And Now "Worlds Of DC"...

I said I was done and I meant it, I really did but when DC/Warners Bros. announces it's very own streaming service and the trailer for it's showcases series "Titans" drops I have to comment. Not only because I'm a huge fan of The Teen Titans (after all Beastboy has graced my banner since the beginnings of this blog and he's the character I most identify with) but because in the conflict between DC & Marvel I have and will always be a DC guy. But that isn't what you'd hear from some of the people out there who believe that every negative criticism lobbied at DC/Warner Bros. is because whoever is doing the criticizing is a paid Marvel shill. I wish that were the case in my situation because then I'd be getting paid for these articles and probably getting some decent promotion of them as well, but such isn't the case. In this blog I'm going to try and explain MY issues with the now christened "Worlds Of DC" and put to bed any notions of simply "hating".

But before we begin, I guess I have to do the standard thing that everyone accused of hating must do and that's establish my credentials. I'm a DC fan, have been for a LONG time, from watching "Super Friends" as a kid, "Batman: The Animated Series" and so on, Darkseid was one of my favorite villains, Firestorm was one of my favorite superheroes and this was from watching "Super Friends" and "The Challenge Of The Super Friends" with The Legion Of Doom and their Darth Vader helmet headquarters, all the way up to reading the comic books and really digging into the meat & mythos of the characters. No one can accuse me of being a Marvel fanboy without acknowledging my love of DC's characters as a whole. My harsh criticism of DC/Warner Bros. has always been in the interest of seeing the characters that I know and love done right and showcased to a public that may not know of them in a light that makes people want to know more.

Thor & Loki were not house hold names but now they are, anecdote here but I used to work with two girls who discussed dressed up for Halloween as Thor & Loki and I guarantee you they probably wouldn't have had such an idea IF NOT for the Chris Hemsworth & Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of those characters. This is what I want for DC/Warner Bros. I want people outside of comic book fans gushing about the coolness of characters that would otherwise only be talked about by a handful of people. Anyways, I've preambled this enough; it's 6:26am, my wife & son are asleep, I'm up WAY too early for work and I've got a tall order ahead of me, let's dive in.

I'm not going to discuss the trailer for "Titans", I'm simply not going to do that. Why? Because everything that needed to be said, has been said and then some. I am however going to say that the harassment Anna Diop received (although expected) is COMPLETELY unwarranted, unfair and horrendous, Ms. Diop doesn't have any control over what her character looks like and therefore the ire for Starfire looking like Oprah had a bad day and decided to become a hooker lies squarely at the feet of DC/Warners Bros. and whatever jackass looked at this:

and said "That looks great.". Aside from Starfire looking like a hooker, the entire trailer for start to finish is just wrong tonally and character presentation. Just wrong, enough said.

What's surprising me the most is the reception of the "Shazam" trailer and how well it's been received. I didn't like it, and the sad fact is I really like Zachary Levi but this movie makes Captain Marvel behave and act like a child and that's not how Captain Marvel behaves. The writers of this movie understand the concept of Captain Marvel (a child begin bestowed God-like powers and aged immediately to adulthood) but that's all they understand, they don't understand his powers. What are his powers? H for The Strength Of Hercules, no explanation needed for that one. A the Stamina of Atlas, Captain Marvel NEVER gets tired, he can keep going forever even without food or water. Z for The Power of Zeus, Captain Marvel has LITERAL god powers, not just to throw thunderbolts but a resistance to magic and an understanding of magic. A For The Courage of Achilles, Captain Marvel embodies bravery, and the courage of Achilles gives him a never back down attitude in conflict and gives him mental and spiritual fortitude to combat psychic attacks that would try and break his spirit. M for the speed of Mercury, he's able to move and fly faster than the speed of light.

What am I forgetting? Oh yeah, The S! But they forgot that as well, so what's the S stand for? S For the Wisdom Of Solomon: Captain Marvel is a freakin' genius beyond genius to the point of being nearly infallible. He can speak all languages, understand complex mathematics and even hypnotize people. Is someone who is imbued with the wisdom of one of the wisest men to exist going to be walking around the mall zapping people's cellphones? NO! Is someone with the wisdom of Solomon going to be CLUELESS about their powers? NO! And while yes, the trailer does look fun, if they wanted to showcase his powers they should've had him looking at Freddie's homework and then start babbling about quantum dynamics and what not only for him to stop and ask just how in the hell he knew all of that (because it's all coming to him at once).

I get that this is a lighter tone for DC/Warner Bros. hence people are finally happy to see it, but at the same time lighter tone doesn't exactly mean goofy and this looks too goofy for a character who in my opinion is too good for this portrayal. I'm having a hard time seeing this character facing down Black Adam in any serious fashion. That being said "Aquaman", I'm still not okay with Jason Momoa as Aquaman, I'm just not. He'd make a great Lobo (not that a Lobo would or should ever exist) but I'm just not buying him as Aquaman. Patrick Wilson looks like Aquaman, Jason Momoa, no. But all in all I'm not interested.

My overall problem with DC/Warner Bros. isn't just me finding fault with everything they come out with and praising everything Marvel does, after all "Ironmans 2 & 3" were a disgrace. My problem is that DC/Warner Bros. NEVER had a plan, they rushed into things and everything has made that clear, from the production of "Batman v Superman", to the production of "Justice League" and whether or not Ben Affleck is going to stay on as Batman, everything is falling like dominos and now they're attempting to rebrand themselves by calling themselves "Worlds Of DC". I'm not buying it, because they're trying to rebuild on a foundation that was shaky at best. "Shazam" already established that Batman & Superman exist in this world and how they're going to integrate into the plot or if they even will is beyond me, the point is I can't do this with DC anymore. I'm done wanting to believe. I'm done caring until they can actually get started on good footing and that means putting the franchise away for maybe another 10 years before trying this...but that won't happen and we'll be left with lackluster versions of amazing characters who deserve better. That'll do it for me, hopefully this'll be the last article I write about DC/Warner Bros. assuming I don't do a review of "Titans" episode 1. We'll see in the mean time I'm truly done with DC/Warner Bros. as a whole. Later ya'll.