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bitch-a-la-mode · 5 years

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Okay this is a hella long rant, but ive been thinking about posting this for a long time and well,,,, yea,,,

You know what the overall problem that Into the Spider Verse brought to light in relation to the overall superhero genre (and animation as a whole)? Grown ups are afraid to watch an animated superhero movie out of fear of being called a baby or a weeb or something so the MCU was basically like “let’s make this into a billion dollar industry by making these interconnected live action movies” and people of all ages ate that shit up. From the get-go, comics and superheroes belonged to kids. They were a kids thing. And if you read or watched that stuff as an adult you were made fun of. These live actions were a marketing ploy of the grandest scheme and we all fell for it.

There are so many amazing animated superhero movies, Made with a fraction of a live action budget and with ten times the heart. Yes we all know into the spider verse, but what about:

- Batman: under the red hood

- Batman: mask of the phantasm

- All star Superman

- Batman beyond: return of the joker

- Big hero 6 (y’all forgot about this)

- The LEGO Batman movie

- Wonder Woman (the 2009 animated movie)

- Justice league: gods and monsters

- Teen titans: trouble in Tokyo

- Justice league: flashpoint paradox

- The Incredibles 1 and 2 (yes I’m counting them)

- Planet hulk

- Reign of the supermen

And this isn’t even including some very iconic superhero animated series (*cough cough* teen titans). Some of these films are so iconic they literally changed comic book lore (I’m looking at you, under the red hood). DC comics has a whole, interconnected animated movie universe that no one talks about (and is direct to video/streaming).

Animators are great at what they do, and superheroes are a thing that should and deserve to get animated. You can use all the special effects you want, but it has been proven time and time again that superheroes generally look better animated. They do complicated things that can’t be captured behind a green screen, and deserve an artist’s hand. Even worse, the only animation people take seriously these days is CGI, because it looks the most “realistic”, aka the most like a live action, even though spider verse looked the least realistic and was the most visually appealing in my opinion. And even sometimes, we respect (or claim it acceptable to like) ridiculously “edgy” adult animation like South Park, family guy, or similar shows (y’all know the kinds im talking about).

However, this all goes back to two things: 1) the west has bullied adults into hating animated movies/shows because we equate them with being “childish” and 2) marvel and other industries practically egged this on so they can make these billion dollar movies and get even more billions back in revenue. The reasons spider verse is so highly regarded is because 1) Sony did SO MUCH to get that movie the credit it deserved, 2) people had been begging for a miles morales Spiderman movies for YEARS, 3) the creators held themselves up to such high standards (which can surely be about the whole diversity in media aspect and minority movies needing to be perfect, but lets ignore that for now, and 4) it was tied into the “highly regarded” MCU, so many fans looked beyond their prejudice and saw the movie, witnessing how phenomenal it was.

If we applied this to other animated superhero movies (or animated movies in general) then animation would get the respect it deserves. I feel like in this day and age, we only care about Disney’s most highly anticipated animated film of the year (which is almost always a Disney princess movie or a sequel to an older Disney animated movie). And even then, Disney has disrespected the art of animation by going and remaking their classics into live actions for various reasons. We can argue the legal implications of copyright, but the big thing is that those animated films were GOOD, and Disney thought it would be a good idea to squeeze more money out of people in addition to claiming “why watch the original, silly animated film when you can watch the real, serious, live action”.

Animators are not respected, and its sad to see because some of the most beautiful and memorable ideas were made through animation. And sometimes, people won’t respect animation as “art” because it doesn’t look “good”, even though their might be various reasons for that (such as budgeting since only mega corporations will kind of pay well for animation, awful scheduling because “draw fast so we can churn out this new product, and so many other factors). Look at stuff like avatar the last Airbender, cowboy bebop, carmen San Diego, and others. Amazing stories with phenomenal (or memorable) art. And sometimes, animation doesnt even have to be so amazingly well designed for it to be good. Shows like freaking bobs burgers, and kids shows like phineas and ferb have been heralded as amazing shows with great plots and yet the designs are simple, with a focus on other aspects like plot and characters (on another note, I think some voice actors are better than live action actors tbh).

But again, we dont respect this genre and this art the way that we should (at least in the west), and I think thats so sad. Yes there are people who respect it, but the overall consensus in mainstream American society (at least from what ive seen) is that animation is for kids, and nothing can ever be as good as something “real”, even though that marvel movie you just saw was once a comic, a drawing, an animation. But whatever.

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fightevilandthengetblownup · 5 years

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Chats: Jo+Anna

(for lexy)

FIRST ONE: When Anna had her cast, and basically is the girls just talking about their sexlives/the guys’ turn ons according to them?!?!

<Jo> Yep yep!

<Jo> Anna and Gray talking and threats on genitalia FTW

<Anna> LOL

<Jo> *feels so bad for Gray and Anna right now*

<Anna> lol

<Anna> the make up sex will be amazing

<Jo> Lol most definitely

<Jo> Gray is trying to get Jo and Grey to fuck currently

<Anna> o.O

<Jo> Because he’s trying to live vicariously through Grey

<Jo> Cause Anna is injured

<Jo> And they are in the midst of needing make up sex

<Anna> *dying*

<Anna> *had not heard this*

<Jo> Lol it was happening last night

<Anna> LOL

<Anna> Gray went from not much sex to getting it with Anna and now he’s back to no sex

<Jo> LOL where as Grey has gone from all the sex to no sex for four months, to once a month-every other month with Jo though its coming up to the two month bracket again.

