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broccoliboix5peepeeman · 3 years

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Heeey there~! 🥺👉🏾👈🏾 I think the world could use a cute bunny!Izuku tddk fic and you’re the perfect person to write one into existence! 😭 Thank you in advance!

Anything for you, friendo!!! <333

Ao3 Link

Word count: 5125

Well… Shoto thought to himself, looking down at the pile of clothes on the pavement. This is a surprise.

He honestly had no idea what had happened. One minute, him and Midoriya were walking down the street towards Yuuei with their groceries, the next, a small child had barrelled past them, knocking Midoriya's arm as she went. Initially, his friend had insisted that he was fine, but the moment the culprit had turned down the next street, he had vanished, his clothes and bag unceremoniously clattering to the floor.

Shoto had been - understandably, he thought - alarmed by the development. After all, it wasn't every day one's best friend and crush disappeared, leaving nothing but a pile of clothes behind. Shoto was entirely ready to sprint after the children and shake them for information, when suddenly something moved under the pile, informing him that his friend was indeed still alive, just struggling to get free.

'Midoriya?'

Shoto knelt down and tried to untangle the clothes so whatever was underneath could escape. What he wasn't expecting was to come face to face with a fluffy Havana rabbit in place of his friend.

'Oh.'

Wide, verdant eyes with dilated pupils stared up at him questioningly and Shoto felt himself blush at the sight. He knew those eyes better than his own.

Yes… Definitely Midoriya.

Just when he thought his best friend couldn't get any cuter, he had to go and turn into the most adorable rabbit in the world.

His ears were upright, albeit a tiny bit shorter than average, his nose was pink as it moved around, sniffing the air, and his coat was ebony with an emerald shine, except for his paws, which were white and messy.

It's like he's wearing socks...

Shoto shook himself.

Fawn over your best friend later, fool. You've got a job to do.

'Midoriya, blink twice if you can understand me?'

Those big eyes continued to watch him intently, before blinking twice in confirmation.

'Good.' That made things a lot easier. 'Now, are you hurt? Blink once for no, twice for yes.'

Midoriya blinked once, much to his relief. Then, he let out an adorable sneeze that went straight to Shoto's heart.

So cute.

'Okay, I'm going to pick up your clothes and bags so I can take us back to the dorms. Am I okay to carry you?'

Midoriya nodded and Shoto could've sworn his friend was smiling. He tried not to dwell on it though and got to work. He shoved Midoriya's clothes into one of the fallen carrier bags, before picking them up and transferring them to one hand. The weight was fine, but the straps bit into his fingers harshly - it was going to be a painful walk back.

Midoriya must've sensed his distress though, because the moment Shoto scooped him up against his chest, his friend hopped up and took his place on Shoto's shoulder. When he turned to look at him, confused, Midoriya nuzzled his nose against his cheek to assure him that he was fine.

It took every ounce of self-control for Shoto not to set them both on fire with his quirk.

'Okay, Midoriya. I'll allow it.' He spoke evenly, despite his friend still rubbing against him. 'But if you fall, I'm going to be very upset. I will cry, don't test me.'

The rabbit squeaked at that and made sure to shuffle a little closer, until he was nestled near the crook of Shoto’s neck.

Distributing the carrier bags into both hands to distract him from the proximity, Shoto then set off down the street.

Somehow, the walk back wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought it would be. Sure, some people sent him confused looks, while others straight up muttered about how he was a careless owner for letting Midoriya perch on his shoulder, but Shoto found that being in Midoriya's presence helped him feel less agitated. After all, Midoriya always had a talent for calming Shoto down when he let his anger get the better of him.

Soft fur brushed against his face and Shoto sighed, content, before deciding that he should probably say something.

'How are you feeling?'

Silence.

When Midoriya tilted his head to the side, he realised his mistake. 'Oh yeah. Er, blink once for good, twice for okay, three for sad, four for other.'

He didn't appreciate how easy it was for Midoriya to look so amused as he blinked twice. Before Shoto could ask though, Midoriya settled back near his neck and purred.

I didn't know rabbits could purr.

Shoto exhaled carefully to control himself and quickly decided to continue the rest of their journey in silence, lest he embarrass himself further.

🐇🐇

'Why is it, when something happens, it is always you two.' Aizawa leant against his desk and pinched his brow.

'For the record, Sensei,' Shoto raised a finger. 'I understood that reference and think that the current circumstances are a lot different.'

'Answer the question, Todoroki.' Aizawa glared at him. 'Why is Midoriya a rabbit?'

Shoto sighed heavily and proceeded to explain what had happened. He informed his teacher that there was no foul play - it was merely an accident - and that Midoriya wasn't hurt. Aizawa nodded at set intervals and when Shoto eventually fell silent, he pushed himself away from his desk and looked down at them.

'It wouldn't be logical to punish you for this.' He began bluntly. 'But in the future, I will be more stringent with your liberties to leave school grounds alone.'

He then looked down at the small rabbit, sitting by Shoto's leg. 'Midoriya, you have to go see Recovery Girl in case there are any health concerns we need to be aware of. I will take you. Todoroki, go back to the dorms and keep this to yourself for now.'

'Yes, Sensei.'

Before he could turn around though, Midoriya suddenly nuzzled against his leg in an effort to make him stay.

Shoto looked down questioningly to find wide eyes staring up at him, filled with emotion. Unable to simply walk away from such an expression, he crouched down to stroke his chin.

'It's okay, Midoriya. I won’t be gone for long.'

As it turned out, it was not okay.

The moment Aizawa bent down to pick him up, Midoriya went feral. He jumped into the air to escape his teacher's incoming hands and landed a metre to his left.

'Problem child.' Aizawa warned, before trying again. However, Midoriya repeated the action, then bounced in a zigzag motion to evade capture. When he came to a stop, Shoto noticed the look of defiance on his face - if that were even possible.

Aizawa grumbled and fingered his capture weapon. 'Don't make me use this.'

Midoriya frowned before hopping to hide behind the desk. Their teacher followed him, muttering something about how 'you little gremlins never make it easy for me.'

Shoto stood, gawking as the two circled the desk comically. Eventually, Aizawa reached his breaking point and raised his capture weapon.

However, Midoriya was ready.

Shoto watched in awe as emerald and scarlet lightning came to life with the activation of his quirk. Sparks danced around his friend's small form as he leapt into the air to avoid the scarf. With practiced ease, he bounced off the walls around them - his style similar to his human form - before he eventually landed behind him. Shoto looked down to find Midoriya hiding behind his leg and glaring up at their teacher.

'Midoriya.' Aizawa almost growled, crimson eyes flashing dangerously. The moment his erasure activated, the shining light vanished from around the rabbit. 'Come here, now.'

Thump.

Shoto stared, bemused.

'Are you serious?' Aizawa raised an eyebrow.

Another thump.

'Don't you thump your foot at me, kiddo.' Their teacher snapped, albeit Shoto could tell the action had mellowed his anger. In any other situation, he might've smiled at the way pro-hero Eraserhead attempted to lecture a rabbit.

Now though, he had to play the peacemaker.

'Midoriya.' Shoto spoke gently. Angry eyes softened when they landed on him. 'If I stay with you, will you go to Recovery Girl? You can ride on my shoulder again?'

His friend considered this offer, before nodding once.

'Unbelievable.' Aizawa waved his hand, exasperated. 'You two will be the death of me.'

Shoto considered his teacher, before bending down to pick Midoriya up with ease. When he got settled on his shoulder, the two followed Aizawa out of the room.

As they walked down the corridor, he heard his teacher mutter, 'I swear, if you pull this shit again, I'll set Sushi on you.'

'Who's Sushi?' Shoto asked.

'None of your business.'

🐇🐇

One thing Shoto quickly came to release, as he dutifully accepted his role as caregiver, was that Midoriya was a lot more clingy than usual.

He couldn't tell whether it was a side effect of the quirk or whether his friend was simply taking advantage of his adorableness and being affectionate because he knew no one would be able to deny him cuddles. Either way, Shoto didn't mind. He liked hugging Midoriya as much as he enjoyed receiving them.

He especially didn't mind that Midoriya seemed to be the most affectionate with him, as he watched his peers slowly come to terms with their classmate's temporary form.

'He's so tiny!' Ashido gushed, as Yaoyorozu stroked Midoriya, who looked rather content in her lap. 'I just wanna squeeze his cheeks and eat him all up!

Midoriya squeaked at that.

'Stop scaring him, Ashido-san!' Yaoyorozu gasped, before scratching behind his ears to calm him.

'He knows I'm only joking.' She waved her off. 'We all know Bakugou's the one who likes rabbit stew anyway-'

'Ashido.' Shoto warned, as he strode towards where Yaoyorozu was sitting. He noticed how Midoriya trembled at the mention of Bakugou's name and immediately bent down, opening his arms. 'It's okay. He's not gonna hurt you. You want a hug?'

Nodding quickly, Midoriya jumped out of Yaoyorozu's lap, trusting Shoto to catch him in his arms and bring him close to his chest. Shoto cradled the back of his small head, stroking pointed ears as his other hand supported his fluffy butt. He tried to ignore the fact that he was technically groping his crush, but he couldn't hide his blush, especially when Midoriya reached up to lick his neck.

'That's so cute!' Hagakure exclaimed, shaking Ashido by the shoulders while the rest of the girls cooed at the display. 'I've never seen Todoroki-kun so affectionate!'

'Look at Deku-kun's little tongue, I'm dying!' Uraraka squealed with excitement as she bounced on the balls of her feet. 'Catch me, Iida-kun. I might swoon.'

'Urarak-ah!' The class president yelped as she dramatically fell into his arms. 'I told you to stay hydrated!'

'I'm just being dramatic, jeez!' Uraraka pouted, flopping against Iida.

Shoto raised an eyebrow at his friends' antics, before turning his attention back to Midoriya, who was nibbling at his shirt. He smiled softly at the action and stroked one of his ears.

'You're not allowed to eat my clothes, Midoriya.' He playfully scolded.

Then a thought occurred to him.

'Hey, Iida.' He spoke softly, not taking his gaze away from Midoriya, who stared up at him with big eyes. 'I need to fetch some food for Midoriya. He hasn't eaten all day, so could you look after him for me?'

Uraraka fell to the floor with a shriek and in seconds, Iida was in front of them.

'It would be my pleasure to look after Midoriya-kun!' He announced, before his voice suddenly dropped and he rubbed the back of his neck. 'In fact, I was actually hoping I would get the chance to hold him, but I did not want to presume that I had that privilege!'

'What do you think, Midoriya?' Shoto tilted his head to the side. 'Can Iida hold you?'

His friend nuzzled against him softly, before eventually nodding. He turned to the class president and Shoto lifted him up under the arms to hand to Iida, whose eyes were wide and nervous.

When Midoriya got settled, Shoto then stepped back, lip twitching slightly. 'What do you want? Rabbits like carrots, right?'

Midoriya stuck his tongue out and made a gagging noise, which Shoto found oddly amusing.

'Midoriya-kun!' Iida went to gesticulate, but quickly realised both his hands were occupied. 'It is important to get the right nutrition, especially given the fact that you are under the effect of a quirk!'

'It's okay, Iida.' Shoto narrowed his eyes at the rabbit. 'I know Midoriya won't say no to spinach.'

Little ears pointed upwards and his nose twitched with interest. Shoto's heart skipped a beat. 'I'll take that as a yes.'

In a moment of boldness, he then raised a finger and booped Midoriya's damp nose, before turning and heading to the kitchen.

When he arrived, he took some spinach from the fridge and rinsed it under the tap, then reached for Midoriya's favourite All Might bowl. Fully armed with his food, Shoto then looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Iida, who was trying not to hand chop Midoriya as he stroked him. Keeping his face neutral, lest he betray his amusement, he then made his way towards one of the more quiet members of his class, who was mixing some honey into his cup of tea.

'Koda, can I ask you something?' He mumbled, watching his classmate jump slightly at having been addressed.

When he realised Shoto was actually talking to him, Koda nodded, tilting his head to the side in question.

'Can you use your quirk on Midoriya?' Shoto scratched his cheek. 'Earlier, when I asked him if he was okay, he indicated that he was, but I want to be sure. I- I'm worried about him.'

Koda looked at him, knowingly - Shoto wasn't quite sure how to feel about that - then nodded softly and walked over to Midoriya. His classmate whispered something into a large ear and Shoto waited for the result.

Midoriya ground his teeth together as he seemed to reply, before his eyes met Shoto's own, a warmth in them that was oddly familiar and relaxing. He was so enraptured by them, he didn't notice that Koda had returned to his side until he flashed a thumbs up.

'Midoriya-san's okay.' He spoke in a high voice, slightly amused. 'He was slightly overwhelmed at first, because the quirk seems to make him act more on instinct, but now that he’s accepted that, he told me he's liking all the hugs and pets! He feels rather tall on your shoulder too. And er…'

'Yes?'

'Er…' Koda grinned bashfully. 'Midoriya-san also said that "with Todoroki-kun fussing over me, I've never been better, so please tell him he doesn't need to worry about me".'

Shoto flushed at that, but before he could fruitlessly try to defend himself, the door to the common room slammed open.

'DEKU!'

Shoto rolled his eyes and turned to find Bakugou storming into the room, making a beeline for Midoriya, who had frozen in Iida's arms. 'Is it true you're so pathetic you let a kid use their quirk on you?'

