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EW released two glimpses of Liam Neeson on set of the Clash of the Titans remake as father of Olympus.
The other photos that have come out, the film is God of War meets 300. Of course the look is very non traditional then most renditions from greek mythology. Reminds me of the armor King Arthur and his knights wore in Excalibur. With a war against Hades going on, it’s obvious the gods would wear the right attire for the occasion.
What the hell happened to The Phantom?
Okay, they stayed true to the generational theme and the origin is intact. Minus the name Phant, I don’t mind the organization working for Walker. But come on, the costume is so retarded. I understand wanting to go high tech, but why force it? Making fun of the original outfit only adds the insult to injury. My biggest problem is taking the Spider-Man coming of age angle. Let go of your old life and your girlfriend? I’ve suffered Lana “Drama Queen” Lang for 8 years, Mary Jane in 3 movies, I’m sick and tired of the normal girlfriend melodrama! Plus, the villain is even below Xander Drax’s level of stupidity.
I hope Billy Zane didn’t see this.
The prosthetics in the photos pryer to the episode airing this week were way too noticable, but combined with the onscreen lighting, plus Brian Austin Green’s acting, makes this scene very effective. Maybe the motivation to villiany won’t sound so bad as the trailer made it out to be.
We also had several episodes focused on the budding Justice League, and a scheduled Justice Society episode later on down the road. Smallville has outgrown itself and become a DCWU. With powers-that-be pushing for another year, it occurs to me the threats are going to become increasingly large, until finally Clark IS Superman in the series finale (which I hope is done as a TV movie).
So keeping escalating threats in mind, who is left in the notable Superman rogue’s gallery? It would have to be someone with a large network that could provide a season or more worth of trouble. He’d also have to be able to match, or even overpower, Clark physically and mentally. He’d have to prove the greatest challenge Clark has ever faced, the last true test, the REAL Destroyer. Darkseid, ladies and gentlemen, his name is Darkseid.
Background
Darkseid is a veritable god of evil, perhaps the most powerful villain in the entire DCU. He lords the planet Apokolips, a fiery pit world filled with his depraved, fanatic worshipers. Darkseid’s driving goal is something called the Anti-Life Equation, a formula that would unmake the universe and rebuild it in his image, with himself as God. Apokolipian technology is beyond even the Kryptonians’ in scope. Using sentient computers called Motherboxes, they’re capable of transporting anywhere in the universe through portals called boomtubes. Comic lore first introduced Darkseid and Apokolips through a Metropolis crime syndicate called Intergang, which used advanced, Apokolipian technology to pull off crimes.
The only thing that’s stopped Darkseid from total universal conquest is Apokoplip’s sister planet, New Genesis, inhabited by the benevolent New Gods led by the prophetic Highfather. Ages of bloody war between the two planets eventually led to a ceasefire, marked by the exchange of Darkseid and Highfather’s sons as a sort of collateral. Darkseid’s son Orion was raised as a good man as Highfather’s own, though exhibits traces of his real father’s temper (and strength). Highfather’s son Scott Free was subjected to horrible tortures in the orphanage of one of Darkseid’s most wicked minions, Granny Goodness, but managed to prove the impossible time and again with his daring escapes. He eventually escaped the planet entirely, earning the name Mr. Miracle.
Translation
Now how do you translate Darkseid, Apokolips, Intergang and New Genesis into Smallville? Quite easily, actually.
Darkseid is typically portrayed as a gray, stone-skinned titan in blue-and-silver. His eyes burn red, ready to unleash his signature Omega Beam, a maximum power laser vision capable of turning corners and following targets. More important is his demeanor, merciless, supremely confident, calculating, always having a plan within a plan, always in control. Arguably the best portrayal of the character was in the DC animated universe, voiced by none other than Michael Ironside. He rather resembles the character as well, and wouldn’t you know it, Ironside has already portrayed Lois’s father, a high-ranking general. Given Smallville’s penchant for vessels, Darkseid’s initial presence couldn’t be more perfect than a possessed General Lane/Michael Ironside. Not only does it open up possibilities of manipulating government agencies and sabotaging defenses, it also intimately involves Lois and creates some genuine difficulties for Clark. Eventually, after the expulsion of Darkseid from the general, a finale confrontation between Clark and the true Lord of Apokolips in the minutes before the invasion could give fans the pleasure of an all-out brawl in an alien throne room (and subsequently make up for the Doomsday cop out).
