role still isn't hugely satisfying though. There was even a brief moment when it felt like she was going to remember Clark and Superman being the same person but that came to nothing though.

- Aside from appearing in all four of these movies, Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) also appeared in Supergirl, which was released between the third and fourth movies. I will be reviewing that one too.
- There was tension between both Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder during filming of this one.
- Apparently this film was meant to be 134 minutes but was scaled down to 90 minutes. It was also a box office failure.
- There was nice opening scenes set in Smallville where Clark talked to Lara before talking about not selling his parents farm.

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace like Batman & Robin a decade later brought something of halt to a disappointing end to an overall great movie saga. Despite the behind the scenes chaos, Reeve does try his best but compared to even the third movie, it does feel like he's going through the motions a bit at times and the results of this movie are seriously undercooked at best.

Rating: 5 out of 10

My Review of The Sword In The Stone (1963)

Written by Bill Peet
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman

Arthur:"Knowledge and wisdom is the real power."
Merlin: "Right you are,Wart, so stick to your schooling, boy."

I really do have an unbridled love for this movie. Adaptations of Merlin and Arthur are ten a penny with some obviously being better than others and this lovely little movie from Disney is definitely in the category of one of my favourites.

Following the death of Uther Pendragon, England is in disarray with no heir in sight, which means there's competition to be seated on the throne. This is where Sir Ector (Sebastian Cabot) comes in, determined that his boorish son, Sir Kay (Norman Alden) could be the next king, while at the same time, the former's foster kid, or Kay's squire known as Wart (Rickie Sorenson) comes into wizened wizard Merlin (Karl Swenson) who is determined to educate the boy along with his snarky owl, Archimedes (Junius Matthews).

Wart's education seems to be mostly changing him into different animals and putting him into a series of dangers. As a fish, Wart has to avoid a crocodile from trying to eat him while as a squirrel, he's forced to fight off the affections of a female squirrel as well as a hungry and malnourished looking wolf. Then he's turned into a little bird and soon finds himself in danger of Madam Mim (Martha Wentworth), the closest to a proper antagonist that the movies seems to have.

Madam Mim is a fun baddie to watch as she revels in human suffering with a song in her heart and an ability to change into various animals. This leads to a brilliant battle of wits between Mim and Merlin as the two try to outdo each other on the animal front before the latter comes up with an underhanded way to deal with Mim. Unlike some other Disney baddies, Mim actually managed to survive this movie.

As for the rest of the movie, there's a bit of a falling out between Merlin and Arthur when the latter shows an interest in being Sir Kay's squire but given what this is based on, it's not long before Arthur discovers his true destiny and removes a sword from a certain stone and ends the movie by becoming England's newest King.

For an adaptation, this one is a lot of fun with Arthur, Merlin and Archimedes making for a joyful trio. There's a few allusions to Merlin's abilities to travel into the future and one hilarious moment where Archimedes takes satisfaction in Merlin being wrong about humans being able to fly.

- This movie is based on T.H White's book of the same title. The book was released a few years before this movie's release.
- There's a few obvious riffs to Sleeping Beauty in this movie.
- Bill Peet largely drew on Disney himself in his depiction of Merlin for this movie.
- The movie is also getting a live action version.

The Sword In The Stone is probably one of the more underrated Disney movies but it's a lot of fun. I really loved this one as a kid and even now having watched it again recently, it still holds up pretty well for an animated take on the Arthurian legend.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Batman 66 - Episodes 41-44 Reviews

In the batch of episodes I'm looking at now, a sinister Pharaoh has resurfaced and we meet a crime family with a deadly matriarch.