He came to a stop and stared at the rabbit, before he burst out laughing. 'Ha! Look at you! You really are pathetic!'

'Bakugou-kun!' Iida exclaimed. 'Please refrain from calling Midoriya such names!'

'Shut up, four eyes!' He growled. 'I'm just speaking the truth!'

Shoto placed his bowl of spinach on the counter and made his way over. Everyone was used to Bakugou's aggressive nature - whether they liked it or not - but that just fuelled Shoto’s need to protect Midoriya even more, especially in this state.

'No one wants you here, Bakugou.' He spoke firmly. 'If you're just going to run your mouth, you can do it somewhere else, where you won't use my best friend as your verbal punching bag.'

'Don't fucking tell me what to do, Half n Half!' He growled, baring his teeth at Shoto. 'Like I give a shit what you extras want!'

'You're making Midoriya-san uncomfortable.' Yaoyorozu stood up then, fists clenched. 'Bakugou-san I must insist you stop. He's had a rough enough day as it is.'

'Do I look like I care?'

'No, but you should.' Shoto crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him, coolly. 'He may look helpless, but that right there is a ruthless killing machine.'

'Fuck off, Half n Half. Like Deku could do anything to me.' He stuck his finger out to poke Midoriya. 'What are you gonna do? Eat a carro- AGH! YOU BASTARD!'

Shoto couldn't hide his smile when Midoriya bit Bakugou's finger in retaliation, a look of defiance on his face. His classmate reeled back, clutching his bloody hand, before he lunged for Midoriya. However, the latter was faster and leapt out of Iida's arms just as Bakugou crashed into the class rep and the two clattered to the floor with a shriek.

Green lightning coursed through Midoriya as he flew through the air towards Shoto, who instinctively opened his arms to catch him.

The moment he felt soft fur against him, Shoto took action, wrapping his arms around Midoriya and holding him close as his friend scrambled to burrow his head in the crook of Shoto's neck, trusting him to protect him.

Bakugou snarled as he wrestled himself off Iida and onto his feet. Before he could continue his attack though, Shoto raised his right arm and pointed it at him.

'You brought that on yourself, Bakugou.' His voice was even. 'Now back off. I'm not letting you anywhere near him.'

'Ha! Don't make me laugh.' Bakugou spat, tiny explosions popping from his hands.

Shoto noticed the way Midoriya pressed closer, sensitive to the loud noises as his damp nose wet his neck, and frowned. Lowering his temperature, he prepared to attack, when suddenly the door slammed open.

'I AM HERE TO SEE MIDORIYA-SHOUNEN!' All Might burst into the room, his muscled body flexing before he reverted back to his true form with a puff of smoke. Shoto watched, mildly concerned, as his teacher hacked up an inordinate amount of blood into a tissue.

When All Might eventually cleared his face and pocketed the tissue, he smiled sheepishly at the class. However, when he noticed Bakugou's fighting stance, Shoto's frost and Iida's mid-air hand chop, he frowned.

'Am I interrupting something?'

'It's all under control, Sensei!' Yaoyorozu stepped between Shoto and Bakugou and clasped her hands together. 'Bakugou was just going to see Recovery Girl about his finger.'

'The fu-'

'Really?' All Might raised an eyebrow. 'What happened?'

'That vermin bit me, so I'm gonna make him regret-'

'You invaded Midoriya-kun's personal space!' Iida frantically shouted. 'The consequences are justified.'

'Four-eyes, I swear to fuck, I'll end you!'

'Language, Bakugou-shounen.' All Might raised a finger. 'I'll deal with Midoriya-shounen, but right now, you need to go to the infirmary.'

Bakugou glared at his teacher and, for a moment, Shoto thought he'd refuse, when finally, the blonde tsked and turned away.

'Fucking rodent's probably gonna give me rabies.' He muttered as he stalked out of the room. When he was out of earshot, Shoto tilted his head to the side.

'How would we be able to tell the difference if he did have rabies?'

It was a genuine question, yet when everyone around him laughed - including a vibrating Midoriya - Shoto allowed himself a small smile.

🐇🐇

Shortly after Bakugou departed, All Might took the opportunity to take Midoriya outside for a quick word. Shoto wasn’t entirely sure how many words were going to be exchanged during their conversation, seen as Midoriya couldn’t exactly talk, but he trusted the former number one hero to figure it out.

So, while he waited for his friend to return, Shoto wandered back to the kitchen, grabbed his food for Midoriya and took a moment to simply relax. As much as he loved spending time with his friends, all this socialising was starting to become rather overwhelming, so it was nice to finally have a quiet moment to himself, now that his classmates weren’t hounding him for information about Midoriya’s current state.

He managed ten minutes of pure Shoto-time, before he heard a cackle from the living room and the chaos began once more.

Preparing himself for worst, Shoto turned around, only to come face to face with verdant eyes, mere inches from his face. Shoto’s own eyes widened and he stepped back in shock, watching as a black and green rabbit floated lazily in the air.

‘Midoriya?’

His friend nodded to him in greeting, indifferent to the way his back legs rose higher as he began to rotate. His ears flopped against gravity as he turned upside down, nose twitching as he eyed the spinach in Shoto's hand.

Unable to look away, he fumbled to grab a leaf and brought it to Midoriya's mouth. His friend eagerly nibbled at it and in seconds it was gone.

Shoto watched, blinking dumbly, before he shook his head and finally found his voice.

'Uraraka, why is Midoriya floating?' He spoke calmly, raising his arm and poking soft fur so that his friend was upright once more. ‘Where’s All Might?’

‘He had to leave to make a phone call.’ Uraraka shrugged, then she watched as Midoriya continued floating across the room and grinned. ‘As for Deku-kun, he said he missed being tall, so I said I’d help him out.’

‘You speak rabbit now?’ He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

‘Miruko-san taught me a little, yeah!’ She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. However, when Shoto shot her a look, she groaned and brought her hands together. 'You're no fun, Todoroki-kun. Release!'

Midoriya squeaked as the gravity returned to his body and he descended to the ground. Abandoning the bowl, Shoto dove forward to catch him, arms outstretched. He breathed a sigh of relief as a fluffy stomach made contact with his open palms, safe, before he landed on the floor with a thud, chin, elbows and stomach receiving carpet burn as he slid forward slightly.

'A bit of warning would've been nice.' He grumbled. However, his anger quickly dissipated when Midoriya hopped towards him and licked his nose in thanks.

'I knew you'd catch him.' Uraraka skipped forward and patted her friend on the head. 'See, Deku-kun. I told you Todoroki-kun would fall for you!'

Shoto buried his head in the carpet and groaned.

🐇🐇

Shoto wasn't exactly sure how he got into this position. One minute, he was reclined in one of the common room armchairs, reading a manga he had borrowed from Sero, while Midoriya released some pent up energy by zooming around the room. The next moment, he awoke from an unexpected nap to find his friend laid across his chest, twitching as he slept.

Shoto looked down at him with a soft expression as he registered the way his hands had wrapped protectively around Midoriya whilst he slept. Not wanting to let go just yet, he absentmindedly stroked soft, dark fur, hugging his friend closer and watching the way Midoriya moved with each rise and fall of Shoto's chest.

The two stayed that way for a while; Midoriya gently snoozed while Shoto fussed over him, gradually working his hand up to rub his head. He tickled the crease where upright ears met his head, before Shoto reached his friend's whiskers. He noticed how Midoriya leant into the touch and felt himself smile.

Eventually though, in typical Midoriya fashion, his twitches increased in size and frequency as he dreamt, until the poor boy woke himself up with a full body convulsion. Alarmed, he lifted his head and looked around frantically, nose twitching as he smelt the environment.

'Hey, bunny.' Shoto soothed, eyes widening when he processed the nickname, but Midoriya didn't seem to mind. In fact, his friend physically relaxed at the sound of his voice, then turned his head to lick Shoto's hand in greeting.

His heart swelled. 'Must've been quite the dream if it woke you up.'

Midoriya squeaked, before hiding his face between his paws, embarrassed. His fluffy body shook when Shoto's chest rumbled with amusement.

'What were you dreaming about? All Might?'

Midoriya shook his head.

'Bakugou?'

Shoto shouldn't have felt such satisfaction when his friend growled at the mention of that name, but alas, he was a simple man.

'Were you dreaming about me?' He tried to sound playful, but couldn't hide the slight blush on his cheeks.

It didn't help that Midoriya just stared at him with big, round eyes, like he wanted to say something, then Shoto realised.

Oh…

'You were chasing a cat, weren't you?' He asked, intelligently.

He didn't know rabbits could sigh, let alone with that much exasperation.

'No?' He quirked an eyebrow. 'I'm not sure then, you'll have to tell me about it when you can talk again.'

Midoriya shook his head, before he let out a big yawn.

'You still sleepy?' Shoto tilted his head to the side, scratching his friend's chin. 'Maybe we should head to bed then. Blink once for my room, twice for your room.'

Midoriya stared at him for a moment, as if to say, 'Are you sure?'

'I'm not leaving you on your own, Midoriya.' Shoto answered, as if it were obvious. 'What if something happened to you? You can’t use your phone, you don’t even have opposable thumbs.’

His friend scrunched his nose up and frowned, before he relented and blinked once.

‘My room it is.’ Shoto reluctantly stopped stroking Midoriya and picked him up. After setting him comfortably on his shoulder, he stood up, grabbed the discarded manga and exited the common room.

By the time he entered his dorm room and got Midoriya settled on his futon, his friend was already dozing off again, his breathing evening out as his head rested against the pillow. Smiling softly at the sight, Shoto switched into his pyjamas and laid down next to his friend.

He leant his cheek on his palm and observed his sleeping form, basking in the rare opportunity to shamelessly appreciate Midoriya, one of the most important people in his life, without fear of being discovered. Pointed ears twitched, closed eyes fluttered and his teeth ground together slightly. Shoto watched the small behaviours, heart suddenly feeling too large for his chest as emotion consumed him.

His mouth moved before he could think.

'I'd do anything to protect you, you know?' He whispered softly, reaching a hand out before faltering. 'I promise, I'll try my best to always keep you safe.'

When Midoriya snuggled further into the pillow, Shoto sighed and closed his eyes, sleep slowly returning.

He missed the way verdant eyes opened to regard him with unbridled emotion, before shuffling closer.

🐇🐇

The first thing Shoto's hazy mind thought when he woke up the next morning was Heavy.

Groaning, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, before blinking them open, sleep blurring his vision. When it finally cleared, Shoto noticed that something was laid on top of him…

Or to be more specific, someone.

Or to be even more specific, Midoriya?!

Shoto's eyes widened and his face immediately turned crimson. Midoriya Izuku was in his bed, cuddling Shoto and drooling all over his chest. His fluffy green hair tickled his neck and his large arm was wrapped around his waist protectively.

How did…?

It was only when he remembered the events of yesterday that Shoto realised the quirk must have just worn off in his sleep, causing Midoriya to transform back into his usual self.

Nothing to worry about. Shoto told himself as he tried not to set his blanket on fire. You're glad he's back to normal. No need to feel- Wait…

Shoto narrowed his eyes with suspicion, before he gingerly raised the blanket covering them, his curiosity getting the better of him. When his eyes landed on way too much freckled skin, he suppressed a yelp and dropped the material.

His face felt like it was on fire, but before he could calm himself down, Midoriya suddenly roused. He squished his cheek against Shoto's chest, before he groaned and looked up at him, scratching his disheveled hair and smiling.

'Hey, Todoroki-kun.' He mumbled, before rolling off Shoto and stretching. Luckily, the blanket still covered his lower body, but the frontal view of Midoriya's muscled torso was still too much for Shoto's heart that early in the morning.

'Morning, Midoriya.' He replied, ignoring the way his voice squeaked slightly. 'How do you feel?'

‘I feel great, all thanks to you!’ His friend replied, chirpily. ‘Thank you for looking after me yesterday. I know it was a little difficult at times.’

‘I’ll always look after you, Midoriya.’ Shoto shrugged, ignoring the blush on his cheeks.

‘Does that mean I can still cuddle you when I want to?’ Midoriya wiggled his eyebrows friskily, albeit he chuckled nervously. However, his playfulness was lost on Shoto.

‘Of course, it does.’ He fiddled with his blanket and looked away, realising his bluntness. ‘I like cuddling you and looking after you.’

Midoriya’s teasing smile faltered and he gazed at Shoto, curiously. Several seconds passed, before his friend nudged closer and reached out a trembling hand.

‘What about this?’ He cupped Shoto’s cheek and stroked the area under his scar with a gentleness that juxtaposed the raw strength he knew Midoriya possessed. The touch was so warm, Shoto felt himself nod, eyelids fluttering shut. ‘Good, because yesterday made me realise a lot of things, gave me the opportunity to figure out what I want… What you might want.’

Shoto exhaled shakily at that, not trusting himself to speak.

When Midoriya spoke next, he sounded a lot closer and Shoto’s eyes shot open when warm breath fanned his face. ‘I know that I want to be closer to you, if that’s what you want too? I know this isn’t the same as yesterday, but-’

‘Am I definitely awake right now?’ Shoto interrupted, swallowing heavily.

Midoriya smiled at that.

‘Yes.’

