Supergirl (CBS)

[thecolorsblend]

Of course, the Donner cut made this scene completely invalid when Superman turned the world around again, which I thought was lame. Even though it was originally the planned ending for SII.

As much as I love the 1978 movie and Reeve's portrayal, I don't understand the idea of turning back time if there were no ramifications for it. What were the producers going for exactly?

Agreed. To me, the time travel thing sorts of diminishes the character.

So Clark can outrun a train but somehow he can't zip Jonathan to a hospital and at least TRY to save him.

So Superman has the power to travel through time but he can only do that when Lois is in peril. The millions of people who probably died in that earthquake, hey, no big deal. But man, don't let Lois get hurt or Superman will have to violate the time barrier.

From that basis, why should he allow ANYONE to die? What makes Lois so special? If he wanted to, Superman has the ability to save every life that's ever ended from anything other than natural causes. There's a very strong argument that, for example, America would've been better off had Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy not been assassinated.

But they're not Lois so I guess they're unimportant, eh? Eh, Fish? Eh?

It makes me wonder if Bryan Singer had made a sequel to SR, would he have opted for Zod as the villain? Like the whole premise for SR itself, it doesn't seem like he had a clear idea of what he wanted. Singer explained he made SR as "a sequel to Christopher Reeve", and then claimed he would've made Darkseid as the main villain for the second film. This completely clashes with Michael Dougherty's claims of using Zod as the big bad again.

Source: http://screenrant.com/bryan-singer-superman-returns-criticism-darseid-sequel

Bryan Singer's lone major talent seems to be molesting children and getting away with it. He lost all credibility with me a long time ago for reasons that have nothing to do with Superman (though that doesn't help his cause).

[The Laughing Fish]

So Clark can outrun a train but somehow he can't zip Jonathan to a hospital and at least TRY to save him.

I always bought Clark's line "With all those powers, and I couldn't even save him" because I thought it was self-explanatory. It was supposed to be a poignant moment that not even Clark could do anything for somebody who was already dead before they hit the ground.

But, as you already pointed out, this moment does get undermined by the end of the movie. I never scrutinised it before, until the Donner cut repeated the same deux ex machina ending. And since we're given no information about exactly how far Superman can turn back time, it is reasonable to ask why he couldn't go further to prevent every other death and disaster in human history.

I was told that Donner would've come up with a brand new ending if he was given time to complete his version of SII. But it begs the question once again: why did he and Tom Mankiewicz choose this ending in the first place?

Bryan Singer's lone major talent seems to be molesting children and getting away with it. He lost all credibility with me a long time ago for reasons that have nothing to do with Superman (though that doesn't help his cause).

I normally hold the opinion "innocent until proven guilty"...but then again, like every other place where there's lots of money involved, Hollywood is corrupt. I don't want to get into that any further. 

[BatmAngelus]

Back on topic...

SPOILERS

I will say I'm loving the Martian Manhunter stuff. Each week I want to see more of him. Guess this is where we can see him in live action considering that the DC films don't seem to be including him in the JLA lineup and are going with the New 52 one instead.

Maxwell Lord is, despite the actor's comments otherwise, basically the show's Lex Luthor. It works for the show's purpose but I kinda wish that they actually make him more like Lord in the comics and maybe give him his telepathy soon.

[BatmAngelus]

http://www.cbs.com/shows/supergirl/news/1005037/the-flash-will-appear-in-special-crossover-episode-of-supergirl/?ftag=MKT-01-10aaa7c

Speculation is that Supergirl is set on another Earth (Earth 3), considering that there haven't been references to Superman or Supergirl on Flash or Arrow or Legends nor vice versa on Supergirl. While I'd prefer it to be otherwise, I think they have to stay true to their own continuity.  Superman's been active for a long time on Supergirl and it doesn't make as much sense for people to react with the wonder and awe to Barry and the metahumans in Flash Season 1 if they've seen Superman and know that there's superpowered aliens out there.

[thecolorsblend]

http://www.cbs.com/shows/supergirl/news/1005037/the-flash-will-appear-in-special-crossover-episode-of-supergirl/?ftag=MKT-01-10aaa7c

Speculation is that Supergirl is set on another Earth (Earth 3), considering that there haven't been references to Superman or Supergirl on Flash or Arrow or Legends nor vice versa on Supergirl. While I'd prefer it to be otherwise, I think they have to stay true to their own continuity.  Superman's been active for a long time on Supergirl and it doesn't make as much sense for people to react with the wonder and awe to Barry and the metahumans in Flash Season 1 if they've seen Superman and know that there's superpowered aliens out there.

This seems most logical to me. Plus, Supergirl seems to take place in a very Pre-Crisisy, science-fantasy type of world. The tone and style wouldn't match very well with, say, Arrow. Or even aspects of the Flash.