<Anna> LOL

<Jo> So Gray is trying to get his brother laid since he seemingly has realised he can just go have sex when he wants

<Anna> *crying*

<Jo> XD

<Jo> Its highly amusing

<Anna> I love it

<Jo> Sadly Grey is rejecting suggestions. Though there was a five minute discussion of Gray’s random shouts of “PITY BLOW JOBS” when Grey and Jo talk

<Anna> “you need to get laid..” “why” “because my gf is an idiot and i’m cut off”…“still not explaining why I need to get laid…”

<Jo> Lol accurate

<Anna> I support this

<Jo> lololol I’m pretty sure the only one who doesnt support it is Grey.

<Anna> “you know, you should have sex with Gray”

<Jo> “… What?!”

<Anna> “Grey, you and he should have sex.”

<Jo> “We..do have sex? Sometimes… Occasionally. ….Why are you saying that?” (God misspell almost killed Jo)

<Anna> (crying)

<Anna> *Anna shrugs* “Someone should be getting some around here.”

<Jo> “I cant really disagree with you there, but I’d have thought you’d be seeing just what can and cant be done with what happened to your leg rather than suggesting me and Grey fuck.”

<Anna> “Not sure Gray is talking to me enough right now for the suggestion of sex..”

<Jo> “Oh? Well thats not normal. I’d figure he’d jump at the chance for a lay even if he was mad at you. The hatesex is kind of great, and its a good form of apology really.”

<Jo> (Im going to have to nip off and hcange rooms in a few minutes but I’m keeping saving so we’ll continue when I get back when I do? Cause this is just too amusing.)

<Anna> *Anna snorts* “Not sure if you’ve noticed but Gray and Grey are a lot more a like than they want to admit. He treats me like glass right now. It’s why you and Grey should go for it, see if he’s taken a rougher turn.”

<Anna> (kk!)

<Jo> *Jo bites down on her lip to stop from laughing, nodding* “Okay yeah, theyre sort of alike in that respect. Though I’m pretty sure the rougher turn would be unlikely, he’s still walking on eggshells after a fight of ours among other things - not that I wouldnt welcome it or /anything/ really.”

<Anna> *Anna laughs some* “Take advantage of what turns him on. Like, just do something that pushes his buttons.”

<Anna> (brb fast)

<Jo> (kk!)

<Jo> “Unlike you, I cant really whip out the whips and dirty talk to get an auto-okay.” *Jo grins, shaking her head with a sigh* “I’m still amused youre encouraging this, but I guess I know some things that I could do - though I dont think it’d get the reaction youre thinking”

<Anna> *Anna blushes* “It’s not that easy with Gray but it definatly helps to push his buttons. I mean there isn’t one thing that Grey likes that he can’t resist if you do it?”

<Jo> “Oh really? I’d have thought with how… sex-obsessed he’s been talking lately I would have thought it might be.” *She smiles wider at Anna’s blush before turning reddish herself, smirking wider as she talks* “Theres.. his neck. I guess. I mean, if it can get him in the mood in the middle of a zombie flick, it must be pretty good, right?”

<Anna> “So then just put in his favorite movie and the go for the throat.” *Anna grins at Jo’s own blush with a raised brow.* “And it’s good to know Gray is missing sex.”

<Jo> “I’d think a movie he /doesnt/ like would work better. The potential for being turned down in favor of a lightsabre battle is not something I want to comprehend. Gray keeps suggesting I give his brother pity blowjobs. If he’s trying to get someone else laid, I’d guess he’s blueballing pretty bad.” *Jo rubs at the back of her neck, giving an awkward laugh originally, getting slightly redder*

<Anna> “Oh I’m so glad Gray is easier. I mean, just a lil dirty talk and telling him how I want to be f…erm..what I want to try and he’s pretty much ready to go.” *Anna looks away trying to not smirk at the thought of Gray telling Jo to give Grey pity blowjobs* “And I would have to hurt him if I was ever passed over for a movie.”

<Jo> “Like I say, it’s pretty much the neck, no talking required. Though I guess I could understand turning up sex for the trash compactor scene.” *Jo laughs, obviously joking before giving Anna a curious look* “So I guess you tend to suggest a fair few ideas? Anything unexpectedly good?”

<Anna> “Well, turn the movie on, let him find it, sit down watching and then attack the neck from behind.” *Anna runs her hand through her hair and she just gives a small shrug.* “Well, there’s been some good ones. I kind of spent the day reading smut stories to learn how to talk dirty because that isn’t something we are taught you know as an angel.”

<Jo> “Generally we just end up curled up on the couch with a movie, its not to hard to just turn my head if I want to actually.” *Anna explaining her reading up makes Jo snicker* “Dirty talk is not that hard, though I guess maybe for you.. Those things are good for ideas though.”

<Anna> *Anna just gives Jo a dirty look but then grins* “Oh shut up I wasn’t born or raised in a barn..or bar in your case and even as a human it was a church. I think that’s why he likes it so much.”

<Jo> “Naughty catholic girl. …You haven’t tried out schoolgirl outfits on him yet have you, because I think that might break him.” *Jo continues snickering, pinning Anna with a curious look*

<Anna> *Anna blinks having never thought of that and then grins blushing* “Not yet but I just might now, any chance you could get one for me? And one for yourself, we could see what they do if we both show up in them.”

<Jo> *Jo flushes brightly, shaking her head at Anna rapidly* “No! No no, I.. this has been a discussion before in jest, and just no. Mainly because while I’m sure Gray would be distracted by the appeal of it, Grey can do a disturbingly good looking teacher act. But I could find one for you, easy.”