‘Good.’ Shoto placed his hand over the top of Midoriya’s own and leant forward to close the gap between them. He rubbed his lips against his friend’s own, before he kissed him softly, admiring the way slightly chapped lips pressed back. When they pulled away, Midoriya rested his forehead against his own and laughed breathlessly.

‘I’m glad you waited until I turned back into a human before doing that.’

Shoto hummed softly and leant in to whisper in his ear.

‘Well, it’s not every day you wake up to find your best friend naked in your bed.’ He sat back then and waited as verdant eyes widened with realisation and Midoriya lifted the blanket to find that he was, indeed, not wearing any clothing.

‘WHAAA-?!’

#tododeku #todoroki shoto #midoriya izuku #AgarJelly writes #lovely people #bnha #mha #todoizu #todomido #dekutodo #Izubun #rabbit!Midoriya #boku no hero academia #my hero academia

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takerfoxx · 4 years

Text

...But a DICK! or What People Get Wrong About Deconstructions

So I was rewatching a bunch of Honest Trailers recently, and when I saw the ‘Watchmen’ trailer, this golden line came up:

"Meet Rorschach! He’s like Batman… but a DICK!

Meet the Comedian. He’s Captain America… but a DICK!

Meet Dr. Manhattan. He’s Superman… but a DICK!“

Now, I love this line, but it got me thinking. It’s a good observation, but maybe a bit… shallow? Because there’s a tendency I’ve noticed that when people want to write deconstructions on the cheap (see: every grimdark edgelord 'deconstruction’ ever), they will either

a.) Make all the 'deconstructed’ characters douchebags, or

b.) Make them severely mentally ill, and by mentally ill I mean read a comic book about a crazy person once and assumes every mental illness works like that.

But there’s an art to the deconstruction, I think, and after some thought I’ve narrowed it down to three main points:

1.) Go off of characteristics that are already present in what is being deconstructed.

Let’s look at a character from Alan Moore’s critically acclaimed comic book, ‘Watchmen’: Edward Blake, AKA the Comedian. The Comedian was basically an expy for the Peacemaker, a superhero whose whole gimmick was that he preserved world peace by overthrowing dictators and warlords in foreign countries, the big 'joke’ of his comic being that he would use incredibly violent means to do so. Alan Moore didn’t make the Comedian a violent sadist, because evidence of that already existed in the Peacemaker. He just brought it to the FOREFRONT. This is actually why it is surprisingly easy to deconstruct comedies. Comedies (especially adult ones) have characters behave in ways that, while funny in-universe, would be considered sociopathic in real life, ESPECIALLY if the ‘deconstructed’ world is one where cartoon physics no longer apply. It’s also why I feel a lot of grimdark deconstructions of the magical girl Genre don’t really work, because they tend to plant personality traits into characters that magical girls never really had in the shows they claim to be deconstructing.

2.) Understand the GREATER CULTURAL CONTEXT of a character/work

As noted in the above point, the Peacemaker’s shtick was he would go after dictators and warlords in foreign countries, overthrowing them for the sake of preserving the peace. But Alan Moore realized that when countries like, say, America, go after dictators and warlords to preserve democracy, it is almost never JUST to ensure world peace. There is also usually oil or money or something on the line. So that got incorporated into the Comedian’s character, as well. He saves the world… but he is always getting something in return. The Peacemaker was born out of a culture that idolized hyper masculinity, with big guns, ripped abs, and solving everything by violence. The Comedian, likewise, is used to expose the worst aspects of that culture, going as far as assassinating JFK, shooting kids in ‘nam, and showing no remorse. Most importantly, though, Alan Moore never actually frames these things as ‘manly’ or ‘cool’, but SOCIOPATHIC. This is important to me, because in most grimdark ‘deconstructions’, violence is not only shown as the ‘necessary’ way, but also the ‘cool’ way, the ‘awesome’ way. A well-made deconstruction makes you question the violence (albeit it can have some good fight scenes), while a poorly made one revels in gore and body counts.

Another way of looking at the Cultural Context is taking a text written by a problematic author, and looking at the text with the assumption the events really happened, but the narrator is biased. A lot of really good deconstructions of H.P. Lovecraft’s work do this.

3.) For the love of all things holy, please stop with the NICE GUYS FINISH LAST MENTALITY!

There seems to be this popular myth in grimdark deconstructions that

a.) The ‘cynical, edgy’ character will almost ALWAYS turn out to be right or even have the moral high ground.

b.) The ‘naive, nice’ character will always either be killed off early on, or shed their innocence and become and edgy cynic.

To quote Darth Helmet in ‘Spaceballs’:

“Evil will always win, because GOOD is DUMB!”

Except, not really. At all. To get what I’m saying, let’s look at two ‘nice’ characters from popular deconstructions: Dan Dreiberg AKA ‘Nite Owl’ and Madoka Kaname. The former is a kindhearted, humble guy (the superhero he was based on, Blue Beetle, had humility as a defining characteristic) who just wants to do good and help people. In most deconstructions, he would be the first to get killed off, and yet, in ‘Watchmen’:

It is only after he joins Rorschach the latter is able to make ANY leeway into solving the Comedian’s murder. Before, all Rorschach accomplished was land himself in jail. Nite Owl finds out the true culprit in a matter of HOURS. And gets them to ANTARCTICA in a day, no less!

When there is a fight between the two, it is RORSCHACH who apologizes for being difficult to work with, and for being the load. NOT Nite Owl!

Between the Comedian, Rorschach, and Nite Owl, it is NIGHT OWL who winds up with the happiest ending, finding true love and getting to continue being a superhero. The other two wind up having their conscious catch up to them or trapped in their own misery. Also, it is the unambiguously jerkish Comedian who ultimately finishes last!

For Madoka:

Well, you probably already know. She never has to become more cynical to save the day. In fact, one of the reasons I believe Kyubey slipped up is because it confuses Madoka’s kindness with stupidity.

Also, it is the cynical Kyoko who winds up admitting Madoka might have a point about giving kindness a chance and not the other way around.

On a more minor note, if you have a grimdark story and you want to end on a hopeful note, remember Chekov’s gun. Madoka Magica, for instance, had Madoka’s parents. Always there in the back, a constant reminder to their girl (and the audience) that there is good in the world. A lot of grimdark shows that end optimistic never do that kind of thing, so its’ always good to keep track of.

So that is all I’ve got to say. If you ever wonder how I would do a deconstruction, feel free to ask.

All of this is quite true, and it goes back to something I talked about some time ago: a lot of people just don’t get deconstructions. It seems that many think that a deconstruction is when you take something that was originally cheery and idealistic and turn it grimdark and broody, when that is not the case. I mean, Shrek is a deconstruction, and adult humor and slight cynical edge aside, it winds up being very idealistic and not at all grimdark.

Deconstructions do exactly what their name implies: they deconstruct. They examine the elements of a genre that are usually taken for granted and inject a healthy dose of reality into them, not to overly explain how all that weird shit might be possible (and please, don’t get hung up on stuff like that. That’s how we wind up with things like the Midichlorians), but what sort of effect all that weird shit would realistically have on people. With Watchmen, it took the wacky world of superheroes, which had been used to entertain children and as government propaganda, and closely examined the effect actual superheroes would have, both on the men and women wearing the capes and the society around them, going so far as to get into the details of how history would have been reshaped, all the way down to the effect it would have on comic books.

By the same token, Madoka Magica took a good, hard look at how the minds of young girls would really be affected by being given that power, by having to fight every night against horrible monsters, and the sort of things they might wish for in order to gain that power, from the crippling loneliness to the heavy trauma to the spiral downward into depression and self-loathing to the almost sociopathic cynicism.

In short, they’re not about just being dark, violent, and broody, they’re about consequences, the real-life consequences of having people with actual superpowers and/or children being made to fight monsters. That’s what the hordes of cheap imitators that sprung up in their wake so often forget.

And...admittedly it’s something I’ve had to learn myself over the years.

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thecomicsnexus · 5 years

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SUPERMAN: LEVIATHAN RISING / EVENT LEVIATHAN #1-6 / SUPERGIRL #34-35 / ACTION COMICS #1010-1014 / WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #3 JUNE 2019 - JANUARY 2020 BY BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, MARC ANDREYCO, GREG RUCKA, MATT FRACTION, STEVE ORLANDO, STEVE EPTING, ALEX MALEEV, BRAD ANDERSON, SZYMON KUDRANSKI, YANICK PAQUETTE, MIKE PERKINS, STEVE LIEBER, EDUARDO PANSICA, JULIO FERREIRA, NATHAN FAIRBAIRN, PAUL MOUNTS, FCO PLASCENCIA, V. KEN MARION, SANDU FLOREA AND HI-FI DESIGN

SUPER SHORT SYNOPSIS

Late eighties anti-hero recruits spies from all known organizations and takes over Talia’s Leviathan, planning on releasing all types of secrets to the world, thinking Superman would approve.

Lois Lane: more important than anybody in the world.

REVIEW

If you enjoyed “Batman: Hush” and “The Long Halloween”, you will probably like this thing.

When you do a mystery story, the key is to not hide clues to the readers. Otherwise, you are cheating. The excitement of reading this type of stories relies in the user being able to go back and see all the clues to the climax. None of that happens here.

This story started in Action Comics a long time ago, I stopped reading when I realized I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it month to month.

Yes I stopped around the time Lois and Clark revealed they had secret identities as Spyral agents. If you thought was going to play any kind of importance in the story you were wrong. They blow their covers in a few pages. Tiger gives Lois all of Spyral’s secrets. Now, on his defense, he didn’t seem to have much of the choice (unlike other characters), but almost everyone suspected Lois was Leviathan.

And that was one of the many things that are mentioned and are never properly explained. There is a list of suspects, some of the characters named weren’t in the story until that point (and they don’t actually appear either). Then Batman gathers a group of “detectives” that includes Green Arrow and Manhunter. You could think Manhunter was a good option, but it was put there because Batman got manipulated to include her (as she was being framed). However, there were no real reasons to have her there. Then Lois gathers a second group of detectives that includes Harvey Bullock, Zatanna and John Constantine. Also Elongated Man, who at least you could say is a detective. These things just appear out of nowhere. Because Bendis is only showing you what he needs you to see for his story to have something in it. It is very hard not to compare this story with the “Sixth Sense”. In the end, the story only works if you are manipulated to not see things.

Like this scene. We are led to believe Leviathan knows a lot about Plastic Man. He even mentions the Freedom Fighters and the All-Star Squadron. Plastic Man history with those groups relies on a Golden Age existing, and it being the post-crisis history of the DCU. But as Batman later says, Leviathan has access to all the information from all those agencies. It is possible for one of them to have access to other timelines, I suppose.

Also (as introduced in the Year of the Villains special), the bat-family suspects Red Hood is Leviathan. And they even have the theory that he doesn’t know he is Leviathan because Roy Harper just died. This from the group of detectives where the only efficient investigator is Jessica Jones Lois lane.

I forgot Deathstroke was also one of Jessica Jones Lois Lane detectives. I don’t even remember him speaking. Also Renee is there. But why Bullock, was he ever a good detective in the first place?

There is a Wonder Woman annual tie-in that you could easily skip.

As I was saying, information is deceiving during the story, no one acts like themselves, Batgirl accepted to be part of Leviathan to do nothing for 6 issues and then appear with something that will prevent them from exposing everybody’s secrets. Which is very absurd on itself.

But I think the final insult is when Damian looks at Manhunter’s stick and realizes there were other Manhunters before, and this leads to the big reveal. I actually had a facepalm when this happened. Who would have imagined that Mark Shaw was even canon? I know he appeared after the new 52 but he wasn’t manhunter. I mean I guess there were clues because at a certain point Lois and Clark go into a library that has copies of the “Janus directive”. Right?

Mystery cases are hit or miss in comics, mostly because writers don’t do their homework, editors demand casualties and tragedies and characters have to fill up roles they shouldn’t.

Which leads to my main problem with the story. Dialogues and Lois Lane. The dialogues in this book are broken. They add very little to the story and they constantly take you out of it because they don’t sound like themselves. And the main issue seems to be with female characters. They honestly sound like Jessica Jones. Lois Lane seems to be a super-hero here, but she isn’t even working when the story starts. I mean, technically, no one discovers anything.

Why would the reader suspect of Mark Shaw until the end of issue #5? Did I miss anything? Why not Peacemaker?

Also, for the extra giggles, this panel is from Doomsday Clock #11

Who is that Manhunter?

Anyway, I hate to be so critic of Bendis. I really enjoyed his Ultimate Spider-man, but his throw-away dialogues take any story down. In the tie-ins you can read Andreyco’s dialogues and they don’t take you out of the story. They sound as they should. I think he should try what Giffen and DeMatteis did, and concentrate on plot, leaving dialogues to another writer. I am pretty sure Bendis knows how to write these characters, but somehow, in the creative process, he loses himself into these generic characters he likes to write. Then again, the plot of Event Leviathan wasn’t particularly good and his Lois Lane is out of character from the plot.

I was hopeful when they announced his Man of Steel, but he has been disappointing me even more than Tom King.

By the way, there is no ending. There is another phase to this story coming up next year.

The art deserves its own section here, because they are all good artists, even in the tie-ins. There are moments where Alex Maleev does shapes instead of characters, but it’s not that often and I can live with that. In general Event Leviathan kept the aesthetics, and that is more than the standard these days with events.

