#supergirl critical

[dragynkeep]

If anything they should have just started with the Superman and Lois show and then introduce Kara and lead into her own spin-off with her own unique character rather than make her a carbon copy of her cousin. It's like no one at the cw bothered to even pick up a single supergirl comic issue or even glance at a wiki page.

i think a few of the writers in the cw dc department have basically admitted to just reading the wikipedia pages about the subjects of their shows which , explains a lot tbh

[wanderingmind867]

Superman is just always going to be better than Batman. Always. I like some of Batman's supporting cast, but I'd take the Superman Family over the Batman Cast any day. Superman, Superboy (any of the superboys, honestly), Supergirl, Power Girl, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Krypto, etc. i could keep going. But the point stands. I would rather read about any of those characters than about Batman's dark and dismal adventures. Give me the lighthearted hopefulness of Superman. As a natural pessimist, I sure need it.

[jesncin]

please do tell about why woman of tomorrow sucks i love reading your takes they’re always so well written

Sure! And thank you for throwing me this bone because WOOF

(btw it's totally fine for people to like Woman of Tomorrow, and I can even see why! This is just my experience with it that I wish was talked about more)

Quick context: Woman of Tomorrow is about a space farmgirl named Ruthye who seeks revenge on Krem, a guy who killed her dad. Supergirl guides her on this journey so they can learn lessons about grief and revenge.

The biggest flaw of the comic is the narrative prose. Ruthye's dialogue is a rambly, over-indulgent, stylized mix of an attempt at medieval Shakespearian speak, but then in the last few issues the writer remembers she's a farmgirl so he decides she should suddenly say "ain't" more often and speak in double negatives to sound a bit more Southern. I can enjoy wordy comics! But Ruthye's dialogue and narration is blatantly excessive purple prose. So many scenes would hit harder with a less-is-more approach while still being stylized and characteristic. Sometimes the narrations pairs nicely with the art to create layered irony, but most of the time it feels like it's disregarding the comics medium altogether.

The other thing about Ruthye's narration is that it holds the story back. I get that the narration is Ruthye writing from the future, but the way it's done gives us a very passive relationship with the events of the story. We don't get to be with the characters in the action heavy moments because we're reading caption boxes of Future Ruthye rambling about poetry recounting The Battle of Capes. I'm not experiencing grief or dread with the characters, I'm being told about it. All of Ruthye's narrative rants boil down to "Supergirl is really badass, sad and kind. I promise this is deep." and "here's how my farm girl experience is relevant to this". Ruthye also speaks in glowing admiration, idealization and worship of Supergirl; it makes it really hard to get to know Kara in a humanizing way. I'm sure the purple prose hits differently for others, but I personally think the story would have more room to breathe without it.

You know how people like saying "Superman is boring because everything is too easy for him, he's too powerful" yeah that's Woman of Tomorrow. The conflict Kara faces are not challenges to her character, they're inconveniences. The resolutions to each story don't feel clever or earned. Kara just knows where to find the murdered purple aliens, Kara just happens to have a silver age-reference magical horse that can outrun the suffering-ball Krem throws at her, Kara just toughs out 10 hours in the green sun. Why be a smart storyteller when you can just give your heroine the upper hand every single time? There could've been a great bonding moment where Ruthye uses her famer-smarts to build shade for Kara, she could've crafted a salve to protect Kara's skin. But I guess having her guard Kara from dinosaurs is ok. Kara helps of course, even though she's dying because she's so cool, badass, sad, kind, etc.

Kara's internal conflict is that she was hoping that taking Ruthye on this journey would teach the farmgirl a lesson about revenge, but has Kara herself learned to move on? She's still thinking about Krypton after all. The problem with how this is presented is that it's not a flaw that we get to see evolve with the story. We see Kara act mopey, get an origin story flashback and then Kara tells us this- in hopes it'll recontextualize everything you've read before. By the time we make it to the end, the characters act like they've learned so much and I'm just standing here wishing I got to see all this growth they're talking about.

At the heart of it, I feel like Woman of Tomorrow represents the side of Super-fandom that wants to see the Kryptonians deified by the narrative. They hate seeing Kara do silly girly rom-com teenager things, she needs to be SERIOUS and EDGY and SAD and ALONE but like a god would be and not how a young woman would be that way. How else will boys take her seriously? Don't forget to remind the reader that she's STRONGER than her boy scout wholesome cousin! There's potential in a short revenge story about young girls finding hope in seeing a role-model woman survive loss, but not like this.