<Anna> “Oh come on. You with your hair up in pigtails could easily be bend over Grey’s lap.” *Anna is starting to laugh as she can’t get the mental image out of her mind now. “I’m sure you could think of a hundred things you’ve done to be a bad girl.”

<Jo> *If it were possible she was sure she was blushing more, tryng not to laugh at Anna’s comments as the image pops into her head* “You’re saying that like you wouldnt just be eaten up even quicker by Gray if you showed up in braids and some red tartan skirt, white shirt and a tie he could wrap your wrists in. That, and he wouldn’t play along, just go right for your panties.”

<Anna> “Who would be wearing panties?” *Anna chokes on her laughter as she wipes her face, eyes starting to water as she laughs.* “Oh hell..How did we get to talking about this again? I mean you and Grey are the ones needing to get laid. What about naughty secretery? White button up shirt, black pencil skirt, heels, no bra and your hair up in a bun?”

<Jo> “Easy, you and Gray have a lot more sex, even when you’re fighting!” *Jo rubs at her cheeks, feeling like they were almost on fire as she looks back at Anna with a grin and a shake of her head* “I think I’d have better luck walking about in a Superman tshirt and nothing else, honestly. Though I should probably invest in some /actual/ lingerie some day.”

<Anna> “So then awkard nerd? There’s a halloween shop in town I’m sure you can find the Princess Leia slave bikini.” *Anna is trying hard to say this is a straight face and she’s failing miserably as she holds her stomach nearly doubling over in laughter at this point.*

<Jo> *Jo lets out a squeak of laughter before shoving her hand across her mouth, shaking her head as Anna cracks up* “Oh god! You didn’t get that from turning down for a jedi fight?! Still, lord, I don’t think there is any place but a convention that anyone could pull that off.”

<Anna> “Or maybe you could be his communications officer and he could be your captain.” *Anna lays back in the bed, she can’t breath now as Jo squeeks and talks about being turned down for a jedi fight.* “It’s a convention for two in your bedroom..”

<Jo> *If she wasnt already laughing, Jo was certain she would be at that, clutching onto the end of the bed to keep herself upright* “This is where you start making Billie Piper jokes and suggest painting the bedroom doorway blue as well.”

<Anna> *Anna puts her hand over her mouth, she’s trying to not scream the mental image of Grey and Jo playing Doctor hits her.* “I dare you get to a vibrator and tell Grey he forgot his sonic screwdriver.*

<Jo> *Its what cracks her, dropping to her knees and clutching her ribs as she laughs, before clawing her way to stand after a thought comes to her* "I guess I know what his Tardis is then - cause it’s bigger on the inside of his pants.”

<Anna> *Anna can feel the tears running down her face as she laughs. She wants to ask if that’s the control stick and did he have to press as many button on her as he did the Tardis to get a rise but she can’t make the words form around the laughter.*

<Jo> *It takes a few minutes before Jo has control enough of herself to be able to breathe properly, wiping at her eyes* “Okay, so… I should work on my english accent and find you a schoolgirl outfit.” *she swallows down a laugh as she speak, still rubbing at her eyes and gasping for breath occasionally*

<Anna> “Yes.” *Anna is slowly starting to get her breath and she’s sure her face is as red as Jo’s face right now.*

<Jo> *Stiffling herself from laughing again, Jo cocks a hip to the side and gives Anna and her casted leg a look* “Maybe a cheerleader outfit would work better, claim you got a sports injury.”

<Anna> *Anna looks down at the hard cast they put on her yesterday and she shakes her head.* “I was thinking more of telling him I had been a bad girl and needed to go to the principles office.” *Once again she’s in a fit of giggles.*

<Jo> “Watch out, he might think about bringing in corporal punishment on your unpantied ass.” *Jo gives a snicker, covering her mouth with a hand*

<Anna> *Anna tries to say something but the nurse comes in giving both girls a look, having heard the last part of Jo’s conversation, saying Anna can do whatever she wants as long as she doesn’t put any weight on that leg and Anna pulls the pillow over her head dying*

<Jo> *Jo waits until the woman is out of the room before saying offhandedly* “Pretty sure being on someone’s lap counts as not putting weight down”

<Anna> *Anna snorts laughing* “On…Across..same difference right?”

<Jo> “Across is a lot more comfortable in that situation” *Smirking slightly, Jo waggles an eyebrow at Anna*

<Anna> “Don’t you have to go pick out a zombie movie and molest a neck?” *Anna grins shooing Jo off, getting her composure back as she smiles, glad for Jo being here*

<Jo> *Jo laughs, pulling a slightly smug face and shrugging a shoulder* “I’ll let you know how it goes then. Try not to spoil the treat until I can get you the props, Anna, or else you really will have been a naughty, naughty girl.”

<Anna> “Oh go get laid!” *Anna laughs as Jo leaves, missing Gray and hoping he won’t treat her like she will break when she gets out.“

SECOND ONE: Jo and Grey had hooked up and then Jo annoyed Anna to death

<Anna> Anna is now …grumbling…

<Jo> Oh..?

<Anna> “well I’m glad someone finally got some” /sarcasm

<Jo> “You were all for it, don’t go bitchin’ cause I get laid and you don’t. I fully support your right to fuck too though” headdeskingatJoandherhappymood

<Anna> *Anna looks at Jo’s perky attitude this morning and shakes her head.* “I almost think I prefer Ruby and that scalpel.”

<Jo> “You say that, but you really don’t mean that.” *Jo smiles back at Anna widely* “That’s going to suck for a long while, while this is just going to be painful til you get some too. Which might be a while.”