So very unpredictable mystery thriller paired with amazing artists. Just like “Batman: Hush” and “The Long Halloween”.

I give these issues a score of 6.

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the-desolated-quill · 5 years

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Absent Friends - Watchmen blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. if you haven’t read this comic yet, you may want to before reading this review)

At Midnight, All The Agents managed to set the tone with its cynical and biting critique of superheroes, presenting them as being violent felons or worthless failures indulging in power fantasies. The second issue, Absent Friends, sinks its teeth even deeper as we take a look at the Comedian’s past via flashbacks whilst the other characters attend his funeral and pay their respects.

So lets talk about the Comedian.

Aside from the accusations of rape, the first issue didn’t go into too much detail about Edward Blake, other than that no one besides Rorschach seemed to like him very much. This issue goes into much more detail as we see the Comedian at four major points in his history.

The first flashback is that of the Minutemen back in 1940, where we see Eddie try to rape Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre. It’s a very shocking and disturbing scene, not just because of the fact that he’s supposed to be a superhero, but also because of the sheer brutality of the attack. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons don’t hold back in depicting Comedian’s sickening behaviour, but they also don’t become too indulgent with it. They clearly take no pleasure from depicting this type of sexual violence and there is a legitimate artistic reason why it’s there. Prior to the flashback, we see the two Silk Spectres discuss the Comedian. Laurie is disgusted that Sally would have anything positive to say about Eddie after what he did, but what I find most interesting is a moment during the conversation where Sally shows Laurie a porno comic of her. This, to me, reveals what Moore and Gibbons are getting at here. Namely the role of women in superhero comics.

Female superheroes have always been something of a paradox. They need to be strong and independent, but not too strong and independent. We can’t have Wonder Woman upstaging Superman, now can we? Oh and of course they need to look sexy. Long hair flowing. Plenty of bare flesh showing. Tight leather outfits. High heels. Makeup. Never mind the fact that this getup is not remotely practical or appropriate to fight crime in.

While this sexist attitude is slowly and thankfully fading away from modern comics, historically there has always been this kind of seediness to how women are presented in comics. They’re not there to empower women. They’re there to appeal to the male gaze. Sexy athletic women with massive boobs beating the shit out of baddies. They are, for lack of a better term, sex objects. Watchmen takes this to its extreme, presenting both Silk Spectres as being incredibly sexualised to the point where some characters, like the Comedian and the pornographer who made the comic, perceive them as being little more than sex objects. Not only that, but Sally and Laurie’s different perspectives on this sexualisation reflects the changing attitudes about women in comics at the time. Sally accepts the porno comics and the attempted rape as par for the course. The reality of being a woman. She even chose her costume herself in order to draw attention to herself in the hopes of jump-starting a modelling career. Laurie meanwhile didn’t choose the sexualised image that has been thrust onto her and is very vocal in her distaste toward how she’s perceived and how her mother is willing to brush it aside. People often have a tendency to write off Silk Spectre as being the weak link, but I don’t think that’s fair. There’s a lot going on with this character and in our current age of MeToo and social media empowering women to open up about their experiences, she’s a character that has become more and more relevant as time goes on.

The second flashback depicts Captain Metropolis trying to recruit the main characters into ‘the Crime Busters,’ only for the Comedian to ruin it with his nihilistic attitude. This mainly serves as a takedown of superhero crossovers like Justice League and the Avengers. Rorschach even comments on it, saying it feels more like a publicity stunt. It also serves as subtle foreshadowing for Ozymandias’ plan, but we’ll come to that in a future blog. But most importantly, it displays the Comedian’s changing attitude towards crime fighting. When he was with the Minutemen, he was happy to indulge in his own violent fantasies by beating up criminals, but now he’s become aware of how pointless it all is due to the Cold War. Capes and masks are useless against the nukes.

The next flashback depicts the Comedian and Doctor Manhattan fighting (and winning) the Vietnam War. This is probably my least favourite of the flashbacks and it’s because of Eddie killing a Vietnamese woman he had impregnated months earlier. Whereas the attempted rape of Sally felt thematically justified, the murder of a pregnant woman just felt like shock for the sake of shock and doesn’t really serve a purpose other than to reinforce the fact that the Comedian is a horrible human being. But it does raise an important issue. Superheroes and patriotism.

America has a few superheroes associated with it. Superman. Spider-Man. Captain America. But very rarely do comics explore the impact a superhero would have on a country’s political standing in the world. Having a superhuman associated with your country could tip the scales greatly in your favour, which is exactly what happens in Watchmen. Thanks to Doctor Manhattan and the Comedian, America is able to win the Vietnam War, turning it into the fifty first state. The United States is much more powerful than any country on Earth thanks to the likes of Manhattan, which is what has escalated the Cold War because the Russians are running scared of the threat America poses.

Morally speaking, any superhero who truly believes in justice and heroism should ideally be completely impartial. Siding with one country over another could seriously compromise the hero. But how, you might be tempted to ask. A superhero serving his country doesn’t sound so bad, right? Except there’s a world of difference between fighting for moral good and fighting for your country. This isn’t the same as stopping a mugger and giving an old lady her purse back. In war, good and evil isn’t so clearly defined. So by sending a superhero into a war zone, you’re effectively demonising a whole nation of people. Because the side with the hero must be good and the side fighting the hero must be bad, right? It imposes a black and white mentality onto a situation that is, to put it mildly, incredibly messy.

Another problem with having superheroes in the army (or any form of law enforcement) is that superheroes are a law unto themselves. They exist outside the chain of command. While, yes, the police and the military are both deeply flawed institutions, there are laws and safeguards that (in theory) prevent officers from abusing their power. Superheroes don’t have that. So with no one holding them to account, there’s nothing to stop them from going too far, as we see the Comedian do many times.

Which brings us to the fourth flashback. The police strike of 1977 where we see the Comedian and Nite Owl try to stop the riots and we hear about congress pushing through the Keene Act to outlaw superheroes.

Like Rorschach, the Comedian is also based on a Charlton Comics character. The Peacemaker. A militaristic superhero who believes heavily in pacifism and wishes to bring peace to the world.... through violence.

Yeah, I don’t get it either. But honestly, it feels like Moore and Gibbons are using the Comedian to take the piss out of Peacemaker. He’s a ‘superhero’ and yet we see him fire rubber bullets and tear gas at a crowd of people, murder a pregnant woman and try to rape someone. It’s as if they’re saying that it’s impossible to be both a hero and violent. We have a romanticised view of superheroes fighting crime, but where do we draw the line? Why is the rape of a woman unacceptable, but the beating of a criminal okay? Is it because the criminal is quote/unquote ‘evil?’ So are we saying that a criminal’s life is worthless the minute they break the law? If that’s the case, then the conversation has turned away from superheroes and toward fascism.

Many people describe the Comedian as a nihilist, which is true, but what a lot of people fail to recognise is that all the characters are technically nihilists. They all believe the world has no morality or meaning, but whereas the other characters of Watchmen impose their own personal morality onto the world, the Comedian does the opposite. He embraces the chaos and amorality of the world around him and uses his superhero identity to indulge in sex and violence. It’s what makes the smiley face logo so appropriate for the Comedian. Like the smiley face, superheroes are supposed to represent all that is good and just about this world. But just as the blood stain taints the smiley face, violence and corruption taints the image of the superhero.

The issue ends with Rorschach breaking into the cemetery to pay his respects and his final monologue I think perfectly sums up the despicable, but fascinating nature of the Comedian. In his journal, he tells the joke about Pagliacci, a clown whose act is recommended by a therapist as a cure for a patient’s depression. Except the patient in question is Pagliacci.

What hope does America have when the superhero that’s meant to save them is just as corrupt and amoral as them?

#absent friends #watchmen #alan moore #dave gibbons #dc comics #review #spoilers

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tessatechaitea · 5 years

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Inferior 5 #1

Hopefully this will be like when Giffen made the Legion of Super-heroes super fucking dark.

How many dicks can you find, kids?!

"How many dicks can you find, kids" is the least quotable line I've ever written. The Kamandi just out of surgery cosplayer winds up getting exploded by the kid in the canvas sack face mask. You know the kid is bad news because he can make people explode with his mind. Although if you ran into him in the desert, you wouldn't know that immediately so I should have stated the other ways you can tell he's bad news so as to maybe avoid exploding. First off, he's a kid out in the desert alone. Kids by themselves are creepy. Plus he's wearing a canvas bag on his head. Canvas is always a warning sign that you might be dealing with cannibal hillbillies, especially when it's covering an almost certainly mutilated face. Also, the kid's canvas bag mask has a big red X on it. Anybody who's been through the American educational system has a strong aversion to red X's. Also spooky: the kid recites nursery rhymes. When you hear one of those, you know you're either about to die or laugh hysterically because did you hear how the Diceman said "cock" instead of "clock"?! How did we never stop laughing in the Eighties?! Oh, one more clue that not all is right with this kid: he lives in Dangerfield, Arizona. That's almost as big a red flag as some sweaty, long-haired kid in overalls from Back Swamp, North Carolina. The story picks up with some nerdy kid (probably Merrymaker since he's the big virgin of the group) whining about how his dad died in The Invasion of Metropolis (what was that? Is that a reference to the beginning of The New 52 when Darkseid attacked Earth? Or is this a reference to the Invasion by the Dominators which was compiled in three way-too-long comics?). After the Invasion, he and his mom moved to Dangerfield, Arizona. Because who wouldn't feel safer in a place with a name that causes constant anxiety over a place where the greatest hero in the world lives?

According to the date on this calendar, the Invasion mentioned was the Dominator one which created the Meta-Gene explanation of superpowers which we recently learned was a computer jargon shortening of the term "metal-gene."

The calendar isn't the only proof that this invasion was by Dominators and not Parademons! By turning the page instead of trying to ferret out what's going on by examining every panel carefully and spending an inordinate amount of my short lifespan trying to guess what's about to happen instead of just fucking turning the Goddamned page and letting the writers explain it to me, I discover the Dominators are leading an invasion of Earth Number This Is Fucked Up. At least I think it's Earth Number This Is Fucked Up because the invasion seems to have worked. Superman is dead and most of the other heroes have been placed in a space gulag. Plus that kid in the canvas bag marking X's on houses seems to play an important role in the Dominator's invasion force.

Unless this is all just a comic book on Earth Number Main Earth?

Maybe I should turn some more pages! But first, I just need to Google "Lisa Loeb's boobs." The kid complaining about the Invasion comic book is named Lisa (no relation to Lisa Loeb's boobs) and she points out to the suspiciously bloody comic book seller with a light sensitivity named Vlad that the Invasion really happened. So I guess DC is simply profiting on everybody's pain and misery. I bet just to make the series even more painful and miserable, DC hired Scott Lobdell to write it. Justin, the whiny kid from Metropolis, is being observed by some outside observers (as opposed to inside observers which would be, I guess, parasites?). He heads downtown where he's about to make contact with Dumb Bunny and Awkwardman! Except he doesn't. Man, I should probably read more than two panels at a time before writing anything. It would save everybody a lot of wasted effort, me with writing sloppy synopses of comics and the three people reading this having to fucking read this. But then I don't have any responsibility to anybody to make these "reviews" shorter. It's not my fault if somebody wanted to Google "Lisa Loeb's boobs" but found they didn't have enough time because they were reading this shit. That's their own fault for not prioritizing their desires! Googling "Lisa Loeb's boobs" was so important to me that I did it in the middle of this review! Come on, people. It's the modern age! You can view Lisa Loeb's boobs any time you want (through clothing, that is. I'm not advocating for searching for nude pics of Lisa Loeb's boobs which probably don't exist anyway and if you think they do, it was probably just Lisa Loeb's head photoshopped onto a naked torso). Lisa has been uncovering clues to the weirdness of Dangerfield, Arizona because she dresses like Velma. Unless she dresses like Velma because she searches for clues the way her hero, Velma, searches for clues. I don't know enough about Lisa's backstory to say. It's possible Lisa isn't even aware of Velma and it's just Giffen spending some easy pop culture capital so readers associate Lisa with Velma and understand her more simply by looking at her image.

Here are a bunch of the clues she's uncovered that I didn't want to try to parse through my digressions and fascination with Lisa Loeb.