Apokolips itself is as easy as a red filter and a few minor fire effects, not much more complicated than scenes from the Phantom Zone. Truthfully, very little time would be spent on the hellish planet, anyway, as the vanguard forces are the focal point. And what a fun rogue’s gallery of Apokolipsian forces there are. There’s the previously mentioned Granny Goodness, a bulging hag of a woman (and in some cases questionably a man in drag) who serves as Darkseid’s chief brainwasher. She trains the master’s elite fighting force, the Female Furies, girls kidnapped from various planets and brainwashed into depraved soldiers. As the comics have already explored, there’s potential for a few Kara episodes tied up in this. Then there’s the man-beast Kalibak, another son of Darkseid, one that is constantly berated and always looking to prove himself. His strength is fairly equal to Clark and could offer another shot at actual fighting, something this show really needs to get right. Then there’s Darkseid’s number two man, Desaad, the master torturer. He’s often overseeing his lord’s various plots and takes pleasure from others’ pain.
Intergang is the easiest of all to implement. All it takes is one heist with futuristic weapons and we’re off and running. Clark would certainly notice the upgrade in firepower and over several episodes could trace the technology to Desaad or Granny. While Morgan Edge was originally the crime boss who made a deal with Darkseid for the weaponry, in other versions Mannheim runs Intergang. Given his introduction into the series last season, Mannheim fits nicely (and to the actor’s credit, I think he should return in future episodes regardless).
New Genesis will likely never be seen, but certainly Orion or the New God Lightray could make visits to the real world. The New Gods all look human in appearance and it would be no difficult feat for them to boomtube to Earth on the Apokolipsians trail. After Clark defeats Granny or Desaad, it might be necessary in order to advance the plot and explain who Darkseid is. The New Gods are not all perfect, though, and think themselves superior to mortals. It would take Clark to school them in humility and earn their friendships.
If Doomsday makeup and Legion visits have taught us anything, it’s that the larger, more cosmic, storylines are doable.
Integration
While this grand storyline is possible, how do you integrate it into the current plots in Smallville. Much of the legwork has already been done. While certainly not the only way to do things, here’s my spin…
That orb in Mercy’s possession is not Kryptonian. It’s a Motherbox. New Genesis saved the Kryptonian city of Kandor from destruction, but the orb was lost on Earth after Apokolipsian forces attempted to seize it. Now Darkseid is speaking through the orb, trying to use Mercy to establish contact with Earth. He succeeds by the end of Season 8, Mercy replaced by Granny Goodness as head of Luthorcorp (I’d prefer getting a mannish old woman for this role, but I fear they’ll want to keep a possessed Mercy).
Granny helps found Intergang in Season 9 while Desaad acts as head of Queen Industries, putting them down a much more military contract and weapons path. Clark spends the season taking down Intergang, while Oliver wrests control of his company back from Desaad, and after a finale confrontation involving boomtubes and hints of invasion, Orion appears to offer warnings of Darkseid’s coming.
Season 10 involves the reforming of the Justice League in anticipation of the Apokolipian invasion (not as easy as it might sound after the way in which they broke up) and the possession of General Lane by Darkseid himself. The stakes get higher as Darkseid positions is many pawns for the ultimate checkmate, even as Lois digs deeper and deeper and eventually uncovers her father behind the coming apocalypse. Orion guest stars along the way, having learned humility from Clark, as he tries to convince Highfather of Darkseid’s plot. Only after Kalibak foolishly comes to Earth in hopes of killing Clark, whose been so troublesome to Darkseid’s efforts, does Highfather investigate further. The furious Darkseid steps up the timetable of his plans and everything escalates to a mind-blowing last few episodes, Clark expelling Darkseid from General Lane, the Justice League and all past hero guest stars defending earth from the invasion, and Clark, now Superman, taking a boomtube to Apokolips itself to rescue Orion and put an end to Earth’s greatest threat.
After re-watching the first season, I can certainly see how far the show has come. Not entirely sold on Darkseid happening yet though, but then again, whoever guessed we'd ever see doomsday. I'd dig seeing Darkseid, but he'd need the Doomsday "guy in a suit/cg combo" to be cool in my own opinion. I think the monster channeling humans thing is just a bad excuse anymore for "it's not in our tv budget". But I think darkseid would or a smallville movie would be great for the serious and at least help it get some of the attention or recognition it deserves. If DC worked on investing more money into the series, fans would perhaps stop complaining their not getting another beat superman movie this year and instead catch on to the show. In any case, I think Smallville's at least found a good formula to sustain itself in the meantime. They seem to be modernizing the man of steel without totally killing it. If we're lucky, maybe after Clarks training he'll swap his Black getup for a red and blue one at the Metropolis goodwill.
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I tend to agree with the producers using that "not within our budget" excuse. They already used the "lining up with mythos" for why Doomsday didn't pay off.Hopefully Clark changes the colors of this new threads to the Superman colors by the end of the season.
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He's Gotta Fly!! It's Time!!