2x07: The Spell Of Tut

My favourite original villain returns for his second story and thankfully, it's as enjoyable as his first one. Last time we saw Tut, he kidnapped Bruce Wayne, so this time around, it seems that he's taking his talents and minions in order to revive Scarabs while his Cleopatra is posing as Gordon's secretary and drugging him. There's an amusing cameo from both the Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (Jackie Chan) that now seems like a precursor for the crossover two parter later in the season but here is just a rather pleasant moment. Things also got a little choppy for Robin as his attempts to infiltrate Tut's lair resulted in him nearly being fed to the mad Pharoah's crocodiles. 8/10

2x08: Tut's Case Is Shut

Well, needless to say Robin survived nearly being din dins for the crocodiles but that didn't stop Tut from getting both O'Hara and Gordon under his control as well as Batman during the second half of this episode. Again we had the cliche of Cleo Patrick not wanting any harm to come to the Caped Crusader and unabashedly fancying him but Tut's scheme to basically turn everyone in Gotham into his mind controlled puppet more or less backfired on him. Second time around, Victor Buono delivered a fabulous guest performance and the episode ends on an odd note with Commissioner Gordon directly talking to the audience. It's not a bad way to end the two parter but a little odd though. 8/10

2x09: The Greatest Mother Of The All

And now for something a little maternal. The family that commits crime together also stays together ... in prison. For any other crime family, that might be the end of their reign of terror but for Ma Parker (Shelley Winters) and her children - Legs, Pretty Boy, Machine Gun and Mad Dog, it was only the beginning. The fact that she was able to trick the Dynamite Duo into getting her family into the prison and the meticulous way she took over the joint, much to Criton's horror was absolutely brilliant. As for the little bit of dynamite left in the Batmobile, that felt like an afterthought compared to all the excellent scheming beforehand. Good cliffhanger moment though. 8/10

2x10: Ma Parker

With the criminals running Gotham State Penitentiary, you have to hand it to Ma Parker for having the most genius of plans. I love that she's so much of a force to be reckoned with that she can even get the Joker and Penguin thrown into solitary confinement for not falling in line with her while Catwoman briefly pops up to show some support. It's a shame that Catwoman isn't actually utilised in the episode or that she didn't try to undermine Parker but either way, it's a nice but too brief use of the character. As for Ma herself, she did let her mistreatment of Legs play a role into her downfall when Batman and Robin were able to trick the latter but it still doesn't detract from the fact that Shelley Winters is a delight in the role. It's a shame that Ma and her motley kids were a one off set of baddies. I would've loved to have seen them in another story. 8/10

Next blog I'll delve into The Clock King's Crazy Crimes/The Clock King Gets Crowned and An Egg Grows In Gotham/The Yegg Foes In Gotham.

My Review of Superman III (1983)

Written by David Newman & Leslie Newman
Directed by Richard Lester

Ross Webster: "I ask you to kill Superman, and you're telling me you couldn't even do that one, simple thing."

With the first movie being an undeniable classic and the second being a pretty strong sequel, there are reasons why this movie and it's next one are looked on less favourably. It's not that the Man of Steel's third outing is awful but at the same time, there's a lot that's somewhat lacking too.

In the first two movies, you had the familiarity of villains such as Lex Luthor and Zod/Ursa/Non. Instead of tackling another prominent baddie from Superman's gallery, this movie went for an original foe in Robert Vaughn's corrupt businessman, Ross Webster aided by his ditzy girlfriend, Lorelei Ambrosia (Pamela Stephenson) and just as ruthless sister, Vera Webster (Annie Ross).

The trio's not so great scheme seemed to involved taking Superman (Christopher Reeve) out of the picture by blackmailing hapless and down on his luck loser, Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) into giving our hero that would bring out his less noble side and the results are somewhat interesting. There's also the classic villain plot of wanting to rule the world but it's not done as well as other movies though.

Reeves has certainly captured both Superman and Clark Kent's sense of innocence, duty and all round kindness in previous movies and here he gets to revel a little in being something of a bad boy as Superman's self streak includes that infamous bar scene, ignoring a kid, being cavalier about saving people and even an interesting battle between both the good and bad versions resulting in the former regaining his senses and saving the day from Webster's big scheme.