Billy Shanker, the kid with the canvas bag who says things like, "Oh! The three little kittens! They fucked their mittens! Oh! Look at the way I hold my cigarette! Boom!", murders Justin's mom and takes her corpse to some guy in a hazmat suit that might be a Dominator but also might be, seeing as how Giffen is writing this, Ambush Bug. Man I hope it's Ambush Bug! Justin returns home to find his mother gone and the interior (five?) of his house covered in red X's. Oh no. That's a really bad sign! Not one black check mark in the bunch! Some people might think Keith Giffen isn't the best artist in town because he's a writer and his art isn't for everybody. Plus he never puts any thought into his panel layout and just goes the same size boxes every time (sometimes in the six variety, sometimes in the nine). I happen to love his art so I'm not one of those people. But in keeping with a guy whose art isn't what people would call great (although those people usually love mainstream great garbage art like John Romita Jr or David Finch or Tony S. Daniel), Jeff Lemire draws the back-up story. I don't think that was an insult at Lemire's expense. If it was, I'm sorry because I was really just trying to insult John Romita, Jr and David Finch and Tony S. Daniel. The back-up story features Peacemaker whom I only remember by look. According to the Who's Who, Peacemaker is a guy who loved peace so much that he realized sometimes he'd have to use extreme violence to ensure it. Also he suffered a head injury during Crisis on Infinite Earths which seems like a weird thing to mention in the Who's Who. "Trillions of lives were extinguished during the multiversal extermination event! Billions and billions of worlds destroyed! People's pasts erased in the blink of an eye! Supergirl and Flash and some other people nobody remembers killed! And Peacemaker suffered some head trauma." I suppose it's important to the character. Maybe it was meant to make him more extreme so he'd be relevant in the post-Crisis era. Peacemaker is on a mission for Amanda Waller to find some super weapon that the Russians want. His search leads him to a bunker with a dead Dominator, a mysterious capsule, and a map leading him to Dangerfield, Arizona! Inferior 5 #1 Rating: B+. I'm a sucker for Giffen stories and Giffen art. And Giffen stories backed up by Lemire's writing are probably even better. This one was pretty good so consider it evidence that my previous statement is almost certainly correct. One thing I like about Giffen is that he doesn't mind writing things that can be confusing on their first (or even second!) read through. He tells the story, makes the jokes, slowly unveils the plot, and to hell with anybody who doesn't want to invest a little time in making it all out. Seems to me, a lot of modern comic book readers could learn to love ambiguity. But they're all so desperate for the interior monologue of the main characters so they know exactly what to think after reading something. They're so coddled that they think subtlety is when a story explicitly shows them what's happening without the main character also explaining it in a monologue as they experience it. They wouldn't recognize subtlety if it...well, I mean, it's subtlety. It should be hard to recognize so I don't know how to finish that statement. Now go read Inferior 5 and hate me for recommending it when you're finished.

#Inferior 5 #DC Comics #DC #Keith Giffen #Jeff Lemire

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seasaltmemories · 5 years

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not done with dragon quest xi yet (in the collecting orbs stage) but just some thoughts I’ve had

honestly for having such a cliched story, the presentation of it all makes it work, like it sounds shallow to say it is bc the graphics are pretty and the voice acting is good but for example the scene back in Dundrasil with the Luminary and Rab ended up so much more emotions bc of little things like how Rab’s voice cracked

the characters can be archetypal but I’m still pretty attached to them all bc of what I explain above, so far would like to see more of Serena since she has mostly played the “laidback peacemaker” role and hasn’t gotten many moments to herself

for the stuff like Hotto and its haikus and Nautica and the rhyming, the localization team did a KILLER job of not only making it work, but also sound natural, like during important story parts I never felt the little quirks distracted me, if anything they were a bonus for just how lyrical it made things

I feel like Sylando was meant to be the comic relief but let’s be real the most consistently competent and useful party member was the gay clown until Rab and Jade showed up (and even then it is arguably who qualifies now) it helps that for as flaming he is, there are never jokes at his expense, and he can still be quite serious like when the get stuck in that weird dimension his reaction is mainly “hmm weird, but guess we got to put up with this until we find that lost girl” and then it gets revealed basically he was too good to be lured in by riches and instead the evil demon had to appeal to his selfless nature, I don’t want to give the developers credit when his nature is so ambiguous, but honestly like the moral center of the group and a wonderfully rounded character

Speaking of which while not connected to stereotypes/coding, Veronica gives me so many lesbian vibes with how whenever the quest giver is female she is like “WE MUST HELP THIS BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IMMEDIATELY” like even with Michelle when you’re looking for her fiance Kai, Veronica to him is like “HOW COULD ABANDON SUCH A LOVELY MERMAID!” the fact sometimes she and Sylando form a little duo makes me even further go “wlw/mlm solidarity”

On a different note Rab and Jade’s connection to the MC made me surprisingly emotional, despite him being an emotionless blank-slate just the idea of finding your grandfather and foster sister warms my heart, like that scene where Jade jumps off the cliff after you and is like “this time I’m not letting go” ugh that gets me so bad

I know it is not the intention at all and could still stand to change, but the lack of heterosexuality within the party is really refreshing, moreso bc there are plenty of places where it could exist yet instead you just have good pretty obvious platonic and family shit, it is pretty free of romance and what is there is like I said skews more gay, outside of Sylando I doubt any of this is intentional (and his is already complicated as I mentioned before) but it is nice

overall gameplay wise I love the idea of being able to switch out party members midbattle, it makes me more likely to experiment with party set ups and for the first time ever I’m using stuff like buffs and debuffs seriously bc most bosses you can’t just out punch, I’ve heard a lot of people describe the game as easy and being able to add a fresh party member in the middle can do that, but unlike with octopath traveler (which I am also in the middle of and am enjoying) it makes the bosses less of an endurance test and more fun, it’s been nice have a giant jrpg to sink my teeth into

#seasalt talks #dqxi #tldr I'm having fun

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Suicide Squad Character Guide, Easter Eggs, and DCEU References

https://ift.tt/3ywaJGW

This article contains major spoilers for The Suicide Squad. We have a spoiler free review here.

The DCEU is alive and well and dividing its time between Corto Maltese and Belle Reve prison. James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad gives us the most DC characters in live action in any one movie ever assembled!

OK, fine, the vast majority of them die. And a fair portion of them most folks have never even heard of. But it still counts!

And yes, there are DC Comics Easter eggs in the movie, but perhaps not as many as you might expect. So we’ve decided to split the difference. We’re gonna give you the lowdown on all the characters, especially the obscure ones, and talk about what their existence in this movie means (or could mean) for the wider DCEU. And we’ll still give you all the DC Easter eggs we were able to spot. A real bargain, even though this article didn’t cost you anything!

Let’s take it from the top (cue the Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died”)

HARLEY QUINN

What else can be said about Harley Quinn that we haven’t already said a thousand times? You know who she is, you know where she’s from, and you know all about Margot Robbie’s iconic, for-the-ages performance.

And while the DCEU is pretty loosely connected these days, this is definitely the same Harley from the 2016 movie, although somewhat less male gaze-y in her attire, and one who has definitely moved on from her relationship with the Joker (who doesn’t even get mentioned in this film!). Harley already knowing Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang, and Amanda Waller is all the proof you need that this is a sequel to that film, however loose it may be.

Harley’s relationship status and attitude means that the events of 2020’s Birds of Prey movie also definitely happened, and they’re even referenced (albeit in passing). Hell, you could even say that Harley’s grand escape and the “Harley-vision” that accompanies it comes right out of some of the weirder moments of Birds of Prey. But that’s basically it. We’d like more of Robbie as Harley on our screens, though.

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The Suicide Squad: Margot Robbie On the Enduring Appeal of Harley Quinn

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Margot Robbie Wants Poison Ivy to Join Harley Quinn in the DCEU

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What does Harley Quinn mean for the DCEU? Harley’s intro in 2016’s Suicide Squad helped establish that of all the characters kicking around the DCEU, Batman was the most experienced, as she, Joker, and Bats shared a history dating back several years. At this point, Harley is practically the linchpin of old DCEU continuity, and one of the last remaining cinematic ties to Ben Affleck’s portrayal of the Dark Knight.

BLOODSPORT

The version of Bloodsport we meet in this film bears very little resemblance to his comic book incarnation. The comics version of Bloodsport first appeared in 1987’s Superman #4 by John Byrne, and while elements of the comics character made it to the film, the guy Idris Elba is playing is quite different from his comics counterpart. Let’s start with the similarities…

The name, both the codename and his real name of Robert Du Bois? Check. The thing about him shooting Superman with a Kryptonite bullet? Also check. The rest? Ummm…it’s a loose interpretation.

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The Suicide Squad: How Idris Elba Brings Bloodsport to Life

By Stephanie Williams

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How The Suicide Squad is Different from Guardians of the Galaxy

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Here, Bloodsport has a seemingly never ending arsenal of high tech weapons, which fold and collapse out of each other, meaning he’s seemingly always got the exact tool for the job. But in the comics, Bloodsport was equipped with a tiny teleporter (thanks Lex Luthor!) which allowed him to seemingly “materialize” whatever weapon he needed at any given moment. The comics version of Bloodsport was much less of a “purely competent badass” and much more of a tragic, traumatized, and deluded figure…and a mass shooter, to boot.

This isn’t quite a comics thing, but when Bloodsport throws his earpiece in disgust near the end of the film after having enough of taking orders from Waller and company, it’s vaguely reminiscent of the final shot in the first (and by far the best) Dirty Harry movie, when Clint Eastwood’s Harry Callahan, disillusioned with the constraints of the system, flings his badge and walks away.

What does Bloodsport mean for the DCEU? It’s a little frustrating to know that Henry Cavill’s DCEU Superman is still out there having adventures that we’ll probably never get to see. Cavill deserves another chance in the cape, damn it! Alas, Warner Bros. seems to have different (and very cool) plans for Superman on the big screen these days.

PEACEMAKER

Peacemaker is a weird character, folks. The character first appeared back in 1966, and wasn’t a DC character…he was published by the now defunct Charlton Comics, whose characters like the Question, Blue Beetle, and Captain Atom were later acquired by DC and folded into their own continuity. And you know what else those characters have in common? They became the inspirations for the main characters in Watchmen, with Watchmen’s Comedian functioning as a kind of adaptation of Peacemaker.

Comics Peacemaker is pretty different (except in looks) to the guy we meet in this film, though. Initially a pacifist using non-lethal weapons, he was reinvented by DC in the ‘80s as a bloodthirsty character with some serious mental issues. Namely, he believed that the souls of the people he killed were then trapped in his distinctive helmet and talking to him. Uhhhh…

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The Suicide Squad: John Cena and the Secrets of Peacemaker

By Nick Harley

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The Suicide Squad: Inside James Gunn’s DCEU Supervillain War Movie

By Mike Cecchini

He’s popped up a handful of times in DC continuity over the last 35 years, but there’s no version of the character you could safely consider definitive. He’s appearing in the current (and very good) run of DC’s Suicide Squad comics, as well. Like Bloodsport, the origin explained for him onscreen here has nothing to do with his comics counterpart.

What does Peacemaker mean for the DCEU? Well, he’s still alive (as we see in that post-credits scene) for starters. He’s also getting his own HBO Max series, which James Gunn is showrunning, writing, and directing quite a bit of. And since he’s still loyal to Amanda Waller, it would seem that any future Suicide Squad sequels will rest firmly on John Cena’s broad shoulders.

RICK FLAG

Ah, Rick Flag, we hardly knew ye. Joel Kinnnaman gives Flag a much more likeable makeover in this film, and the character is even rocking a yellow t-shirt in honor of the John Ostrander-written Suicide Squad comics of the 1980s that influenced so much of this film.

In the comics, Rick was a career military man, like his father before him (we assume this is also Rick Flag, Jr. just like in the comics). Screen Rick’s sense of duty and honor would seem to indicate that’s the case here, too.

What does Rick Flag mean for the DCEU? Well…unfortunately, he’s dead, so not much. Unless it turns out that Task Force X has been cloning Rick Flags for use on Suicide Squad missions for years or something, we don’t expect to see him again. In any case, that sure was an epic way for him to go out!

KING SHARK

Whoever thought that a ‘90s Superboy villain would become one of the most beloved characters of the blockbuster season? The Suicide Squad isn’t King Shark’s first foray into live action (that would be The Flash TV series) but this is easily his biggest stage yet.

Since his first appearance in 1994, King Shark has been a Superboy baddie, an Aquaman villain, has fought for the bad guys in assorted Crises, a kinda ally to a different version of Aquaman, and our personal favorite, a member of the Squad-adjacent team of antiheroes and mercenaries known as the Secret Six, where writer Gail Simone delivered some of the character’s most memorable and delightful moments.

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The Suicide Squad: How King Shark and Starro Were Brought to Life

By Don Kaye

Oh, and when we first meet him he’s trying to read William James’ The Varieties of Religious Experience. But it’s upside down.

What does King Shark mean for the DCEU? Well…we would very much like to see him show up in Aquaman 2, known as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It would be a tremendous missed opportunity if not, even if it’s just for a cameo. Don’t those weird/adorable/scary Clyrax just look like they were designed for James Wan’s Aquaman world?

And c’mon, James Gunn’s next DC movie should absolutely be Secret Six, where King Shark is really most at home!

AMANDA WALLER

Viola Davis is a national treasure, and her Amanda Waller performance makes the character perhaps the most malevolent of all these kind of not-quite-good guys. Sure, we’ve had other live action Amanda Waller performances, but nobody captures the no-nonsense, morally gray Waller like Davis has here.

What does Amanda Waller mean for the DCEU? At the end of the first Suicide Squad movie, we had that little tease of Amanda dealing with Bruce Wayne and General Wade Eiling. While the DCEU as a whole isn’t terribly connected these days, it would be great if we could see more of Davis’ Waller lurking in the shadows, pulling the strings, and maybe even putting events in motion that ultimately lead to the formation of that aforementioned Secret Six team…

That being said, we’re not holding our breath for it, either. Then again, it’s quite easy to imagine a world where Waller is taking a pronounced interest in someone like Black Adam coming out of hiding.

STARRO

The villain of The Suicide Squad actually began life as…a Justice League villain! And not just any Justice League villain, the FIRST Justice League villain! Yes, Starro has been kicking around DC Comics since 1960 and the very first appearance of the JLA.