<Anna> “Oh shut up..I’ve already tried and been shut down.” *Anna rolls her eyes at the fact this is the best mood that Jo’s been in for ages.*

<Jo> “/That/ sucks. Seriously, I know exactly how bad that sucks.” *Attempting to look sincerely sorry for the other was hard as she keeps trying to smile from the lack of tension and stress running through her* “I’m surprised though really.”

<Anna> *Anna watches Jo’s attempt and fail at a serious expression and she rolls her eyes with shake of her head.* “Tell Grey he’s bad for your poker face.”

<Jo> “Oh come off, I’m not really trying.” *Jo snorts, covering her mouth with a hand before quirking an eyebrow upward* “I’m sure you would have as hard a time as I am in my position.”

<Anna> “Uh huh, right now you couldn’t bluff your way out of a game with a blind man.” *Anna chuckles watching Jo, amusing now at the snort.*

<Jo> *Jo shakes her head in embarrassment before laughing* “Yeah okay, shut up, it’d been a while okay?”

<Anna> “And just what position was you in that put you in that good a mood?” *Anna sits back crossing her arms over her chest watching Jo*

<Jo> “Lets say, I was a little shocked I could get out of bed on my own two feet. We bested our record of.. well, you know.” *Biting down on her lip and waggling an eyebrow, Jo smiles back at the other*

<Anna> *Anna can’t help but hate Jo right now a bit as she laughs.* “Well I’m glad someone got something around here. If I didn’t think it would just piss him off I would circle the bed in iron till Gray gets it through his head he isn’t going too break me.”

<Jo> “I’d offer to help beating that over his head, but I’m pretty sure my own mood and the fact he generally wants to kill me might make that a little hard” *Jo laughs along, reaching to rub at the back of her neck with one hand*

<Anna> “Yes because if he takes his sexual frustrations out on your ass..I am never getting laid again.” *Anna sits there still sulking some but enjoying Jo’s good mood.*

<Jo> “If anything, I think talking to me might make him more frustrated from the kind of no-kill warning .” *Shrugging a shoulder, Jo moves around to the other side of the bed, hopping into the furthest corner down near Anna’s feet* “I could always go hurry up that schoolgirl outfit for you. Claim that he should punish you for running off?”

<Anna> *Anna can’t help but turn red but it might get Gray motivated.* “Yes you should, because if that doesn’t get him then I’m doomed."And then I can blame it all one you when he gets over it.” *Anna sits up shaking her head at Jo.* “Because you’re such a bad influence on me. Coming over and telling me of your sexual conquest.”

<Jo> “You’re going to blame me for your sex life to his face? That might be a few extra spanks.” *Jo lets out a loud laugh, shaking her head and brushing her hair back over her shoulder* “I dont think I needed to even say anything. Like you say, he ruined my pokerface and if that didn’t work I’m sure I have a hickey or two or something like it somewhere. Maybe. I don’t know, Grey doesn’t like marking”

<Anna> “I don’t think what Gray does would be considered hickies.* "Anna chuckles, knowing how much her boy likes to bite. "So is Grey a biter too? Or is that just Gray?”

<Jo> “No, what your guy does is /definitely/ not considered hickies.” *Shifting in her spot, she rubs a hand against her neck, grinning back at Anna* “And no, not in the same way at all but theres definitely teeth action in some spots.”

<Anna> *Anna laughs* “Good think Ellen is a few states over then, you don’t have to worry about covering them up around your mom.”

<Jo> “They’re not exactly anywhere that would be visible unless I was walking around without pants.” *Jo’s grin widens out into a smirk, almost laughing again*

<Anna> “And with you that is a total possibility.” *Anna laughs* “

<Jo> "Possible, but unlikely. ‘least without my being able to cover them with a shirt until I could get the pants back on.”

<Anna> “You know I did notice you walking a lil funny when you came in. Gimped through sex, that’s an achievement Joanna Beth.” *Anna teases her smirking*

<Jo> *Jo flushes brightly, crossing her legs under herself with an attempt at a pissy look* “Like I say, we beat our record. Grey has a thing about one upping himself, which I really am never going to discourage if thats what happens.”

<Anna> *Anna laughs and she sits up more smirking at Jo with an evil amusement.* “I can’t wait till he tries to beat a 24 hour record then because then I’ll know not to panic when you come in a week later walking bowlegged”

<Jo> “He says we can’t just stay in bed because of chaffing, so I’m hoping that’d stop the bowleggedness. Maybe.” *Jo ducks her head down, rubbing a hand against her inner thigh where she can already feel a slightly sore bruise coming through* “Either that, or I’ll just say in bed until the walk is back to normal.”

<Anna> “There maybe nothing normal ever again about your walk if Grey continues a life of beating his own records.” *Anna’s enjoying this far more than she wants to admit, watching Jo look uncomfortable.* “I’m glad Gray doesn’t have that quirk.”

<Jo> “Ah, but not all of what we do will effect my walking, Anna. I’m not the only one who’ll get on my knees.” *Jo flushes brightly, smiling wickedly as she says it knowing Anna’ll probably make a comment but not really caring* “I’ll take getting pleased more and more over what kinks Gray /does/ have.”

<Anna> *Anna raises a brow at Jo and shrugs* “It may not all be just /his/ kinks. And while he might not get on his knees..he’s very good with other parts of his body.” *Running a hand through her hair she looks at the time* “So how soon can you ahve that outfit here?”

<Jo> “Preaching to the choir, Anna.” *Jo shakes her head, looking at Anna curiously before laughing* “I could get it today if I had the right incentive to do so, like you say, there is a costume shop further in city.”

