DC OWNS THE TELEVISION UNIVERSE

DC OWNS THE TELEVISION UNIVERSE

Much like everyone else I had been waiting for what seemed like forever to see the first trailer for “Batman vs. Superman” ever since WB announced the slate of films they were going to release a year ago. I was truly excited to get that first glimpse of the film that would be the launching pad for the DC Movie Universe. From my earliest memories I have been a fan of everything DC related; when it comes to the comic book wars of DC vs. Marvel clearly I picked a side. My passion for DC does not make me hate what Marvel delivers; in fact I have enjoyed “AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D” on television and the spin-off “Agent Carter”.  When it comes to the 11 Marvel movies, each one has been a joy to watch. For my money, the one-two punch of “Captain America 2” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” were amazing last year. At the end of the day however, I have never read the Marvel comics and therefore I didn’t grow up with all these characters; making my personal attachment to them lacking. I have first and foremost always been a Superman fan and that is why I have devoured DC content on a higher level. The most exciting comics I have read are DC, my favorite animated shows growing up were “The New Adventures of Superman and Batman” followed by “The Justice League” and “Batman Beyond”. All of these comic book movies have been coming out over the last decade but I still place the Tim Burton Batman movies and the first two Christopher Reeve Superman movies higher than almost all of them. As you can tell I am clearly on the side of DC.

With all that said, I know that there is a high chance that everything film-related that DC is about to put starting next year has a good chance of not living up to mine (and everyone else’s) rather large expectations.  For the most part I enjoyed “Man Of Steel” and I believe that I will enjoy watching the new films coming out, but I have a sinking feeling that they may not match the quality of the recent slate of Marvel films. From listening to friends to reading topic boards on this subject I find the majority of opinions seem to fall in line with my own. As each new trailer and set pictures are discussed with people trying to find something else out about these movies that are pointing towards disaster, I came to a single thought about it all; “who cares!”.  Who cares how these movies turn out, because as of right now, the Television side of DC is just kicking ass. If these movies come out and stink I can still enjoy the world of DC and its trade mark characters on the small screen.

DC delivering well done shows on television is not a new phenomenon; they have been doing this for quite a while. I mentioned earlier the high quality animated shows that DC gave us in the 1990’s and then that was followed by a decade of “Smallville”. “Smallville” was not a perfect program but it did deliver great episodes and nods to the greater universe. At the end of the day the show was a welcome way to be involved with the Superman character on a weekly basis and for me will always be part of my Superman lore. However, it was once that show finally said goodbye that I think DC went into its first great wave of live television programs that exist today and they are doing things that fans had only dreamed about before. In contrast to when “Smallville” was airing all by itself on an island, DC has gone and started creating a universe on television that is beginning to match the shared universe that exists for the Marvel Movies. Much as Marvel used the success of “Iron Man” to build a cinematic universe, DC has used the small screen success of “Arrow” to do the same.

“Arrow” was not supposed to be great, it was supposed to stink. I initially didn’t even want to watch the pilot. First they hired Greg Berlanti to produce the show and that made me hesitant.  This is the writer/producer, who while making some great shows that I have enjoyed, has tended to be more melo-dramatic than heroic, shows such as the excellent “Eli Stone”, “Jack & Bobby”, and “Brothers & Sisters”. Then once you tack on the two stabs he had with the superhero universe you have the underwhelming “Green Lantern” movie and the very poor “No Ordinary Family” television show.  So right from the start I was skeptical of the whole idea. Then as they announced the show you find out it will just be called “Arrow” and not “Green Arrow”, well then, this self-proclaimed geek was ready to never watch. However, I did watch the pilot- I had to- this was a superhero show and dammit I had to give it a chance. While the pilot had some promise I was not instantly taken with it. I didn’t even really enjoy the first few episodes, I enjoyed moments of them. Those few great moments is why I stuck it out and kept going. Slowly, however I noticed the great chemistry that started to build between Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, and Emily Bett Rickards and you can see what would become the core Arrow team form. As the season moved on the action improved, flawed and one-note characters like Thea and Moira Queen began to shine and find direction. I think I truly became a huge fan right before the Christmas break when the Arrow finally met his match in the Dark Archer played to perfection by John Barrowman. The show ended its winter run with an excellent fight that left our hero bruised physically and mentally and with that they had cemented me as a fan.

The show only got better from there and everyone knows how season 2 kicked this thing into high gear with Slade Wilson, played by the excellent “Spartacus” alum Manu Bennett. To me, I was just happy to have an awesome weekly superhero show on and didn’t think of anything else. The brain trust at DC thought otherwise. The people at DC saw what they had and decided to try and expand this universe and introduced us all to The Flash played by charismatic actor Grant Gustin. With the Flash having superpowers, that show was allowed to take this universe into more comic book territory and the producers went full steam ahead with it. In one season we have already had talking gorillas, the introduction of Firestorm, and time travel. Once again, I was happy that I now had two shows to watch every week and then DC went and changed the game once more. Next year we are getting one more show on the schedule, “Legends of Tomorrow” headlined by a very well-cast Brandon Routh as the Atom, who was introduced organically into the universe on “Arrow”.  This show will expand the world by not just adding in time travel as part of the story, but it’s the crux of the whole thing. I am already eager with anticipation to see where this all goes. If all the shows airing or soon to air on CW weren't enough, next year will also give us “Supergirl” on CBS. The great part about this is CW is owned by CBS and ‘Supergirl” will have the same producers as all the other programs. With all that part of the equation I really feel that at some point Supergirl will find her way over to the CW for an episode as she teams up with Arrow, The Flash, and The Atom. If I am thinking about this awesome potential for world-building I am sure the producers are as well.

So yes, right now DC is a little bit of a mess when it comes to the movies- but what is being done on television right now with lesser known characters, and with much smaller budgets, is quite astonishing. If the movies are good that’d be fantastic… but if not, who cares I say, we have the television universe to keep us happy.