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Pleasant to hear C.C.H Pounder back in the role of Amanda and Daly as The Man of Steel, after George Newburn took over in Justice League. Allison Mack is a decent voice actress, too. Even though Metallo was a straight-up villain in the graphic novel, it was neat to see him in the role of bodyguard as opposed to reporter.
What the movie fails to capture from the source material is Jeph Loeb’s back-and-forth narrations between the World’s Finest. I have to call BS, the blow from Hawkman’s mace to The Dark Knight’s chin should’ve killed him. Where were the heroes when the economy went down the shitter? It seems unlikely things would be going as bad as the opener suggested with them around.
Lastly one nitpick, the military general’s impotence when dealing with Lex during the arrest was pathetic. Overall, it’s worth it to rent or buy.
Rating: 7
Look forward to Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths with Billy Baldwin as The Caped Crusader and James Woods as Owlman.
I enjoyed Bay’s Friday the 13th, this not so much. Aside from seeing the familar faces of Clancy Brown, Kyle Gallner, and Katie Cassidy, this preview did nothing for me. Jackie Earl Haley’s portrayal of The Springwood Slasher sounds like an impression of Robert Englund.
So Freddy is wrongfully accused for killing the children? That’s just so lame. Krueger is a bastard child not a sympathetic little nobody.
The show’s ninth season premiere has come. After the finale was a huge letdown, I had little to no expectations for this year. But it certainly was better than expected. Training with Jor-El was great to see on Clark’s end. Erica Durance once again brings her A game, being true to the character of Lois Lane. She literally puts her foot down on John Corben after kissing her and calls Oliver an obnoxious jackass.
I don’t like the producers retooling Zod for this time traveling arc that somehow involves Kandor. Callum Blue’s performance was okay, but this could crash and burn even faster than Davis’ “redemption”.
With this upcoming ends-justifies-the-means arc for the dumb blonde, Chloe is just another annoying bitch that’s sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Emil Hamilton should be running The Clocktow..oh I’m sorry The Watchtower, not her. Claiming the “Henry” incident as their mess was irksome, as was her go back in time and “fix” things plea, but the retort afterward was just pure ownage. Clark says no! Glad Lois didn’t fall to her whims, either. That just proves how irrelevant Allison Mack’s character has become to the series.
A word about the visions: Kal-El’s befriending his father’s enemy is just an act, Lois & Clark are together, and Chloe will again do something stupid that will make matters even worse. I still remain skeptical, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Rating: 7 1/2
Corben’s change into Metallo next week seems way too fast. Rob and I also think they should’ve kept him as the mercenary instead of a replacement reporter.
Rob’s Notes: As Nick said, they definitely should have kept Corben as a mercenary, but even as a reporter he showed the same sort of cocky suave. I liked the character and regret we only got to know him as a person for one episode, skipping over some crucial character development involving the loss of human senses, the struggle between man or machine, and his eventual going mad and obsessing over Superman, scratch that The Red-Blue Blur, scratch that the Blur. God I hate that name. Take the law suits and just call him Superman, dammit.
The show’s ninth season premiere has come. After the finale was a huge letdown, I had little to no expectations for this year. But it certainly was better than expected. Training with Jor-El was great to see on Clark’s end. Erica Durance once again brings her A game, being true to the character of Lois Lane. She literally puts her foot down on John Corben after kissing her and calls Oliver an obnoxious jackass.
I don’t like the producers retooling Zod for this time traveling arc that somehow involves Kandor. Callum Blue’s performance was okay, but this could crash and burn even faster than Davis’ “redemption”.
With this upcoming ends-justifies-the-means arc for the dumb blonde, Chloe is just another annoying bitch that’s sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Emil Hamilton should be running The Clocktow..oh I’m sorry The Watchtower, not her. Claiming the “Henry” incident as their mess was irksome, as was her go back in time and “fix” things plea, but the retort afterward was just pure ownage. Clark says no! Glad Lois didn’t fall to her whims, either. That just proves how irrelevant Allison Mack’s character has become to the series.
A word about the visions: Kal-El’s befriending his father’s enemy is just an act, Lois & Clark are together, and Chloe will again do something stupid that will make matters even worse. I still remain skeptical, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Rating: 7 1/2
Corben’s change into Metallo next week seems way too fast. Rob and I also think they should’ve kept him as the mercenary instead of a replacement reporter.
Rob’s Notes: As Nick said, they definitely should have kept Corben as a mercenary, but even as a reporter he showed the same sort of cocky suave. I liked the character and regret we only got to know him as a person for one episode, skipping over some crucial character development involving the loss of human senses, the struggle between man or machine, and his eventual going mad and obsessing over Superman, scratch that The Red-Blue Blur, scratch that the Blur. God I hate that name. Take the law suits and just call him Superman, dammit.
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