<Anna> *Anna can’t believe she’s saying this but needs to snap Gray out of this mentality that she’s glass right now.* “And just what is the right incentive?”

<Jo> “You tell him I need to speak with him /without/ him laying a hand on me, and I’ll go pick you up one. I have something I need to discuss with him.” *Jo shrugs a shoulder, smiling slightly at Anna actually asking and feeling sort of bad for her through the happy haze*

<Anna> “I’ll tell him but what are you wanting to talk to him about?” *Anna looks curously at Jo, wondering what the other woman could want to say to Gray.“

<Jo> *Shaking her head, Jo pulls a slight face before running a hand through her hair* "Nothing too important, just a follow up to a conversation we had a while ago.”

<Anna> “Uh huh. Just don’t kill each other.” *Anna runs her hand through her hair, she trusts them both but she doesn’t want the fragile peace to end.*

<Jo> “Well, I’ll go get that for you, I’ll get Sophie to bring it up so you can get ready in peace without him potentially popping in on me around, yeah?” *Jo hops up of the bed, wincing slightly to herself before grinning brightly* “You just remember to ask that somewhere in there, okay?”

<Anna> “Anna laughs watching Jo move awkwardly without her usual grace* "Uh huh, and you might want to go soak in a hot tub or you won’t make a second round anytime in the next few weeks.”

<Jo> “I’ll keep that in mind.” *Jo rubs the back of her neck in embarrassment before ducking out the door heading out to keep her end of the bargain with a laugh*

#yay chatlogs

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captainshazamerica · 3 years

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Yeah it's the same anon 💜 dude my apologies for the amount of crap I've spewed in your ask box but in my defense no one I know gives a shit about batfam or gotham rogues or Alfred (I've gushed here about alfreds fabulousness too opps) anndd I partly blame you for me falling back into the titans trap cuz s1 was meh I forgot I even watched s2 😅 then I seen some titans stuff on your blog and boom my brain latched onto it and now here I am experiencing maternal fear for my son jason 😢you are 1000% right this jason is PERFECTION as robin like actual perfection I dunno why but I thought this robin was like 16? So I was thinkin how tf is 16/17 yo supposed to be redhood!? It work in comics/cartoon but live action 16 y/o redhood seems meh I kinda want the lazarus pit just I freakin want TALIA but I don't think that's gonna happen I dunno

Tbh (this may be biased) but I think the Gotham tv show is literally the best dc comics adaptation of anything ever! it is superior to all thier shows movies animations and the arrowverse at least in my books lol

Tumblr is my only form of 'social media' and I don't keep up with updates or anything about shows cuz I like to pretend the fiction is real and I don't want reality wrecking that for me like hahahaa so I had no clue about timmy or babs but I'm so happy

DUDE YES this is literally the only time I can see bruce ever killing the joker on screen aww please I want it so bad I mean they probably won't but they should cuz this is the only capacity in which batman can kill the joker live action like if down the line somewhere on another show/movie bruce killed joker he prob wouldn't be dead dead or they'd bring him back some way so the kill wouldn't even matter but old bruce killing the joker because he's finally had enough he's old now, jasons death finished him and he's not gonna be batman anymore it's a nice end for batman and the joker, it's the only way we'll ever get this end cuz like you said they'll never have the balls to permanently kill joker any other way in live action everything is aligning perfectly for this to happen so dang dc just freakin let it happen c'mon

Yo whose your first fav rogue? Is it riddler? I feel like mines riddler haven't really thought much about whose my fav gotham rogue but I'd probably say riddler, I prefer the central city rogues but the Gotham rogues are just pure chaos and I'm living for that hahaa

I'd rather superheros/vigilantes/villians in live action not have relationship drama just put them in a relationship or dont like I came for the action and weird super shit not the ordinary relationship drama thankfully titans seem to be doing okay in this aspect I do quite like dickkory a lot but I mean in the supergirl show ughhh I was like I came here for the flying and the dope laser eyes I don't give a shit about her getting a boyfriend like seriously whyyy

My brain decides to jump about obsessing over characters like one week Kory is my wife next week detective grayson is my husband and I AM NIGHTWING then my brain is like no Barbara kean is wifey just basically fictionally I'm married to everyone 😅

Yikes this was so long sorry girl

Omg, pls don't apologize! I get so dang excited whenever i get an ask, yours always make my day, you don't even know! Like same about no one i know caring about dc/batfam! And talking to someone about it is so much better than yelling into the wind here on a text post that no one reads xD Don't stop sending your asks whenever you wanna dump your feels/talk about dc/batfam omg.

And Im so proud I got you into this Titans spiral xD My work here is done hahahaha. But yes, I feel like his looking so young for red hood over shadows how great his jason robin performance was! Love seeing him get that recognition! But yeah, the age is def off, like I cant remember how old they said he was in the show, maybe 16? but too young for red hood in live action form. Like its hard cause in reality 16 year olds and 19 year old boys typically don't look too different, for the most part, while comics you can get get away with it more. Huh, yeah, it doesn't seem like Talia is gonna happen, maybe just maybe a cameo or something? Cause we also weren't expecting joker but here we are(tho it almost looks like he wont be a big plot point/even see him much, it almost looks like it is just showing how brutal gotham is? But like its just the trailer and doesnt always give the full picture so who knows!)

