DC Live Action

[Peanutbutter]

I don't think Gotham is bad, just goofy at times. It is way better than Agents of Shield though.



Is Supergirl really in Arrow and Flash's universe? Almost everywhere I heard elseware said it wasn't. I'd love for it to be though, because I'm not sure how the Batman/Superman film is going to go so its nice having a mostly well done TV universe.

[Spark Of Spirit]

"In November 2014, Berlanti expressed interest in Supergirl existing in the Arrowverse, the same universe as his other series Arrow and The Flash."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergirl_(U.S._TV_series)#Relation_to_the_Arrowverse

It was also originally pitched to The CW who didn't pick it up and has a lot of familiar faces who work on the other Arrowverse shows. For all intents and purposes it's related even if they can't crossover at this point in time.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

New Legends of Tomorrow trailer:

https://youtu.be/_rgzmQ_vpSo

In the battle between TV superhero shows, DC is definitely not slacking off against Marvel's efforts.

This crossover series looks great, and it's the first series of its kind, even before The Defenders comes out. I can't wait.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Wow, that looks like a lot of fun. We still got a ways to go before it starts, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, it's less than two months away, and this week's Flash/Arrow crossover event is already setting up Vandal Savage as the main villain, so it's really not that far off from my point of view.

[Spark Of Spirit]

A bit of a history of how the Arrowverse came to be on the network side.

Soon after Kevin Tsujihara took over as Warner Bros. chairman-CEO, he made the decision to break with protocol from the previous regime — a change that would have a profound effect on the studio. At an early strategy session, senior execs recall him issuing a new edict: DC Entertainment is open for business across the lot.

Tsujihara made it clear that the vast archive of comic-book characters in the DC vault would no longer be under the tight control of Warner Bros.' film division. WB's television and interactive units would have new flexibility to develop projects derived from the properties, even if they were concurrently being eyed for movie projects.

This might explain why the film division has always had this weird arrogance about them the TV division doesn't.

In 2009, Warner Bros. restructured DC Comics to create DC Entertainment — in a comic-book-worthy twist of fate, the same week Disney announced its stealth $4 billion purchase of Marvel Entertainment. The goal was to turn DC, now led by Nelson, a respected studio marketing vet who made her mark shepherding the "Harry Potter" film franchise, into a "feeder" of source material for all WB divisions, while maintaining a big presence in comic-book publishing. In practice, however, because Nelson reported to then Warner Bros. Pictures chief Jeff Robinov, the focus remained highly film-centric.

That pecking order had been set a decade earlier, in 1999, sources say, when the WB Network (now the CW) was hot on a "Batman" prequel script from writer Tim McCanlies that revolved around the youthful adventures of Bruce Wayne. The project was shut down before it got to the pilot production stage after WB Pictures execs got wind of it, and worried that it would muck up their plans to revive "Batman" on the big screen. The WB Network was allowed to pursue a similar concept for Superman, which yielded the 10-year success of "Smallville," but the earlier sting lingered.

Not to mention how stupid they were with the whole Bat embargo mess. DC has been a mess of bureaucracy for a while now.

With DC's vault opened wide, Nelson and Johns, DC Entertainment's chief creative officer, are working with the film team to plot an ambitious schedule of 10 films to be released over the next five years. At the same time, the WBTV team has put numerous projects into development, including "The Flash" for the CW. That would never have happened in the past, because "Flash" is also on the docket for a feature film in 2018.

Inside of two years, Warner Bros. TV now has seven (and counting) primetime series derived from the comic-book imprints of DC and its subsidiary, Vertigo. Last year, the TV studio finally got its "Batman" prequel in the form of Fox's "Gotham," although the focus shifted from Bruce Wayne to Commissioner Gordon and Gotham City's villains. Sources described that creative fillip as a sign of compromise between WB divisions as the film side tees up "Batman v Superman" next year.

Though Gotham hasn't been very good, it still has been a success.

Perhaps the biggest impact of the DC properties has been on the CW. "The Flash" and "Arrow" have become the backbone of a network that had been flagging and rudderless. CW also airs the femme-friendly "iZombie," and has "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" on tap for midseason. The appeal of these DC shows help CW maintain the SVOD output deals with Netflix and Hulu that have been crucial to its survival.

After "The Flash" premiered last fall to CW's highest ratings in more than five years, Berlanti got a call at his WB office asking him to stop in to see Tsujihara in the executive office building. "That was the first time that ever happened to me," Berlanti says. The producer made sure he brought along a few prototypes of "The Flash"-derived action figures that Consumer Products was about to unleash.

There it is. The Arrowverse saved The CW.

Read the whole thing. It's pretty good.

[Avaitor]

Hey Spark, did you notice that cover of "Time After Time" in the background of this week's Supergirl?

The show is continuing to be enjoyable, if a little superfluous thus far. If anything, I'm not sure how I feel about its frequent references to Kara's cousin and his own escapades, though. Sometimes they come off as a little forced, like anytime Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. brought up the incident in New York.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yes, I did. I kept thinking to myself "I know I've heard that song before" through the whole scene until it finally clicked. Not a bad cover.

I think what Supergirl needs is a rival superhero in her city to take the focus off of Superman in Metropolis as comparison. Mostly because I think it's one of the few things that need ironing out soon. The show is getting better with every episode, though.

[Dr. Insomniac]

[Peanutbutter]

Kevin Tsujihara. So that's the name of the mastermind we have to thank for the DC TV Universe. It'd me nice if Arrow and CW's success got this guy promoted so he could open even more doors for both Warner and DC. This is the kind of person that should be running Time Warner, not a blind selfish halfwit like Jeff Bewkes.




Anyway, I haven been behind on Flash with only having seen the first new episode of the second season. Unfortunately, neither On Demand or CW's website have episodes 2-4. This really sucks, I don't know why they have pull these episodes out so dang quickly.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That was a lot of crossover.

Green Arrow
The Flash
Diggle
Speedy
Hawkman
Hawkgirl
Felicity
Cisco
Vandal Savage
Ra's and the League
Damien Darhk and HIVE

And in Central City was:

Caitlin
Harrison Wells
Joe
Jay Garrick

I think the only missing main characters were Laurel, Sara, and Ray.

Pretty action packed, too. Though a pretty anti-climactic ending if you're not planning on watching Arrow. They definitely spill over into each other.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Hyped!

[Spark Of Spirit]

Okay, now who saw that coming?

Spoiler

The Martian Manhunter. Now that was a killer twist.

[close]

[Spark Of Spirit]

There was a new ep of Supergirl on tonight, though there won't be one next week. Weird timing on that. It was a pretty good ep, too. Lots going on.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Anyone think the Berlantiverse might get stretched a bit too thin in the near future? With Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, unofficial-but-everyone-treats-it-like-part-of-the-rest Supergirl, and talks of realizing a full Vixen series, how much micromanaging can Berlanti, Kreisberg, and Guggenheim do without the quality being compromised?

That said, I'm excited for LoT, if only to see Arthur Darvill play a time-traveler again.