Supergirl TV Series

[Tenzhi]

Adaptors are creators.  In this case they are creating a film. The important characteristics about Johnny are: Flame powers, personality, family/friends(Sue/FF).  Race is not a key characteristic for the Human Torch.

Adaptors aren't the creators of the character (which, in this case is Jimmy Olsen, not Johnny Storm).  And race, as a potentially strong visual component, is a key factor in many comic book characters.  As key as uniform design, insignia, and colour.  Making Jimmy Olsen black is like making Superman's outfit orange, or changing his emblem to a stylised B.  But, given the character's supporting status, I'd overlook it if they hadn't also apparently made major changes to his bearing and demeanor.

And, yes, a key factor of Johnny Storm is family - his blood relation to Sue Storm.  You may as well make Luke black but leave Leia white and ask everyone to buy it.  Talk about bad shoehorning.  And in a similar vein, while I really like Iris and her Dad in The Flash, I cringe a little whenever I ponder a possible Wally in that universe.

[FatherXmas]

There is part of me that want a consistency in people's outrage.  If race bending characters in A:TLA is bad then all race bending is bad.  But part of that outcry is actually about employment opportunities for Asian or native American actors.

For the new FF I CAN accept a black Johnny since they made Dr Franklin Richards black (they are doing the Ultimate origin story).  And since we live in a time of extended families and interracial marriage is more and more common, his sister being white would cause about a two second pause before I adjust and accept if it was a real life situation.  Only question I would have is whether Johnny is a half-brother, step-brother or Sue was adopted but in the end it really doesn't matter to the characters of Johnny and Sue.  As long as they grew up together long enough the family dynamic between them will be there.

The problem with the FF casting was that Johnny was the first announced with zero other info about what they were doing. And needless to say it freaked out the fanbase, more so than a black Spider-man would.  It's less of a problem now that I've seen the full trailer and I have an inkling what they are doing.  It's like that undying rumor that Doom is an angry blogger.  Doom is in the trailer and like Ultimate FF is working on the project along with the other four, goes along with them and is equally affected.  And recently there was a rumor that the reshoots for the movie (all movies have reshoots) were directed by someone else because the studio hated the movie and that got shot down.

As I've said about Jimmy Olsen, it's the turning him into a hunk rather than him being black that is more shocking.  Lets reflect the demographic of the world we live in and we can do this with the secondary characters.  But Jimmy is suppose to be a skinny, average height, somewhat dorky guy, not 6'3" with a 6-pack who could walk into a bar and leave with anyone he wants.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/45/d0/a0/45d0a04904d36ceb26c8e0fb5c552182.jpg

So not the Jimmy I expected.

[Golden Girl]

I'm trying to figure out what "continuum" Supergirl all happens in?

Is this series set in the same world as Arrow and Flash? How about in regards the last Superman movie? They don't use his name, is that a license issue of some sort, and will that keep all these in separate worlds? Is the superman cousin here the same superman as in the 2006 movie?

In the marvels TV series, a non-comic book person like myself can be pretty sure it's all one world, and is consistent with the box office movies (Except for those embarassing early hulks they couldn't seem to get right.) It just seems DC is having trouble here.

There's a possibility that Kara will crossover with Flash and Arrow at some point, but nothing's been officially confirmed about it.
Tone-wise, Supergirl feels closest to the original Christopher Reeve movies.

[FatherXmas]

I'm trying to figure out what "continuum" Supergirl all happens in?

Is this series set in the same world as Arrow and Flash? How about in regards the last Superman movie? They don't use his name, is that a license issue of some sort, and will that keep all these in separate worlds? Is the superman cousin here the same superman as in the 2006 movie?

In the marvels TV series, a non-comic book person like myself can be pretty sure it's all one world, and is consistent with the box office movies (Except for those embarassing early hulks they couldn't seem to get right.) It just seems DC is having trouble here.