Omg YES about Gotham! I 1000% agree! Im also biased cause its what got me into batman, again like exactly a year ago! It got me into the world like no other media of dc had before!(well, Shazam did, i guess tech thats the start of my interest in dc/first time i read the comics, but gotham is what really got me into this spiral). I hate how much hate it gets, like yeah its not perfect and they took creative liberties obviously, but i 100% agree that its the best adoption of DC yet! 100%! Its so nice to see the characters and rogues fleshed out more. I feel like it successfully did what Nolan tried to do in terms of making it dark and realistic, but in a way that was more accurate and true to the comics! I wish it wasn’t canceled so early and thus the last season had to be so rushed :(

thats smart, i typically dont look for spoilers and stuff anymore but I just got so hyper focused that I had to look at least what the stars were putting out on social media, but yeah, i use to get so caught up in all that that it took the fun out of seeing it live.

Oh my gosh, that would seriously be the PERFECT end to batman and joker story in this universe omg. Amen about all that! And like it would hopefully show Jason how much he cares? So maybe Bruce would kill him after red hood emerges? It will be interesting to see hat causes Jason to be so dang pissed in this version.

ahaha yes riddler is my fav! (my header gave it away didn’t it xD) I love most Riddlers but ESPECIALLY gotham riddler, Ed is like one of my fav character of all time. Oooh, I don’t know central city rogues all that well(well, way more than Metropolis rogues, I know so little about superman world), like I know some from the first 3 and a half seasons of the flash (I watched a couple years ago but got busy with school and couldn’t keep up and just never caught up/didnt have motivation to finish(plus i forgot so much id have to rewatch everything again), but I saw they finally just introduced Bart Allen, so I have have to randomly jump back in for a bit cause Bart is one of my favsss), and the ones in the cartoons and stuff

Ha! true, i dont mind it when its for character development or if I happen to be super into the ship(like Nygmakins in Gotham omg, I know they are super unpopular but they are like one of my OTPs omg), I feel like it has to be balanced right/not too much focus on the drama of the relationship over everything else. Like a minor subplot is good but don’t make it the focus of the show. And yeah , supergirl never appealed to me cause of that reason! i like drama and not JUST action (I like psychological drama, as long as there is comfort to follow xD) but yea i get what u mean by too much relationship focus . I think, for the most part, Gotham did that pretty well.

omg i love the disaster bi vibes you are giving off xD But omg I feel the jumping around thing so much ahaha. Like right now the 4 robins are constantly on rotation on who I’m obsessing over at the moment tbh xD

Omg mine responses are just as long, don’t apologize!!!! <333333333333333

#long post #anon #meredith gets an ask #ask #meredith thoughts #rambling #batman #batfam #gotham #titans #fan theories #speculation #titans speculation #predictions

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spynotebook · 5 years

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Age Of HeroesWith Age Of Heroes, Tom Breihan picks the most important superhero movie of every year, starting with the genre’s early big-budget moments and moving onto the multiplex-crushing monsters of today.

“The Marvel Universe has gone nuts; we’re going to have a fricking Captain America movie if we’re not careful.” This was Zack Snyder speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2008. Every once in a while, that quote finds itself recirculated online, evidence of Snyder’s philistine ideas about superhero movies and what a misguided idea it was for DC to recruit him to attempt to replicate the Marvel Universe’s success. (Another Snyder line from that same breath: “And Iron Man—$300 million domestic box office on a second-tier superhero!”)

It’s unfair to Snyder to use that quote out of context. If you read the whole interview, Snyder is, if anything, excited about Marvel’s success, if only because it proves that “pop culture is just, like, so ready for Watchmen,” the movie that he was promoting in that interview. (Note: Pop culture was not.) Snyder was simply showing his own surprise about how quickly and completely superhero movies had taken over, something that would only snowball in the years after that. Also, that Captain America movie was already in development when Snyder said what he said, and Snyder probably already knew that. (The whole Snyder interview is, however, a deeply entertaining and insane historical document. Dismissing the idea that Batman Begins is a dark movie, Snyder notes that Batman “doesn’t, like, get raped in prison. That could happen in my movie. If you want to talk about dark, that’s how that would go.” Eight years later, Snyder would make a Batman movie that did not feature Batman getting raped in prison.)

Here’s the thing: Even if Snyder had been dismissing the idea of a Captain America movie, he would’ve been totally right. Before there was a Captain America movie, there was no evidence that a Captain America movie would ever work, on any level. The entire idea of Captain America—a square-jawed avatar of everything great about the US of A, a guy who intentionally makes himself look like a big flag—seemed almost hopelessly hokey and anachronistic in 2008, when Snyder said what he said. There was nothing dark or gritty or sexy or intense about Captain America. He was a symbol of a time that never existed—an advocate for the greatness of a country that, at least on a geopolitical scale, has long been a globally dominant hegemon rather than a scrappy and idealistic underdog. Even Captain America, the comic book hero, wasn’t so sure about Captain America, the symbol of American pride. In a ’70s comic book storyline, Steve Rogers, disgusted after learning of governmental evil, had briefly forsaken his own identity, instead becoming a costumed adventurer named Nomad. If Captain America himself wasn’t so sure about Captain America, how could Hollywood be?

The 1990 Captain America movie had been such an outright catastrophic failure that it just barely got released. In the years after that, internal debates about America’s role in the world had only heated up. A Captain America movie could’ve gone wrong in so many different ways. It could’ve gotten caught up in post-9/11 Toby Keith jingoism. It could’ve played out as a goofy parody, a broad satire of Dudley Do-Right postwar heroism. It could’ve been another crappy, interchangeable Fantastic Four-level superhero movie, just with more shots of billowing flags. Instead, Captain America: The First Avenger turned out to be the movie that, at least from where I’m sitting, ultimately made the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe experiment work. It took some unbelievably skillful needle-threading to make it happen, but the people at Marvel managed to turn Cap, the personification of corniness, into something like a beloved cinematic icon, the soul upon which all of the MCU rests.