"You don't think I could've solved all those problems? C'mon I'm Supergirl." I sure love seeing female characters be badass girl-god legends who don't get to be humanized by being unflatteringly flawed people. Anyway the better Supergirl grief+revenge story is "Supergirl: Being Super". I don't think it's perfect because it misses the crucial difference between Kal and Kara among other things- but as a story about a teenage heroine learning how grief shapes her and those around her, it's way better.

Woman of Tomorrow's art is stellar though lmao would get a copy just as an artbook to reference.

[lesbean05]

Yo Ive just been scrolling through tiktok and- how did the swifties manage when UMG took all the Taylor swift music off tiktok because every second video at this point im getting a edit with a Taylor swift song like y’all are out in FULL FORCE across all fandoms, all types of media that I consume and have edits come up on my fyp for, there is one thing in common, you will always find swifties

[uselessgayshit]

sometimes my brain is normal and then other times it does this

[cantsayidont]

Well, THAT was wildly offensive.

[lenabloggingthingy]

if i had a nickle every time a woman from one of my ships leaned in and almost risked it all for her best friend after an emotional reunion where one of them was rescued by their friends from being trapped in a nightmare realm while reliving their trauma i’d have two nickles, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice

[criticalbeauregard]

i know the former supercorp shipper to imodna shipper venn diagram is small but not nonexistent so when are we starting #imogenleanedin

[dragynkeep]

Okay so I completely forgot that there is gonna be a version of Kara in that upcoming Flash film. I'm still not gonna actually go watch it but there is that.

oh god, someone free her fr —

[violentlyscreaming]

Art by jmmp7888

[soleminisanction]

Something I realized recently when I started deep diving into supergirl is that she has barely any connection to Stephanie brown. Like I knew there wouldn’t be that much interaction or development because of how the timelines fit together but there really is nothing there. Their entire friendship is basically built on a couple of batgirl issues and the plans for a new young justice that never actually happened. There’s not even a meta connection between them. Honestly if people had to ship Kara with another blue-eyed blonde girl Cassie is already a much better fit (or give Kara her history back and let her kiss babs, the batgirl she actually has romantic tension with)

I've never even heard about the "new YJ" thing, though there were three other female characters -- Stargirl, Miss Martian, and Bombshell -- who randomly showed up in the second-to-last issue of Steph's Batgirl run completely out of nowhere because apparently Brian Miller had wanted to make them part of Steph's retinue but never got the chance so he shoved them in at the last minute. So if he was going to pitch that as a new YJ, thank god it didn't happen.

Kara also comes out of fucking nowhere in Batgirl 2019 but apparently they met in a...World's Finest mini-series, I think? Apparently the same one where Tim met up with Nightwing!Chris Kent? That's what at least one article says anyway, I haven't been able to find that book so I don't know for sure. But yeah, other than that, Brian Miller et al just went, "Hey, people loved Batgirl and Supergirl together in the animated series, so let's make Kara Steph's new bestie!" and then she just started turning up and doing the stock 'cool Bat and puppy dog Super' routine. It was really forced.

As for Kara and Babs... the awkward thing is, they didn't actually didn't have much of a relationship in the comics either. The timelines didn't match up. Babs was a relative late-comer, compared to Kara -- she's a Bronze Age creation that came about because of the success of her character on the Adam West show, only got introduced in the 70s, whereas Kara was early Silver Age if iirc. They only interacted about a half-dozen times before Kara was taken out of continuity by Crisis on Infinite Earths and, not long after that, The Killing Joke happened.

The Batgirl/Supergirl relationship was mostly popularized by the cartoons; it only got introduced to the comics very recently in the Batgirl of Burnside era. Whereas yeah, Kara actually has a well-established friendship with Cassie -- she's an honorary Amazon, she's been a Titan, hell, she's had more adventures with Tim than with Steph.

But yeah, it can be kinda tricky when pop culture origins get mixed together like that. And that's without factoring in the weirdness that is Supergirl's comics history post-Crisis, they went to some odd places with her.