As villains, Webster and company are just not gripping baddies to watch. I don't want to make unfair comparisons but if you compare Ross to both Lex and Zod, then he really does come across rather poorly to be honest. Robert Vaughn does a decent job but it's a rather poor role and neither Lorelei or Vera far much better either, even if the latter is given a rather grisly fate.

There are some bright enough spots though in the movie. Richard Pryor is a decent enough foil turned ally in Gorman and I really liked Annette O'Toole's take on Lana Lang as Clark got reacquainted with his old high school sweetheart and her son for a good portion of the movie. Even the lack of Lois wasn't so bad with Lana being a nice contrast and I did like seeing the pair of them meet up at the end of the movie. Not to mention the fact that we got a bit of a Clark and Jimmy team up earlier in the movie, even if the latter ended up being injured and yet again, Perry White had very little to do.

- We almost didn't get Reeve for this movie, given that he protested Richard Donner being sacked and that he hated the script. Without him, this film probably would've been much worse.
- Both Martha and Jonathan are now dead. I had forgotten about Martha being dead until Lana actually mentioned. Annette O'Toole would go on to play Martha Kent in Smallville.
- Actually it turns out that the movie originally was going to have Mister Mxyzptlk with Dudley Moore in the role. Now that they should've gone through with.
- The first movie where Christopher Reeve gets top billing.

Superman III is definitely not a classic. It's got the weakest villains going and lacks the magic of the first two movies but the brief bad spell of the titular hero, an okay supporting character in Gus and a nice use for Smallville and I guess it could've been a lot worse though.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Finale Rundown

So, I've got a few shows I seriously need to catch up with but before I do, here's a rundown of some of the recent genre finales I've watched.

Arrow: This season has been very hit and miss in parts but on the plus side, at least we're finally rid of Guggenheim and Mericle and with any luck, a sense of cohesion and back to basics will benefit the next season. Finale wise, it was nice to see Sara back briefly, Laurel continuing her potential to being redeeming and even the newbies stepping up a bit to help Oliver and company. Less pleasant was Oliver heading to jail, being outed as the Green Arrow and the ridiculous to keep Ricardo alive for next season. Kill him off early in Season Seven please.

Once Upon A Time: I don't think it's a controversial opinion to say that this show probably should've ended in 2017. Season Seven tried its best to breathe new life into it but the reboot was too little too late for most fans and the central romance with Henry and Jacinda ultimately left viewers cold. It's not surprising then in the last few episodes, the romance with Alice and Robyn generated more focus as both Gothel and Facilier's storylines came to middling conclusions while a Wish Realm Rumple was wheeled out one last time. The best moment though was seeing Emma, Hook, Snow, Charming and Zelena back in the series finale where Regina got her happy ending. Truthfully, it was a better series finale than I expected it to be.

Supergirl: Like Arrow, this season has been largely hit and miss and the last few episodes seem to have been slowly dragging out the Reign storyline where Sam rather predictably survived and left town with Ruby for good measure. Actually the finale really was a clearing of the decks with Winn, Mon El, J'onn, M'yrnn all exited while more conflict between Lena and Kara was being set up for next season along with a clear adaptation of the Red Son arc as well.  Alex's storyline about wanting to be a mother has been somewhat boring to watch and Alura's return while nice, should've felt bigger along with Argo's survival as well. Hopefully next season will be better focused.

The Flash: Somewhat a better season than either Arrow or Supergirl but not without it's problems as well. Still though, the Thinker turned out to be the most engaging main antagonist since Reverse Flash in the first season and his defeat with the team relying on Marlize for help was pretty satisfying. It was also nice to see Wally reappear for the finale and I even didn't mind Ralph being saved as well. As for Nora, well she's going to be an interesting addition next season. How are Barry and Iris going to deal with their grown up future daughter and how long will we have to wait before Caitlin becomes Killer Frost again?