There was groundwork. A new Captain America movie had been in the planning stages since 1997; lawsuits and financial issues had stalled it. When the project finally got going, Marvel had done a few interesting things with the character. Ed Brubaker had built a complex and masterful noirish espionage saga around Cap in his Winter Soldier storyline, while Mark Millar’s blockbuster Civil War event had delighted in its depiction of Steve Rogers as an inspiring and charismatic leader and as someone who would defy his own government if he thought it were straying from the country’s true ideals. (In both Millar’s book and in the Civil War movie that eventually came out of it, Cap is wrongheaded and shortsighted, but that’s an argument for another day.) Captain America: The First Avenger only alludes to those comic book visions of the character, which later movies would explore more thoroughly. But if you were actually reading comics at the time, it was clear that Captain America, in the right hands, could be a layered and fascinating character.

Ultimately, the movie works because Marvel hired the right people. Director Joe Johnston was a longtime journeyman with an inconsistent record and at least a few genuinely bad movies on his résumé. (Shout-out to 2010’s The Wolfman.) But he was also a veteran special-effects guy who’d worked on Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark, which means he was comfortable with the levels of visual trickery needed to make a story like that work. And with his own 1991 movie The Rocketeer, he’d nailed exactly the kind of old-timey adventure-serial energy that a Captain America movie would need. (He even had powered-up Nazi villains.) It’s hard to imagine anyone more qualified for the job.

It’s also hard to imagine a better Captain America than Chris Evans. Evans had already been around the superhero-movie block before taking the role. He’d done what he could as a devil-may-care playboy version of the Human Torch in two near-unbearable Fantastic Four movies. He’d been a superpowered test-subject mutant at war with shadowy governmental agencies in 2009’s misbegotten Push. He’d lampooned his own absurd handsomeness in the superhero-adjacent Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. He’d never really had much chance to be anything other than a life-size Ken doll. But he had a depth to him, and with Captain America, he finally got the chance to show it.

Evans had to be convinced to take the Captain America role, and he’s always hinted at a little discomfort with it. But he’s perfect. He’s warm and friendly and inspiring—all the things that Captain America is supposed to be. He spends so much of The First Avenger as a scrawny weakling—a special effect much more convincing than it probably should’ve been—that he has to find non-physical ways to project his own idealistic determination. And he does it. The sight of digitally shrunk Chris Evans refusing to back down after a beating from a movie-theater heckler—fists clenched, jaw bloodied, “I could do this all day”—remains one of the most indelible images that the MCU has given us. When he finally does balloon out to superhuman proportions, we’re already on his side. Throughout the movie, he struggles against his own propaganda utility, fervently and innocently trying to get out into the field and help his comrades.

Like Christopher Reeve’s Superman, Evans radiates genuine Boy Scout virtue, and he comes off as an anachronism even in the ’40s. The movie doesn’t joke about him or make him an object of fun. Instead, the movie is just as gee-whiz idealistic about Captain America as Captain America is about America. Even a hint of acid, sarcastic self-consciousness could’ve sunk the movie. In Evans, it has none.

Johnston and the producers built an impressive cast around Evans. As Agent Peggy Carter, Hayley Atwell brings a clipped Katharine Hepburn precision that’s enormously appealing. (The short-lived Agent Carter ABC spinoff, which kept that First Avenger tone intact, remains Marvel’s greatest TV project.) The grumpy authority figure is just Tommy Lee Jones playing Tommy Lee Jones. As Cap’s buddy Bucky, Sebastian Stan is a pleasant slab of beef, which is all he needs to be. Stanley Tucci has fun as the good-guy version of a mad-scientist character.

The only real weak point in the movie’s cast is Hugo Weaving, whose Red Skull has less fleshed-out humanity than Agent Smith, the computer program that Weaving played in the Matrix movies. Even Red Skull’s motivations are muddy. He tells Cap, his fellow super-serum test subject, that he’s “too afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind,” like a K-Mart-brand Magneto. Also: “I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!” I don’t know, that sounds pretty good, though it would presumably sound better if a muscle-faced fascist sorcerer wasn’t the one invoking it. (The Red Skull doesn’t even get a satisfying end. When he showed up in a quick surprise cameo in Avengers: Infinity War, I’d completely forgotten that he’d been sucked into a wormhole or whatever. It happens so quickly that you barely process it.)

The movie’s version of ’40s America is a blast. Many of the characters are just as gung-ho as Cap himself. When a HYDRA agent tries to slow Cap down by throwing a little kid into the Hudson, the kid squawks, “Go get ’im! I can swim!” Natalie Dormer, a year away from becoming Margaery Tyrell on Game Of Thrones, gives Cap a big situation-complicating smooch because she likes that he saved a bunch of guys (and also, presumably, because he looks like Chris Evans). In a quick montage after Cap’s apparent death, we see all of America uniting behind him as a martyr and a legend. It’s a comforting vision of a better, simpler version of America.

It’s probably too comforting. The movie only barely alludes to racial inequality in America. When Cap puts together his crack team of commandos, they’re a rainbow coalition, and nobody acts like that’s weird. I wasn’t around in the ’40s, but given what I know, that seems unlikely. I think the movie might’ve been more effective if Cap had seen and wrestled with America’s failures. The same is true of the ravages of warfare. None of the soldiers ever seem freaked out or traumatized. Instead, they just charge into battle, oblivious to their friends disintegrating all around them. (If the Red Skull’s magical weapons didn’t allow for bloodless, PG-13 death, some of those skirmishes would’ve looked like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan.)