Apart from that stuff, I'm behind on the show but I've seen that For the Man Girl Who Has Everything is being adapted soon. I just... no. I recognize that Supergirl as a show is siphoning off Superman's supporting characters, stories and mythos since she has little or nothing unique of her own to bring to the table in spite of how often we're told what a badass character Supergirl is and how she don't need no man, uh uh, and she don't need to be defined by no man, uh uh, and other obnoxious Girl Power BS but this is just too much.

FTMWHE is one of those stories that relied on Superman having a pretty extensive history. This is a guy who's been on the job for over a decade and has ticked off a lot of powerful people. He's tempted with the life he's always secretly wanted but ultimately rejects because on some level he knows it's a lie. The act of doing so is one of the most painful experiences of his entire life and ultimately drives him to the point where he's tempted to break his most sacred vow but ultimately relents precisely because of his origins.

Bottom line? Yes, I'm behind on episodes BUT THERE'S NO FREAKING WAY SUPERGIRL HAS EARNED THAT STORY. She doesn't have the history, she doesn't have the same motivations and, oh yeah, SHE'S NOT SUPERMAN. This isn't her story.

This just bugs me. It's yet another character pillaging Superman's legacy in a way that benefits that character but reduces Superman on some level and I had no idea how sick of that I am until I saw this FTMWHE news come down the pipeline.

If these other characters are so amazing, they should have their own stories, their own mythos, their own tropes, their own traditions, their own supporting casts and so forth.

I'm not trying to turn this into a rant, I'm just a little annoyed here.

[The Dark Knight]

I agree colors. That really does suck. That story is Superman's, and Supergirl should be using her own.

[Edd Grayson]

Aye, personally, I think Supergirl deserves her own film/story arc adaptation and not merely a shared one.

[BatmAngelus]

So who saw the episode?

This wasn't much of an adaptation of For The Man Who Has Everything, so much as "Supergirl encounters the Black Mercy." Kara dreaming of a life on Krypton makes a lot of sense given that she had 12 years of growing up there with her family and how she occasionally feels that she was left for dead on Earth. The similarities basically end from there, other than Kara naturally being pissed at the villain after she wakes up.

Does it hold a candle to the original story or the JLU adaptation? No, but I don't think it intended to mimic the same impact of the original, like colors described, so much as explore the same premise with their own cast of characters (though it was a major missed opportunity not to have the telepathic Martian Manhunter try to get through to her). It was executed in a much better way than the past times they've brought in Superman characters.

Personally, when it comes to the showstealing Superman villains, I'm way more bothered by the fact that Supergirl beat her cousin to fighting villains like the Toyman, White Martians, and Bizarro (to be fair, it was Bizarro Supergirl, but they make it pretty apparent this is the first Bizarro of this universe) and Superman's deadliest known opponent in this continuity, who nearly killed him in the past, is...Reactron? Seriously? It makes the offscreen version of Superman seem a little lame and that he'll be inheriting his cousin's villains, rather than the other way around.

[BatmAngelus]

I gotta say, i loved the Fortress of Solitude. The Silver Age elements from the giant key to the Jor-El and Lara statues to the Legion ring were all wonderful surprises, as well as Kelex who looks way more like the John Byrne version than the Man of Steel one. This show and Smallville make me wish there were more Silver Age elements in the Superman movies.

[The Laughing Fish]

I've only managed to watch one episode of Supergirl recently, and it was the crossover with the Flash.

I've heard some comments elsewhere saying this episode was the worst this show has to offer, and honestly, I can't say I'm surprised.

While I don't fault it for having to follow up the storyline where Supergirl lost the trust of everybody following her out-of-character dilemma (I hadn't seen the previous episode, but the prelude had a scene of Kara flicking peanuts at bottles, which reminded me of Superman freaking out in Superman III), and how it perfectly established the Flash could travel into different universes, I thought the episode was too cheesy for my tastes. The scene with the crowd witnessing Supergirl trying to protect Silver Banshee and Livewire, especially the acting by the extra who defended her and realised she was not a threat, was too hammy for my tastes. I get that the fire brigade saving Supergirl and Flash was supposed to mean that Kara won the people's trust back, but the crowd clapping at the end was a bit too over the top. I would've preferred Supergirl putting on a much better fight against the two goons too.

Is Calista Flockhart this annoying as Cat Grant? Bloody hell. But I got to admit that I chuckled when she quipped at Kara, Barry Allen, Jimmy Olsen and whoever the other guy was "You look like the attractive yet non-threatening racially diverse cast on a CW show". 

I'll still keep an open mind, and watch it from the beginning when I have the chance. Odds are, Supergirl might be geared towards attract a younger audience, and perhaps I'm not the target audience, but I won't hold it against the show.

Meanwhile, it was announced that the show will be moving onto the CW network because CBS didn't want to renew it for a second season. Maybe another crossover, this time with the rest of the Arrowverse?

The biggest news, however, is Superman himself will appear in the second season.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/6/11871078/supergirl-superman-casting-season-2-cw