[81scorp]

Constructive criticism: Supergirl and Jonah Hex

Ah yes, Supergirl and Jonah Hex.

Supergirl (1984)

When Alexander Salkind and his son Ilya bought the movie rights to Superman they also bought the rights to the character of Supergirl, should any sequel or spin-off occur. Supergirl was originally planned to appear in Superman 3 in a plot line intended to set up a standalone film, but in the end her character was removed. Before production began on Superman 3 the Salkinds announced that they were planning a Supergirl film. Originally the plot was to center around Supergirl rescuing Superman, who would be portrayed as her cousin and mentor, but the film was heavily rewritten after Reeve chose not to be involved.

The movie didn`t do well at the box office and Hollywood took this as a sign that people don`t like female led superheromovies. When in reality, people like movies wether they are female led or not, as long as they are good.

I remember watching this on TV when I was but a wee little kid. I liked several parts but overall, something about the movie just gave me that feeling that it could have been better. It was hard for me to pinpoint what it was about the movie that made me feel that way. Then I realized that Kara seems to forget the whole thing about her home being in danger after coming to Earth. And her naive personality is likeable at first but gets old after a while. This movie would make more sense if Kara had suffered some kind of amnesia to make her forget the threat to her her homeworld.

So, with that said... if I could turn back time by flying around the Earth in superspeed, what would I have changed?

Plot

Somewhere in outer space (Because I`m not a big fan of the whole "Transdimensional innerspace" thing.) A group of Kryptonians are living on an asteroid in the city of Argo. Zaltar, a scientist, is doing experiments with the Omegahedron, a powerful source of energy. He has, in his own words, "borrowed" it and plans to put it back where it belongs after he`s finished his experiment. While he`s doing this, a less powerful version of the Omegahedron that can only sustain Argo city for a few days, is taking the place of the real one. (I`m going more for science-fiction than whimsical fantasy in my version.) Something goes wrong and the Omegahedron is sucked out into space. Kara jumps into a pod and chases after it. (But can`t they create a new, fully functional Omegahedron? Yes, but that would take years and they don`t have years, they have days.)

Kara flies through some kind of cosmic storm that strikes her pod and knocks her out. Both the Omegahedron and her pod crashes on Earth. She wakes up with memory loss, wanders around, lost and disoriented and comes to a farm, the Kent farm. The only one who lives on the Kent farm nowadays is Lana Lang, she gives Kara a place to stay and some food to eat. Since Kara can`t remember her name Lana comes up with a few name suggestions; Lois, Lucy, Selina, Diana and Linda. Kara likes the name Linda and takes it.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Kansas: Delores Winters, an actress, walks over to her neighbour, Prof. Hugo Ultmann, (later we find out that that`s not his real name) and puts some mail in his mailbox. The stupid mailman put some of Ultmann`s mail in her mailbox by mistake. Prof. Ultmann is a man in his sixties, has a weak, frail body and walks with crutches. Inside his house he meets his assistant: Jake Simmons, who tells him about the amazing thing he found last night. He thought it was an ordinary meteor but it was something much more, some kind of alien technology; the Omegahedron. Simmons and Ultmann get in a car and drives to a warehouse that Ultmann owns. The Professor is an angry, bitter old man, who hates superhumans. He`s convinced that Superman is a trouble magnet, if it wasn`t for him they wouldn`t have to worry about threats from outter space*. He tried to warn his colleagues at S.T.A.R. Labs, but no one believed him, they called him crazy. Superman may not be on Earth now, but he can come back, and when he does, Ultmann must be ready to fight him with every means necessary. He believes that if he destroys Superman Earth will be safe from whatever threat that comes with him and sees this alien orb as a ticket to achieve this goal. They enter the warehouse and we see a bunch of high-tech machines, like a teleportation platform which is not yet finished. Everytime he`s tried to teleport something with it the object in question just gets disintegrated. It also requiers a lot of energy, and he hasn`t found an energy source strong enough to power it longer than a few seconds... until now. Most of the High-tech stuff he has is technology that Brainiac left on Earth that he has reversed egineered. Ultmann appreciates the irony: using tech from an alien threat to fight an alien threat. He has hired a bunch of guys and given them bulletproof high-tech suits that increases their strength, allows them to fly and shoot energy from tiny cannons on their wrists. In the background there is something the size of a bus that is hidden under a giant tarp (I think that`s the correct word). He has a habit of scratching his chin with his pinkie (this will come back later). He has also built some kind of machine the size of a refridgerator that has two helmets attached to it. We don`t know what it does yet, but let`s call it Helmetron 2000 for now.