In the movie’s second half, when it turns toward action, The First Avenger becomes a pretty generic (though well-done) superhero punch-up. A lot of the storytelling is clumsy and inelegant. At one point, Cap is suddenly in a motorcycle chase with Nazis, with no real setup and little indication of why he’s there. Most of the fight scenes are too CGI-heavy to be truly great, and a few of the effects scenes, like Bucky’s fall from the train, just look like ass. The big finale, when Cap wakes up in a decades-later New York City, is clearly just setup for the next movie, which means The First Avenger can never really stand as its own cohesive story. It’s not a perfect movie. There are real flaws.

But it’s also an elegant piece of myth-building, and small connections to the rest of Marvel enrich the whole world we’re seeing take shape. We meet Tony Stark’s father, a tycoon adventurer who connects the dots between Howard Hughes (who Johnston had depicted in The Rocketeer) and Stark himself. HYDRA science worm Arnim Zola first shows up as a face on a screen, a role he’ll grow into. Before getting his iconic shield, which honestly looks pretty great, Cap fashions one for himself out of a trash-can lid and a ripped-off car door. Marvel wouldn’t bring all its characters together for another year, but little touches like this make it a fuller experience.

Captain America: The First Avenger was a hit, but it wasn’t a huge one. It wasn’t one of the top 10 grossers of 2011; the same year’s decidedly shittier MCU entry, Thor, made more money. And yet it’s a crucial movie for the MCU, since it showed just how much fun this whole Marvel superhero business could be. After the initial miracle of 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel had made three straight movies that were not special at all. There are things worth appreciating in The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor, but none of them really demonstrates why this whole world matters to people. Captain America: The First Avenger made that case. And if it had failed in any of the myriad ways that it could’ve failed, the present-day movie landscape would presumably look very, very different.

Other notable 2011 superhero movies: Kenneth Branagh’s aforementioned Thor got one thing exactly right: Chris Hemsworth, who looks like a Michelangelo sculpture of a lion-man and who brings a crazy level of life to what was then an underwritten role. But the movie itself is a bore, full of turgid fantasy gobbledygook and thin CGI and sub-Crocodile Dundee fish-out-of-water jokes. The central love story is so across-the-board half-assed that it practically insults both Hemsworth and the paychecking-hard Natalie Portman, and even Tom Hiddleston’s slithery Loki is really only a rough draft for what would come.

The First Avenger wasn’t the only Marvel adaptation to go period-piece. Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class tried to make a swingin’ ’60s espionage thriller out of a prequel, which works pretty well. The cast—James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence—is almost hilariously overqualified, and while the period details never reach the full Mad Men-style immersion they were clearly shooting for, they’re fun enough. The CGI remains terrible, which for whatever reason is true of almost every X-Men movie. Whenever (speaking of Mad Men) January Jones’ Emma Frost turns into her diamond form, she looks like a Virtua Fighter character. This was a series bounce-back after the putrid X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it was also a clear sign that the non-MCU Marvel movies would never be the main event.

2011’s notorious boondoggle was, of course, Green Lantern, a movie that managed to be a self-aware punchline in two different 2018 superhero movies, Deadpool 2 and Teen Titans Go! To The Movies. (As I’m typing this, I haven’t seen Aquaman or Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse yet, so it’s entirely possible that even more 2018 superhero movies will make fun of Green Lantern.) It is a 10 ten-car pileup of a movie. A post-Deadpool and pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds attempts to smirk his way through everything, Van Wilder-style, while the writers build a whole interstellar cosmology that somehow comes off both thin and over-developed. Various respected character actors submit themselves to the indignity of bad alien makeup. (In particular, Peter Sarsgaard, a very handsome man, falls victim to makeup-artist ambitions.) You can almost see Tim Robbins and pre-Black Panther’s mom Angela Bassett thinking, mid-scene, about how they’re going to spend the money that this bullshit is getting them. Also, Future Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is in there in the nerdy tech-head comic-relief sidekick role? Altogether, Green Lantern makes for a great lesson of what can happen when you try to combine intelligence-insulting children’s entertainment with detail-heavy fan service without filling it all out with any kind of resonant storytelling. Also, Reynolds’ CGI super-suit might be the single ugliest costume in superhero-movie history.

And in other chartreuse-misfire news, Seth Rogen’s long-in-development The Green Hornet finally came out and made no impression. There’s certainly plenty of talent involved in the movie. For a while, slapstick visionary Stephen Chow was attached to both direct and to star as Kato, which would’ve been fascinating. Instead, the directing job ends up with Michel Gondry, the sometimes-great homespun music-video fantasist and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind auteur. Rogen and his Superbad partner Evan Goldberg get the writing credits. Christoph Waltz played a villain, which is something that Christoph Waltz knows how to do. Cameron Diaz is in there, too, as Rogen’s implausible love interest. You would think that these people could do something great together, but instead it’s just a rote nothing of a movie, one that never quite gets around to demonstrating why it deserves to exist.

Also, it’s not really a superhero movie, but I remember thinking that Steven Spielberg’s feature-length CGI cartoon The Adventures Of Tintin was a lot more fun than its reputation would suggest. I have not revisited it.

Next time: In January, this column will tackle The Avengers, the long-planned corporate-crossover blockbuster, which kicked the MCU into high gear and proved just how entertaining this kind of movie, when executed just right, can be.

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