While kaiju-sized from the start, Starro’s very creepy ability to spawn spores that are essentially facehuggers didn’t come around until a post-Alien world. This suddenly made Starro a much cooler, and more in-demand threat, and despite there being 17 years between their first and second appearance, since then, Starro has become a regular pain-in-the-face for the entire DC Universe.

Thinker naming the creature “Starro the Conqueror” as a derisive nickname is a reference to how the character is referred to in the comics…and it was literally the text on the cover of its first appearance.

We get lots of imagery of group shots of “Starro zombies,” folks wearing the ol’ Starro facehugger. That’s a recurring image in the comics, and one that comes to mind is the cover of Justice League Europe #26.

Oh, and that’s Taika Waititi voicing Starro, in his second role in the film! (more on the other one in a moment)

What does Starro mean for the DCEU? Well, aside from the fact that we’ve been robbed of a Justice League vs. Starro movie now, there’s no reason to believe that we couldn’t potentially have Starro back. A spore could have escaped. Starro themself could be a giant spore of its own hivemind.

And while it’s unlikely that we’ll get Starro as a primary antagonist ever again in a DCEU film, it would be pretty cool to see the creature or the species referenced in something like the upcoming HBO Max Green Lantern Corps TV series.

CAPTAIN BOOMERANG

One of the few returning characters from the first film, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang…dies pretty early in the movie. He’s even more gleefully over the top here than he was in 2016, which is pretty appropriate. Boomer was a founding member of the comic book version of the Squad (reluctantly of course) where he was always portrayed as the most dislikeable and abrasive of all the characters.

What does Captain Boomerang mean for the DCEU? His death here is a genuine surprise, though. Captain Boomerang has always been a pretty high profile Flash villain. And yes, we had that little cameo of him and Ezra Miller’s Flash in the theatrical version of Justice League, Courtney seemed destined to appear one day in at least a small role in some version of The Flash movie for WB. Alas, that now appears to be off the table. Ah, well…

THE THINKER

There have been so many different versions of Thinker in DC Comics history and…Peter Capaldi is playing none of them. Not a one.

This is a brand-new (sorta) version of the character named Gaius Greeves. He looks like an unnamed version of Thinker who appeared in DC’s post-New 52 continuity in 2014, though, and that character definitely had a Squad connection.

What does Thinker mean for the DCEU? Historically, Thinker in various incarnations has been a Flash villain. Hell, a version of the character was the primary baddie on an entire season of The Flash! But like our pal Captain Boomerang, any hope of seeing Thinker match wits with the DCEU Flash are now over.

Although wouldn’t it be kinda cool if the DCEU gets around to introducing Jay Garrick and we learn that ol’ Gaius once had a beef with him? OK, fine, we’re not counting on it, either.

POLKA-DOT MAN

Poor Abner Krill couldn’t be more different than his comic book version…despite his remarkably accurate costume. Polka-Dot Man is a Batman villain dating all the way back to 1962, except there, he wasn’t the unfortunate recipient of an alien virus with grotesque polka-dot mutations and vomiting and…oh you get the picture.

Comics Abner Krill just had a costume full of trick, high-tech polka-dots. He um…he was not a major villain.

What does Polka-Dot Man mean for the DCEU? Other than the STAR Labs connection, and we believe this is the first mention of STAR Labs since the “Snyderverse” collapsed, not a hell of a lot. Abner is dead, and he ain’t coming back. Although it’d be pretty awesome if it turns out that it was Batman who put Abner away, since we know that in DCEU continuity Bats has been punching bad guys longer than anyone else.

RATCATCHER

Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2 is a brand new character created for this movie. We think she rules. However, if you’re looking for a comic book connection, we need to go back to her “dad” played in that cool Taika Waititi cameo.

Ratcatcher first appeared in a 1988 issue of Detective Comics, where he was a disgruntled former murderer who was kidnapping everyone responsible for putting him in prison, and holding them prisoner in the sewers. Oh, and he controlled rats. He was far less sweet and charming than either of our DCEU Ratcatchers. Oh, and that story has a panel where Batman vomits sewage because he nearly drowns in it. Good times.

But even that pretty malevolent comics Ratcatcher probably isn’t quite the Ratcatcher of the DCEU. After all, Ratcatcher 2 is named Cleo Cazo, and comics Ratcatcher was Otis Flanagan, and Otis didn’t seem nearly as sympathetic as Taika’s performance here.

What does Ratcatcher mean for the DCEU? Other than the possibility that this was someone else Batman put in Belle Reve? Not a lot. Although since Ratcatcher 2 lives on, we’d love to see her in another Suicide Squad movie, or make her a cornerstone of a live action Secret Six or something.

SAVANT

In the comics, as in this film, there isn’t a heckuva lot to say about Savant. What’s interesting is that he was a key player in one of Gail Simone’s earliest Birds of Prey storylines. Michael Rooker looks remarkably like his DC Comics counterpart in that wig, though.

What does Savant mean for the DCEU? Going forward? He’s dead, so not much. But in the past? Is it possible he ran afoul of Birds of Prey’s Huntress or Black Canary and that’s how he ended up in the Squad? We’d like to think so.

Also, one interesting bit about ol’ Savant. He started off as a guy who thought he could be a costumed vigilante. Of course, he was in it for all the wrong reasons and got a stern talking to from Batman and that set him on his life of crime. We’d like to imagine Ben Affleck’s Batman telling Michael Rooker’s Savant “you’re not morally equipped for this job,” just like he did in the comics!

TDK

“The Detachable Kid” is actually a riff on an obscure Legion of Super-Heroes and Legion of Substitute Heroes character named…Arm-Fall-Off Boy. I couldn’t make that one up if I tried, folks. His powers are identical, although his comics look is pretty different.

What does TDK mean for the DCEU? OK, so bear with me for a moment…what if TDK is actually from the 31st Century and ended up back here somehow before he found himself stuck with the Squad? Until they say otherwise, this is my headcanon. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go write up a headline called “How The Suicide Squad Confirms the Legion of Super-Heroes in the DCEU” which will get me hate mail for the rest of the summer.

BLACKGUARD

Blackguard is a pretty minor DC villain, mostly notable for being the baddie in the very first Booster Gold comic! He’s a much beefier, more heavily armored character than the guy we get on screen here, but honestly…not much more interesting. And yes, his name really is Dick Hertz.

What does Blackguard mean for the DCEU? Look, if Blackguard exists, Booster Gold exists. I’ve been waiting for a Booster Gold movie forever now, and it’s long overdue. It’s time. Come to think of it, this would also be perfect for James Gunn to direct.

WEASEL

Weasel was a Firestorm villain from the 1980s who…was actually a dude in a weasel suit. A disgruntled college loser who took revenge on people later in years for uh, calling him a weasel back in their younger days. The character was later revamped as a more kind of, well, traditionally animalistic/weaselly figure, but the version we meet in this film has more in common with Bloom County’s Bill the Cat than any of his DC Comics incarnations.

What does Weasel mean for the rest of the DCEU? He’s still alive! Count your children! Bring on Firestorm! OK, but in all seriousness, Firestorm would look pretty cool on a big screen budget.

JAVELIN

Javelin was a Green Lantern villain, believe it or not. See, back in the day, Green Lantern was powerless against the color yellow, hence this guy’s color scheme. Flula Borg has a remarkably accurate translation of Javelin’s comics costume in this film, and the character is pretty much exactly as he was portrayed in his early comics appearances, cool accent and all.

Amazingly, this is the second Watchmen connection of this piece (wait, what?). You see, Javelin was created by Len Wein (editor of Watchmen) and Dave Gibbons (co-creator and artist of Watchmen). So, not quite as direct a connection as Peacemaker, but a connection nonetheless.

What does Javelin mean for the DCEU? As far as I’m concerned, this is proof that Earth has a Green Lantern, despite the fact that we haven’t seen a modern day, human Green Lantern Corps member in official DCEU continuity yet. But someone had to put him in Belle Reve, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s Hal Jordan.

MONGAL

Mongal is a member of a warlike, and immensely powerful alien race. She’s also the daughter of Mongul, the ruler of Warworld and the villain of one of the greatest Superman stories ever told, “For the Man Who Has Everything” by the Watchmen creative team of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Mongal um…didn’t live long in the comics, either.

What does Mongal mean for the DCEU? If Mongal exists, then this is proof that Mongul and Warworld exists. And once again, I am annoyed that Henry Cavill isn’t getting another shot as Superman. An adaptation of “For the Man Who Has Everything” would actually be a brilliant move for the DCEU, albeit a weird one.

If Warner Bros. wanted to do something more traditional with the character, the Superman “Exile” story would also make for great big screen fodder, taking Superman offworld and into Mongul’s gladiatorial contests. Anyway…there’s two more DCEU Superman movies that should have happened for ya!

CALENDAR MAN

That’s Sean Gunn in a cameo as Calendar Man (yep) shouting “You fucking pussy” in Belle Reve.

What does Calendar Man mean for the DCEU? Hey, maybe we’ll get a live action adaptation of Batman: The Long Halloween one day! On second thought, maybe that’s not such a great idea.

DOUBLE DOWN

And right behind him? That would be Double Down, a playing card themed villain perhaps “best” known as a minor Flash villain.

What does Double Down mean for the DCEU? Pretty much exactly what you’d expect. Feel free to imagine he was locked up by Ezra Miller’s Flash, though.

JOTUNHEIM

The fortress known as Jotunheim here does indeed have a comics connection. It was the site of the comic book Squad’s very first mission in 1987’s Suicide Squad #1. That being said, the nature of the mission itself and even the location couldn’t have been more different than what we got in the movie, but it’s a nice little callback.

It isn’t the only reference to that famed first issue, either! The yellow shirt Rick Flag wears throughout this movie (minus the logo) was also pioneered in that comic, and there’s also…

JOHN ECONOMOS

Steve Agee’s non-King Shark motion capture performance is as John Economos, one of Waller’s flunkys. In the comics, Economos is the warden of Belle Reve, and he also first appeared in Suicide Squad #1 which was written by…

JOHN OSTRANDER

Wait, John Ostrander isn’t a DC character! No, but he IS the person most responsible for the Suicide Squad as we know them. He has a cameo in the film as “Dr. Fitzgibbon.” This isn’t a DC Comics character, but it IS the second time Gunn has snuck a “Dr. Fitzgibbon” into his films…the other was in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie when a Dr. Fitzgibbon was treating Meredith Quill as she was dying.

SENATOR CRAY

A throwaway line in the film refers to “Senator Cray,” and this is no accident either. Senator Joseph Cray was indeed a minor Suicide Squad character, who only appeared in three stories. He was corrupt, so the idea that anyone is playing golf with him in the DCEU doesn’t say great things about them.

CORTO MALTESE

DC fans will recognize the fictional nation of Corto Maltese from its central role in Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley’s incredible The Dark Knight Returns. From there, you’ll know it from its mentions in Tim Burton’s Batman movie and various namedrops on assorted Arrowverse TV shows. The Suicide Squad marks the first time we’ve spent significant time there on the big screen.

But the Corto Maltese name goes back further than The Dark Knight Returns. Miller named the fictional country after Hugo Pratt’s beloved comic book series featuring a sailor of the same name.

It doesn’t appear that Silvio Luna, Matteo Suarez, or the Herrera family depicted in the movie have any additional comics connections, though.

What does Corto Maltese mean for the DCEU? Well, if we ever get that live action Dark Knight Returns adaptation with Ben Affleck, this place will be a movie hotspot once again!

GBS

It’s always a nice touch when we see a TV broadcast coming from a GBS network. GBS is the Galaxy Broadcasting System, one of the biggest fictional news conglomerates in the DC Universe. It’s owned by Morgan Edge, who depending on what version of the character you’re looking at has connections to Darkseid and Apokolips (paging fans of Zack Snyder’s Justice League) or Krypton (hello Superman & Lois!).

What does GBS mean for the DCEU? Not much, but it’s popped up in several movies now, and it’s one of the few pieces of worldbuilding connective tissue still holding the DCEU together.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Suicide Squad Character Guide, Easter Eggs, and DCEU References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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sharethisgemwithme · 6 years

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“Now We’re Only Falling Apart” instant reaction

I avoided Tumblr from Monday afternoon through Tuesday night, when I had my first chance to watch the new episodes. I gave “NWOFA” a first watch and a second, more deliberate watch, and both reactions are below. I was blind to the episode, but had seen the promos.

TONIGHT: The Heart of the Crystal Gems arc kicks off with "Now We're Only Falling Apart". Given the commercials we had, starting literally seconds after "A Single Pale Rose" ended, we know Garnet's the one literally falling apart, and Sapphire's gonna run away screaming and crying. After last episode's hilariously low-key description "Steven helps Pearl find her phone", we get the even more obviously-misleading "Pearl tells a story." So I wonder if Steven will be able to free Pearl from the command to Never Speak of This Again, so that she can explain the situation to Amethyst and Ruby. I also wonder whether my parents' DVR system, which has been malfunctioning and cutting out multiple times today while my mother tries to watch old game shows, will crap out right in the middle of either of the episodes I'm planning to watch tonight (now that they've gone to bed). Well, I guess we'll find out!

As always, my first watch is without pausing or rewinding. The stopwatch starts as close to "We..." as possible.