It's not Man of Steel universe.  It's likely in the Arrow/Flash universe but the network separation my cause a problem for guesting.  And I think it only has a vague tie to either the Reeve's Superman or Superman Returns because of the plane catch and I think that has more to do with the public's memory of Superman movies than anything official.

As for not saying "Superman" is either a license issue or a joke within the writers room to come up with ways to mention him without saying his name.

[Golden Girl]

She says his name once during her starting voice-over.

[Golden Girl]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/45/d0/a0/45d0a04904d36ceb26c8e0fb5c552182.jpg

Stupid sexy Olsen :P

[Aggelakis]

As I've said about Jimmy Olsen, it's the turning him into a hunk rather than him being black that is more shocking.  Lets reflect the demographic of the world we live in and we can do this with the secondary characters.  But Jimmy is suppose to be a skinny, average height, somewhat dorky guy, not 6'3" with a 6-pack who could walk into a bar and leave with anyone he wants.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/45/d0/a0/45d0a04904d36ceb26c8e0fb5c552182.jpg

So not the Jimmy I expected.

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=cdn03.cdn.justjared.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F12%2Fbrooks-family%2Fmehcad-brooks-family-guy-05.jpg

I think he might be able to pull off dorky.

Jimmy Olsen is not likely to be walking around with his abs flexed and on display. Clothes make a *LOT* of difference in a dork.

[Golden Girl]

Jimmy Olsen is not likely to be walking around with his abs flexed and on display.

The writers manged to have Oliver Queen wandering around shirtless quite often - I have  faith in their ability to get James topless too :-p

[Tenzhi]

Besides which, he seems to carry himself too confidently.  He should slouch more and give off that humble Xander-y aura of being everybody's butt monkey.  Be the stolid, somewhat hapless doof, who is also dependable and fraught with that human element.  That Guy.

[Golden Girl]

Winslow is this show's butt monkey :P

[FatherXmas]

She says his name once during her starting voice-over.

Pretty sure she doesn't.  I believe she said "you know his story".

[Golden Girl]

Pretty sure she doesn't.  I believe she said "you know his story".

She says "When I arrived, I was still a 13 year old girl - but in that same time, my cousin Kal-El had grown up and revealed himself to your world as Superman, the most powerful man in the universe."

[Ohioknight]

As for not saying "Superman" is ... a joke within the writers room to come up with ways to mention him without saying his name.

Rather like not calling him "Green Arrow" even when it becomes awkward NOT to

Cops chase that Black Arrow guy, and that Red Arrow guy all shooting arrows, but not that "other" Arrow guy who we all call "the Arrow" even though there are something like 5 of them.
Plus, any cops I've ever met would be calling him "Robin Hood" derisively -- and the press would label him "the Robin Hood Killer".

[Mandu]

It is possible to be completely ripped and yet still play the part of a dorky guy.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kick Ass 2 for instance.

But I still hold to my statement that Jimmy was only dorky in the early years, and that includes the early years of reboots so he kind of fluctuates between being dorky and being confident and competent.  But he has never been suave like this James Olsen.

[Tenzhi]

Yeah, this James Olsen should be doing Old Spice commercials or something.  Maybe knock back some Dos Equis afterwards with TMIMitW.

[FatherXmas]

She says "When I arrived, I was still a 13 year old girl - but in that same time, my cousin Kal-El had grown up and revealed himself to your world as Superman, the most powerful man in the universe."

Yep, your right.  My bad.

[Brutey]

And, yes, a key factor of Johnny Storm is family - his blood relation to Sue Storm.  You may as well make Luke black but leave Leia white and ask everyone to buy it. 

What's wrong with everyone buying it?  I'm practically as white as the forum background. My wife is black (with a single native american in the family tree three generations back).  Our son is the *exact* same skin coloration as me.  Our daughter isn't.  They are both absolutely ours - our hospital does parental testing before allowing you to take the baby home: apparently it had a bad rep for mixing up babies in the past (though babies now stay with their mother the entire time instead of going to a nursery  - you'd think that would be enough).