- Despite FOX cancelling both shows, both Brooklyn Nine Nine and Lucifer will return for both sixth and fourth season respectively. The former being snapped up by NBC and the latter by Netflix.
- Jeremy Jordan will be recurring in Supergirl's fourth season as Winn while Chris Wood and Odette Annable will not be returning for the time being. Jesse Rath will be a regular as Brainiac 5 while new characters such as Nia Nal (the show's first trans character), Chester Green, Ben and Colonel Hadley are being added to the new season.
- Danielle Nicolet, Hartley Sawyer and Jessica Parker Kennedy will be returning as regulars for Season 5 of The Flash.
- Keiynan Lonsdale will not be a regular for either The Flash or Legends Of Tomorrow next season. The latter show will be introducing Nate's father and a new female character named Ali.
-  Richard Flood will be a regular for the ninth season of Shameless US.
- Andrew Lincoln will be departing The Walking Dead during it's ninth season.
- The Murder House/Coven crossover will be happening in this season of American Horror Story with some old favourites returning as well.
- Gotham's final season will begin filming next season, now rumoured to be 10 episodes, though FOX have yet to confirm that.
- Tyler Posey will be playing a love interest for Avan Jogia's character in upcoming Starz series, Now Apocalypse.
- While Star Trek: Discovery is going through another showrunner change, there are now rumours that more spin-offs are on the way.

My Review of Superman II (1980)

Written by Mario Puzo & David Newman & Leslie Newman
Directed by Richard Lester & Richard Donner

Superman: "We'd better talk."
Lois Lane: "I'm in love with you."
Superman: "We'd really better talk."

I really like this movie and as a sequel, it's actually a pretty strong one. Saying that, it also commits the one cardinal sin that I absolutely hate with anything sc-fi/fantasy/superhero/comic related and that's having an important character find out something and then undoing it towards the end.

I've preferred for Lois to only go so long in not knowing that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person and when she does find out, I usually prefer for it to stick. In a four movie series, having Lois realise that Clark and Superman are the same in the second movie seemed the right time to do it and the way she figured out felt true to the character. It's why the kiss at the end to reset the status quo between Clark and Lois bugs me in a movie I otherwise enjoy.

I do think this movie did speed up Lois and Clark's friendly rivalry to romance a little quickly but there's no denying that both Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder are still bringing the chemistry in this movie in spades that Clark's brief decision to renounce his abilities so he can live a human life with Lois does feel a tad believable, even if it's another trope that I don't particularly care for.

Thankfully the main villains of the piece though spur Clark to get his powers back. Bringing in Zod (Terrance Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O'Halloran) into the mix along with a fraught alliance with an escaped Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) was a good move for this movie.

Zod and his gang had promise in their brief appearance in the first movie. Here they're given the chance to shine, show their menace and even excitement at the fact that being on Earth has increased their powers (something which Ursa especially took the most delight in) while Lex does try his damndest to use Zod and company for his own gains.

The battles between Zod, Ursa and Non with Superman and Lois both in/around the Daily Planet and the Fortress of Solitude make up some of the best scenes of the movie along with Zod's eventual defeat at the exact moment Lex also tried to get out of going back to prison. As for Lex, I really don't think this movie actually needed him at all, though he's better served here than he will be in his next one, which I think we can all agree on.

- Gene Hackman actually didn't film anything for this movie, with footage used from previous filming, hence the Richard Donner credit for this movie.
- There wasn't a huge amount for either Jimmy Olsen or Perry White in this movie but I did like seeing Eve Teschmacher again as she helped Lex escape from prison. Also no scenes in Smallville as well.
- Otis really didn't fare well in this movie. Ladders are clearly not a strong suit with the guy.
- Chronology: I don't think much time passed since the first movie, though this movie was released several months in Europe before the US.

Superman II makes for a strong enough sequel. Despite two rather annoying tropes on display, neither of them hamper what essentially is a worthwhile sequel. Zod, Ursa and Non make for great villains and both Reeve and Kidder excel in their second outing as well. As for the next two entries in this particular universe, they're going to be interesting to review.

Rating: 8 out of 10