0:00 - Don't know who's boarding anything this week. 0:22 - Lamar and Christine? That sounds like a new person. 0:29 - Garnet's in quiet fury... 0:45 - OK, Pearl is released from that command. 0:55 - She probably did. 1:07 - And here we go. 1:17 - She's entirely right about being pissed off about this. 1:35 - Any longer and the entire Atlantic Ocean will freeze over. 1:49 - Sapphire, don't hold this against Ruby. 1:59 - Now, Ruby's gonna burn the fucking house down. 2:13 - Well she probably was. OK, she still is. 2:32 - "A future I couldn't see because it wasn't there." 2:57 - "I was given to Pink Diamond." That's what we thought, and now we've heard it from the source. 3:15 - PD is still a bratty little kid. 3:36 - Somewhere in the Appalachians, it looks. 3:58 - So that's what it looks like when gems begin. 4:12 - Pearl back in her "All I can do is exactly what you tell me to" phase is a little creepy. 4:38 - HOLY SHIT, IT WAS PEARL'S IDEA? 4:58 - Star eyes! 5:28 - You weren't hard to convince, Pink. 5:54 - So are these the ones who were eventually in the Zoo? 6:12 - I don't remember what our Amethyst's ID was. Was it 6XM? 6:30 - Basically the entire Earth was just a game to them. 6:49 - Kinda like the pre-cursor to "Something Entirely New". Are we going to get an inadvertent Rainbow "Quartz"? 7:17 - Humans! 7:40 - Perfectly-timed storm. 8:00 - Sapphire's got a point. Nobody is completely wrong here... 8:27 - And seriously, where the hell is White Diamond in all this? 8:46 - Oh hey, Topazes. 8:58 - OH SHIT. WE ARE GONNA GET RAINBOW QUARTZ, AREN'T WE? 9:09 - HAHAHAHA THIS WAS A FANCOMIC AND IT WAS BRILLIANT. 9:28 - Imagining things is your job, Pearl. 9:39 - "I'm not yours". Wait, are you? 9:48 - THERE SHE IS. DAMMIT! FOR LIKE, HALF A FUCKING SECOND. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 10:28 - Who else was in the rebellion then? Was it basically nobody? 11:06 - Yeah, Ruby left. Hopefully Amethyst knows where she wound up?

CREDIT NOTES: Well, we've got a song coming up, probably in the next episode (based on promotional copy), "Ruby Rider".

Second watch thoughts below the cut:

Christine Liu is new to Steven Universe, according to IMDB, but has done work for Apple & Onion, a recent CN show I know nothing at all about, and for a recent TMNT series. Don't know whether she's a long-term add or a one-off guest.

Pearl sounds so relieved to be able to spill the beans. Amethyst is treating this all like a big ol' joke.

There's been some speculation about whether "Don't ever question this" was (inadvertently or otherwise) a Diamond command. Sapphire sure is acting like it was.

Loreweaver recently brought up again a post he'd made, way back during "Mindful Education" about how the relationship between Ruby and Sapphire, and how it isn't just "Sapphire takes care of Ruby", but in this moment of anger, Sapphire sounds like that's what it feels like right now. "You never know what's going on!" can be a playful jab or an angry put-down depending on how it's said, and it's clearly the latter here.

And what's worse, because of how pivotal Rose was to the notion of Garnet BEING Garnet, Sapphire thinks the whole thing was a set-up or at least a terrible idea.

"C'mon Pearl. Help me explain everything to Sapphire." Steven, you don't have any explaining to do. Pearl's still got a shit-ton, though.

Is it even meterologically possible for it to be snowing as high up as the Sky Arena is? Wait no never mind ignore that it's Rose's Fountain, not the Sky Arena.

"Our friends: shattered and corrupted. Of course she was a diamond. What a long road she took to torture us like this." Whatever Pink's plan was as Rose, it got away from her. Even before the Corruption, there was a thousand-year-long war which was absolute hell for everyone. At no point did Pink think "Oh hey, maybe this wasn't the best way to go about this plan?"

Steven's attempt to play peacemaker (as always) is appreciated, but Sapphire's right: "I don't know that" she didn't want to hurt anyone, and seriously, Steven, neither do you anymore.

Pink!Pearl taking every question and command literally is great, and we deserve more of these flashbacks.

Pink's so bored of her life, and worried every minute with "What will Blue and Yellow think?" Seriously, how removed from all these proceedings is White?

They made the rotation of the gem look so easy as to be unremarkable. I'm still annoyed by that being glossed over.

The music during Rose's exploration of Earth is preeeeeeetty.

It's a little unnerving that Pearl's response to Rose's epiphany is "I shouldn't have brought you here." It reminds me of that old joke, "If I tell you, do you promise not to get mad?"

Pink really did give a shit, she was on her knees begging Blue to do something. The Zoo is still fucked up though.

"Her status meant nothing to Blue and Yellow". That line is such a close cousin to "My purpose, your status, it will all mean nothing" from "Pale Rose".

While Rose is freaking out about Garnet's existence, the thirst with which Pearl is staring at her. "Wait, we can do that? Fuck yeah, sign me up." And then she GOES FOR IT.

That comic I was talking about is here although it has Pearl on top of Rose rather than vice versa.

OK, I misunderstood the "I'm not yours" line on first watch. She's telling her real-gem fanfiction of how she meets the beautiful Rose Quartz.

Now that I think about it, I'm curious. When did the real Rose Quartzes begin to emerge? We know they're out there, because they're imprisoned at the Zoo.

Seriously WHAT A FUCKIN' TEASE that glimpse of the original Rainbow was! And Pearl with the understatement "This is very not allowed."

lol at ruby misjudging the amount of space needed to write "SAPPHIRE" so that she has to run onto a second line.

#now we're only falling apart #heart of the crystal gems #steven universe #instant reaction #su liveblog #su spoilers

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88y53 · 7 years

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MCU X-Men Wish List

Since it's all but an absolute certainty that Marvel is getting back the X-Men and Fantastic Four (I'll get to them another time), I decided to share a little list of things I hope they do with their newly acquired IP. Please note that these are what I specifically want/would think is interesting, so don't take this as any kind of objective stance on the issue.

1) Make it a TV show

We've seen some good X-Men movies, but we've seen a lot of bad X-Men movie. I personally think that the mutants of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters are better suited to a more episodic format. Take inspiration from the Chris Claremont era and put the "opera" back into the soap opera. Dig deep into the characters, really explore what makes them tick, get into the really nitty-gritty aspects of their world. I've never watch a perfect X-Men movie because there is way too much story to tell to fit in a two and a half hour film. We're in the platinum age of television, and I'd love to see the X-Men get the Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, or even Daredevil treatment.

2) Make it realistic

I'm not saying "Nolenize" it, but make it scientific and logical. I love when creators go the extra mile to scientifically justify superpower (like using quantum tunneling to explain Kitty Pryde's phasing), and make the discrimination of the mutants realistic for once. Time and time again we've beaten over the head with the "humans are prejudiced" trope to the point where it's just boarders on parody. Like the time when Iceman saves an old woman from being crushed by a falling Sentinel, only to get a glass beer bottle smashed against his head for his effort.

3) Make it 21st Century

You could get social media involved with a something similar to #BlackLivesMatter; maybe #Genodiversity could be the next big trend on Tumblr, or maybe people on Twitter could be complaining about SJWs petitioning for more mutant exposure in popular media. Maybe the Cyclops organizes the X-Men brand as a symbol of mutant rights like the LGBT flag. Who wouldn't love to see a mutant pride parade? John Oliver or Stephan Colbert could invite Professor Xavier or Dr. McCoy onto their shows and discuss Human-Mutant co-existence. Maybe misinformation could spread about vaccines causing mutations, or fallout from all the atomic bomb testing in the fifties. Just look at the mutant worldbuilding tag on here for inspiration.

4) Be scientifically accurate for once

I'm sick of hearing that mutants are the "next stage in human evolution". THAT'S NOT HOW EVOLUTION WORKS! If mutants were so fundamentally different from humans, they wouldn't be able to interbreed. Recent studies have shown that Europeans and Asians have a small percentage of Neanderthal ancestry in their DNA (Africans don't because Neanderthals didn't exist in Africa), which suggests that they were absorbed into the H. Sapiens population rather than dying off through genocide or competition. I'd treat the mutation as just that -- a mutation, no different than autism. You can still have the "next stage in evolution" rhetoric, but have it come from Magneto or Mister Sinister. And maybe mutation doesn't always give you laser beams or metal claws, maybe a percentage of mutant fetus develop in-utero tumors that lead to still-births, or extreme human vestigiality or atavism. That would explain the Morlocks and create tension among different mutants -- the ones who had the privilege of being born with "invisible mutation".

5) Make the characters true to the comics

Make Cyclops the official Captain America of the team (and don't make him a stoic asshole), bring Wolverine back to the ugly five-foot tank he was supposed to be (I'm thinking a short Spike from Buffy), make Storm a pacifist, give back Iceman's hothead, make Nightcrawler a wisecracker whose crying on the inside (and use his fingering faith a personal journey) make Jean the empathetic peacemaker rather then the obligatory center of a love-triangle, and keep Mystique's sociopathy (we're talking about a woman who would gladly abandon her baby in the woods to escape an angry mob).

6) Stop with the gay metaphor

Mutation should be a catch-all metaphor for just about any kind of discrimination or social ostracism; sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural heritage, creed, economic status, ect. Just settling on homosexuality is a bit unimaginative. Basically, I want the X-Men to be about building a legitimate sub-culture and societal niche, and the struggle to be accepted.

7) Change Prof. X

Professor X's goals never made any sense to me; he wants to establish human/mutant relations, but he just seems to fight for an established status quo and spouts homo-superior nonsense. Why not make his school publicly a haven for mutants? Get human teachers? Enroll human students? Debunk paranoid propaganda about "homo superiors" and talk about how mutants are basically identical to baseline humans (save for some randomization in Junk DNA). Be an actual Martin Luthor King Jr. Nothing gets accomplished hiding in your Westchester mansion and letting the ignorant masses hate you.

8) Change Magneto

Have him be the proponent of mutant superiority. I'm not saying "make him a nazi", but make him a kind of knight Templar meets Che Guevara: a controversial figure to some, and a charismatic revolutionary to others. A man who fanatically wants to protect his mutant brethren by any means necessary. I'm kind of torn on the holocaust survivor origin because while it's an integral part of his character, it's just not possible anymore. No amount of diet or exercise could possibly justify the longevity of a man pushing triple digits. The point is he has to hate humans for legitimate reasons, so why not make him a Jewish immigrant that endured the iron boot heel of the Soviet Union? During the Cold War, the Russians spent considerable time and money researching pseudoscientific powers like ESP, and you can bet your ass they would've investigated people like little Erik Lensher. So, there you go, a sound reason for why he'd hate humans and think they're out to get mutants, and allowing him to be still (relatively) young (granted, pushing 60, but better than mid-90's).

9) Make Kitty Pryde the main protagonist

Follow the Claremont era and start with the addition of Shadowcat to the Giant-Size X-Men -- Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine.

10) Keep Wolverine in the back

Everybody knows that Wolverine is the coolest X-Man. WE GET IT! Give someone else the spotlight for once! *Cough* Cyclops *Cough*.

11) Keep it fun but make it dramatic

Marvel has pretty much patented "fun and drama" so I don't think they'll struggle here.

12) Get Comicbookgirl19 as a creative consultant

This one is a no-brainer. CBG19 knows her shit, and especially knows her X-Men shit. If you want a true-to-source material adaptation of the Merry Mutants of Marvel, get her on the phone.

So, that's it. I really can't think of anything more to say. If you think I forgot something or wish to add your own spin, feel free.

#MCU #MCU X-Men #X-Men homecoming #X-Men mcu

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placetobenation · 4 years

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Lots of news coming out of DC Fandome that was held recently. Probably the most anticipated was James Gunn’s cast list of his follow up to Suicide Squad. Now I’m not a fan of the franchise, but with what’s happening now – I am. James Gunn also is no slouch by any means – so he just may have the golden touch to turn this disaster of a franchise around.

SUICIDE SQUAD II

Viola Davis will reprise her role as Amanda Waller while Joel Kinnaman will play Colonel Rick Flag and Michael Rooker will play Savant. Flula Borg will step into the role of Javelin and of course, Margot Robbie will continue to cause trouble as Harley Quinn. David Dastmalchian will see spots as Polka Dot Man and Daniela Melchior will be Ratcatcher 2. Idris Elba will be armed as Bloodsport and Steve Agee will play King Shark. Mayling Ng will portray Mongal and Peter Capaldi will get brainy as Thinker and Alice Braga will be Sol Soria. Rounding out the bunch is Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Nathan Fillion as TDK, Sean Gunn as Weasel, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and John Cena as Peacemaker.

Let me tell you what I like about this. Idris Elba as Bloodsport I think could run away with the movie – and Pete Davidson as Blackguard could make it ten times worse. So it’s a crap shoot – but like I said – James Gunn is no slouch, he knows what the audience wants, he knows what comic fans want, and he understands the comic book universe. I would love to see this thing in theaters – I’m sure Margot Robbie worked out her accent by now and maybe it’s actually worth listening to this time around.

THE BATMAN

Also during DC Fandome – The Batman got his due in the spotlight with a trailer of footage put together so far from what has been shot.

The director Reeves has stated on the panel at DC Fandome that his Batman is Batman Year Two.