I see your point played out, as everyone assumes our son is from my first marriage or that my wife is his nanny in public, but it's not *super* rare. Hey, maybe the movie will be educational to a portion of the populace (no, it won't. Avoid the youtube comment section on this movie at all costs).

It's an odd casting choice but it shouldn't be a suspension of disbelief crushing one. Same with 'Jimmy' - it's clearly not the same character, merely one borrowing a name and general theme of 'Superman's ally'.  Like most of Gotham's cast.  Pretty sure the Riddler didn't work for the GCPD in any of his origin stories, nor did Dr Thompkins. To say nothing of whatever 'Barbara' is supposed to be.

As for the rest of the show - I gave Smallville the benefit of the doubt (and kept watching for the perhaps 3 seconds of Super-awesome per episode, but mostly for the Luthors) for it's entire run. I can spare as season for Supergirl - as long as they don't put it up against Person of Interest, the Flash, or Agents of Shield.

[Mandu]

What's wrong with everyone buying it?  I'm practically as white as the forum background. My wife is black (with a single native american in the family tree three generations back).  Our son is the *exact* same skin coloration as me.  Our daughter isn't.  They are both absolutely ours - our hospital does parental testing before allowing you to take the baby home: apparently it had a bad rep for mixing up babies in the past (though babies now stay with their mother the entire time instead of going to a nursery  - you'd think that would be enough).

I see your point played out, as everyone assumes our son is from my first marriage or that my wife is his nanny in public, but it's not *super* rare. Hey, maybe the movie will be educational to a portion of the populace (no, it won't. Avoid the youtube comment section on this movie at all costs).

It's an odd casting choice but it shouldn't be a suspension of disbelief crushing one. Same with 'Jimmy' - it's clearly not the same character, merely one borrowing a name and general theme of 'Superman's ally'.  Like most of Gotham's cast.  Pretty sure the Riddler didn't work for the GCPD in any of his origin stories, nor did Dr Thompkins. To say nothing of whatever 'Barbara' is supposed to be.

As for the rest of the show - I gave Smallville the benefit of the doubt (and kept watching for the perhaps 3 seconds of Super-awesome per episode, but mostly for the Luthors) for it's entire run. I can spare as season for Supergirl - as long as they don't put it up against Person of Interest, the Flash, or Agents of Shield.

I have to agree with you on Smallville.  Mostly it was lame but I watched it for the occasional super hero stuff.  After all back then we didn't have the plethora of superhero shows we do now.  But what really kept me coming back to the show was Michael Rosenbaum as Luthor, and later on Erica Durance as Lois.

[doc7924]

I have to agree with you on Smallville.  Mostly it was lame but I watched it for the occasional super hero stuff.  After all back then we didn't have the plethora of superhero shows we do now.  But what really kept me coming back to the show was Michael Rosenbaum as Luthor, and later on Erica Durance as Lois.

Before I saw the show (and the trailers), I was afraid The Flash was going to turn out to be another Smallville - calling him the Blur and maybe him not wearing a costume. This show is almost the exact opposite.

The problem DC has is Marvel really knows how to integrate their movies and TV. I understand they are working on a Flash movie which has nothing to do with the TV series.
Or many of their upcoming movies are not in a shared universe like the Marvel movies.

It gets confusing having so many multiple versions.
Maybe they need to do a "Crisis of Infinite Media" and merge all film and TV into one, coherent universe.

[Tenzhi]

Barbara is the worst thing about Gotham.  If they focus on her too much (and the character doesn't substantially improve) it could put me off the show.  And I quit Smallville for awhile when Lana became a witch or something (I was also always annoyed at that casting choice because Lana should be a redhead).

The Anti-Jimmy is probably going to give me a WTF moment every time someone calls him by name, if not every time he's on screen.  The rest of the show will have to hook me pretty good to get past that.