“It’s not an origins tale, but you’re meeting him in the early days. A lot of the other (cinema) stories showed he had to master his fear and himself, to become Batman,” said Reeves, but in his movie “we met in the middle of this criminological experiment and watch him make mistakes.”

Paul Dano plays a version of Riddler that we have never seen before, which will be interesting. Andy Serikis plays a new rendition of Alfred. Colin Farrell plays Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin, before he becomes The Penguin. I believe each of these villains do not exactly know their potential as of yet, neither does The Batman. I think as the movie grows, they will all grow into their characters and be ready for future films and fights. Selina is even making an appearance in this – before she becomes Catwoman. So it seems we will get to know all these characters before their iconic status and be able to grow along with them – including The Batman, which could make for a very smart choice. I am excited to see this simply because it’s not Hollywood studio cinema with nipples on costumes and fake explosions everywhere.

BLACK ADAM

The Rock gave some sweet info on his new DC character, Black Adam. Confirming that his film will include Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher. Which is great because Hawkman has always been one of my favorites and his character is wonderfully suited to some cinematic tales. Finally… The Hawkman has come back… to – well you know the rest.

Asked if Superman will appear in Black Adam, we know that Cavill is signed to appear in one of the future DC movies – Rock would not answer directly as to which one.

The Rock had a message for existing DC superheros Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg about Black Adam: “Let them know something — things will never be the same hierarchy in the DC universe, it’s about to change.”

THE FLASH

The Flash team had some news about the new stand alone film starring Flash. It was suggested that there will be some kind of time travel involved. This scares me because we have had nothing but time travel from these superhero movies ever since their inception. X-Men time travel all the time and Avengers of course, had time travel in spades. So the fact that time travel is being used again – makes me very weary and almost think that they had absolutely no idea what to do with The Flash. Let’s hope I’m wrong. Oh, and they revealed that Flash will wear a new suit. Oh Joy.

SHAZAM!

Yes there will be a sequel to the hit Shazam and Zachary Levi will reprise the role. It will be called Fury of The Gods. The cast came on at DC Fandome to talk about how they could not talk about the movie. The first film made a nice $159 million, and had a great tone and great heart, so I’m glad it is coming back for more.

WONDER WOMAN

Wonder Woman 1984 debuted a longer trailer at DC Fandome. This one includes Cheetah in full costume going after Diana. Wonder Woman lassoing lightening and those infamous words from a hero “what did you do?” I was a big fan of the first one, I loved what Patty Jenkins did and I’m glad she got the power and the freedom to do it again. Honestly, anything Gal Gadot is starring in with a short skirt, I am going to watch, so this series does not need much goating to get me hooked. I’m glad it was shot and finished before the pandemic, and now it’s just a waiting game. Wonder Woman gets to face her arch nemesis and let’s hope it’s a battle that will last a few films into the future.

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Suicide Squad: Inside James Gunn’s DCEU Supervillain War Movie

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In November 2019, I found myself in the middle of a war zone. Well, the closest approximation of a war zone I’ve ever found myself in during my time visiting the sets of blockbuster movies. If I had been brought to this particular set in Atlanta on a sunny autumn afternoon without knowing what movie it was that I was supposed to be getting a peek at, the scene presented to a group of journalists probably would have convinced me that this was some new war movie or straight up action blockbuster, and not one that features a collection of DC villains and antiheroes at its core.

The set in question is called “Jotunheim” and it’s apparently an objective Task Force X needs to conquer in The Suicide Squad. But for all intents and purposes, this could be the kind of Nazi fortress that the gritty characters of movies like The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare need to conquer, whether or not they get out alive. That’s no accident, according to director James Gunn.

“A lot of the film is within the genre of war caper films,” Gunn tells reporters later that day, specifically referencing The Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes, and others. “It’s not really something that’s existed for a long time, but in the late 60s that was one of the most vibrant genres of the world. [We wanted to] kind of … add on to it with The Suicide Squad.”

There’s no sign of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, or any of the other oddball DC characters at the center of Gunn’s newest movie as we stroll the Jotunheim set. Whatever wild action took place here seems to have been resolved long before our arrival. But the evidence is everywhere and it must have been one hell of a fight.

From the decrepit guard tower and busted fence at the perimeter to the entrance of Jotunheim (which has a massive hole blasted in it) is probably a distance of 100 meters or so. And virtually every inch of that shows the scope of whatever took place here: burnt out bunkers, overturned and semi-destroyed jeeps, sandbagged guard stations, and so much debris, a mixture of real rocks and carved foamcore and plywood “masonry.”

“It’s a giant construction project” producer Peter Safran jokes about the number and scale of practical sets that have been built for The Suicide Squad. “The idea is to do as much practically as we possibly could.”

That reliance on practical sets and effects wherever possible is a theme that keeps coming up throughout the day as we tour sets and look at production artwork, scale models, weapons, and more.

“We built literally three football fields of a set and that’s so unusual in this day and age,” production designer Beth Mickle says of Jotunheim. “You just never do that. We wanted to have real rubble behind them in the battle sequences, and we wanted to see the building that they’re attacking. For that scene to exist in a film today is just highly unusual. And we’ve done that set and then a dozen others of that scale, so it’s incredible.”

Both the war movie vibe and the love of practical effects are very much in evidence on another set, a convincing indoor recreation of a jungle with a guerilla camp nestled in the middle of it. There’s dirty laundry hanging, filthy pots strewn around, a crumpled pack of cigarettes, and a half empty bottle of watery beer…and what appear to be bloody chunks of skull and assorted viscera littering the grass. Like Jotunheim, something went down here, and whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty.

The Characters of The Suicide Squad: Meet Task Force X

It all stands in almost stark contrast to the wacky assortment of brightly-colored characters that make up the actual team. The concept art and costume tests for these characters were suitably colorful and wildly offbeat, and it’s almost hard to make this line up with the gritty, war movie vibes of the Jotunheim and jungle sets. But storyboards reveal a nighttime action sequence on a beach, with the Squad invading the fictional nation of Corto Maltese, and were it not for the colors and unique designs of the characters wreaking havoc, this too would be evocative of just about anything other than a superhero movie.

A production office is papered with life sized posters of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark (performed by Steve Agee and voiced by Sylvester Stallone…although we don’t know that at the time), Blackguard (Pete Davison), Savant (Michael Rooker), Mongal (Mayling Ng), Weasel (Sean Gunn), The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Javelin (Flula Borg), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), TDK (Nathan Fillion), and Bloodsport (Idris Elba).

Looming large is also Idris Elba’s ominous, armored character who we now all know as Bloodsport, but who the studio remained cagey about identifying during this set visit for some reason, leaving reporters to speculate on the identity of the badass in blue, black, and gold. Between the color scheme, the armor, and an impressively intimidating assortment of weapons left out on a table for reporters to ogle as it’s explained that each weapon transforms into or folds out of each other, speculation about Bloodsport ends up occupying a fair amount of the downtime between interviews.

So what exactly could possibly hold such a motley crew together?

“You have to remember that all either have been wrongfully accused or done horrible, morally wrong things,” John Cena says. ”You can see the good in people, you can also see the evil in people… All of these people have real bad personality problems. So I think when you get that type of group together, that’s what makes it fun. Everybody is kind of different. But I think criminals see criminals, they just size everybody up. I think every one of them is like, ‘how is this person going to stab me in the back?’ That’s the world they come from.”

Cena is playing the authoritarian Peacemaker, a character who sees himself very differently than many other members of the Squad do. But the actors behind two of the stranger characters in the film, offer some additional perspective on the team dynamic.

“There’s people in this story that really want friendships, and people that don’t want anybody near them, just like all of us,” says David Dastmalchian, who plays Polka-Dot Man. “I think all of us have felt at times like we are totally disposable to either our employers or society or you name it. So that’s been interesting, in the relationship [between the characters] with the dynamic that starts to build or break down.”

“These are all characters that for the most part, probably don’t even know the existence of the other ones,” Steve Agee says. “Some of them do, and it’s the story of The Suicide Squad. They are forced to be together, and do this task, this mission. So, part of the story is just watching these people adapt to being around each other.”

Flula Borg (who gave journalists a rambling, uproariously funny interview about his character which you’ll see more of on DoG soon enough) spoke about how his character relates to Viola Davis’ team leader, Amanda Waller.

“Judging from all the relationships that Javelin has I would say poor, non-existent, unhealthy, crosses lines, should consider not interacting with other humans,” Borg says. “Javelin doesn’t worry about how people treat him. He treats them … What’s the golden rule? He has the Javelin rule, which is like ‘suck it, I’m cool.’ I think that’s his rule.”

Even here with the characters, the commitment to practical effects is strong, especially in areas where you’d fully expect them to rely on CGI. For example, Daniela Melchior, who plays Ratcatcher 2, has a little helper rat named Sebastian. While the hordes of rats the character is capable of commanding will necessitate CGI, at least some of the rats are real.

“We have three female rats [that play Sebastian],” Daniela Melchior says about the um…practical rats that the movie is using. “It’s a little bit distracting sometimes because I have to act lazy and tired like I don’t give a shit about whatever is happening… and I’m just like, ‘come here.’ But she doesn’t want to come, she wants to find new places and go, so we’re like, ‘okay, we’ll try one time with the rats, we’ll see what happens.’”

And when one of the rats playing Sebastian doesn’t want to do as they’re told, only then does the movie revert to CGI to get the desired “performance” from the furry co-star.

“I don’t know if I can say this,” Melchior says conspiratorially. “But actually, [some of the cast] are a little bit afraid of rats…I’m always trying to say ‘look, she’s so sweet, she wouldn’t hurt you.’”

From Suicide Squad 2 to The Suicide Squad

Like the characters themselves, The Suicide Squad has something of a rough past. The first movie failed to become the surefire franchise-starter the studio hoped for in 2016, and while a Suicide Squad 2 was put into development almost immediately, it wasn’t until Gunn became available that the project finally solidified.

“There was no plan before James,” Safran says. “There were other writers that had worked on various Suicide Squad scripts over the years, but… this was starting from ground zero, starting from scratch. All the characters that he selected were just characters that he was a fan of and wanted to play with. I think, in typical fashion for James, he picks more obscure characters…he liked the idea of being able to take these characters and imbue them with whatever characters he really wanted, or characteristics that he really wanted to play with.”

One of the “characteristics” Gunn wanted was to truly tap into the spirit of DC’s long-running and beloved Suicide Squad comics of the 1980s, which were co-created and stewarded by Jon Ostrander.

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“I don’t think of it so much as an interpretation of what Ostrander wrote but I do think of it as a continuation of what he did,” Gunn says. “It’s very much in line with that. When he was first putting this team together, he was only able to get certain characters. For him, it was the fun of taking these characters that weren’t as well-known and developing them in a real way. And it’s one of the greatest superhero runs of any comic book series.”

(Gunn also notes that Ostrander has a cameo in the film.)

As for whether or not The Suicide Squad is a sequel to or a reboot of the previous film, all involved are both diplomatic and evasive. The official line is that any characters that were together in the previous film do already know each other, but as for the actual events of the 2016 movie, that’s where things get murky.

“We just don’t address it any tangible form,” Safran says. “Yes, they’re the characters and actors that played them in the first movie, but we really wanted to make sure that this stands on its own two feet. It’s not a sequel, but there are some characters that were in the first movie, so it’s not really a full reboot either. So we just call it James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.”

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Inside Jotunheim

Later in the day, journalists are taken inside Jotunheim via soundstage, an indoor construction that appears almost as sprawling as the outdoor set. As we saw outside, the remnants of what was likely a furious battle are all around. A stuntman in full Peacemaker gear is hanging around as we see Robbie’s Harley, Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man, and Agee as King Shark (“the studio is trying to play down the whole Polka-Dot Man/King Shark universe they’re building,” Dastmalchian jokes) make their way through the rubble. Elba’s Bloodsport isn’t visible, but we’re assured he’s part of the scene.

While it’s Sylvester Stallone voicing King Shark in the film, it’s Agee on set here, wearing a grey mo-cap suit with the kind of padding you see on MLB umpires and somewhat shark-shaped wire headgear. He also appears to be holding a skull.

Harley, however, is wearing the ornate red dress glimpsed in the trailer (although it’s somewhat the worse for wear at the moment). As she navigates the carnage in Jotunheim, Gunn calls out for Robbie to “hum a little tune.” She does just that, conjuring exactly the kind of aimless musical free-association you’d expect from a mind like Harley Quinn in the midst of battle.

“Harley’s been through some things as you can see by this point in the film,” Robbie says to reporters between takes. When it’s noted that Harley’s baseball bat, a fixture in the previous film, is nowhere to be found in this scene, she jokes “My baseball bat is back home in LA, next to my bed, in case anyone breaks in…I’ve got other weapons in this one.”

We don’t get to see these Squad members engaged in any combat during the shooting of this scene, and it’s not clear if this is the interior from the same “entrance” that had seemingly been blasted into the outdoor structure, or somewhere else inside the fortress. But the clues all point to one thing: like everything else in this movie, where The Suicide Squad goes, destruction and chaos follow.

The Suicide Squad opens in theaters and on HBO Max on Aug. 6. We’ll have more from our set visit in the coming days.

The post The Suicide Squad: Inside James Gunn’s DCEU Supervillain War Movie appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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