Act 2: Linda (formerly known as Kara) helps Lana Lang on the farm, she goes downtown to do some errands for Lana. Something bad happens (a car accident or something), Linda helps the people in need and discover that she has superpowers. being close to danger ignites a spark in her mind and she remembers a fraction of her lost memory, something about a city named Argo. Linda returns home and tells Lana who is shocked and wonders if Linda... is a Kryptonian like Clark?

Lana takes out a trunk and shows Linda some pictures and newspaper articles. Superman left Earth a few months ago to help S.T.A.R. Labs with some space exploration. Before he left he convinced Lana (who already knew his secret identity) to take over the Kent farm for him. Linda looks at a photo of Superman, that symbol on his chest looks familiar. Her clothes were torn when she saved the people from that accident, she`ll need a new outfit. Fortunately Lana knows about the Fortress of Solitude. Linda flies to the fortress, it gives her knowledge of Krypton and it`s history but it doesn`t spark any memories. She has no memories of living on Krypton, since she has lived on Argo all of her life. After a while she steps out of the fortress and has a nice supersuit of her own. She takes flight. She is now... Supergirl.

Ultmann`s HQ: News about a woman with superstrength who helped people in Smallville reaches Ultmann. Thanks to his own spy satellite (Yes, he`s that paranoid) he finds out where she is at the moment (flying back to Kansas). He calculates where she will most likely end up and sends his goons to the capitol of Kansas to meet her there.

Later, Topeka, Kansas: Ultmann`s goons show up in their high-tech suits. Supergirl shows up, the goons attack her, she defeats them. Fighting them sparks another lost memory, something about a man named Zaltar. Her fight gets the public`s attention. A woman with the same powers as Superman and a similar suit? News about this Supergirl reaches Metropolis and Perry White yells at Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen to get their butts over there and find out everything they can about this superheroine.

Ultmann`s HQ: Ultmann`s paranoia grows, he believes that Supergirl has come to Earth to convince everyone that she`s good while secretly preparing the way for an alien invasion. He realizes that he has to step up his game and gives Simmons Superpowers; Electrokinesis. Simmons calls himself Deathbolt.

The Kent farm: Linda shows off her new suit to Lana and tells her about her fight with the goons. The phone rings. It`s Lois Lane. She`s on her way to Smallville with Jimmy and wonders if Lana might be able to help them find out where this "Supergirl" is. (Lois knows that asking Lana is a longshot, she probably doesn`t know anything about finding superpeople but Lois is willing to try anything to get an interview.) Lana looks at Linda and says that she`ll see what she can do. (Note: In this universe Lois and Lana knows Superman`s secret identity** and Lois knows that Lana knows and vice versa. Jimmy however, doesn`t know a thing.)

Smallville: Lois and Jimmy arrives and are greeted by Supergirl. Lois gets her interview. Linda flies away, looking for something that can spark more memories.

She hears a strange signal that comes from a junkyard, she lands to investigate and is ambushed by Deathbolt. Deathbolt attacks her with lightning and Ultmann, who sits in a van just outside the junkyard, disorients her with sound cannons that he has placed all over the place. They corner her and make her stand on a platform. Just as Ultmann presses a button Supergirl sees the generator powering the platform and by using her X-Ray vision she sees what is powering the generator: a small orb the size of a baseball. It looks vaguely familiar to her. Ultmann pushes the button. Supergirl disappears. Ultmann feels triumphant. He destroyed Supergirl! He is an ubermensch! A superior man! An ultra-human! No wait,... An Ultra-Humanite!

An alien spaceship: Supergirl materializes. A calm voice talks to her through loudspeakers. It asks her questions as it guides her through the corridors. What Supergirl doesn`t know is that the owner of the ship is exposing her to red kryptonite. The door to the ship`s bridge opens and she is greeted by the owner of the voice. He`s bald, has green skin and appears to be some kind of robot or cyborg. Ghasp! It`s Brainiac!

He points to a nearby planet and tells her that he`s been trying to explore and collect data from it but he has met resistance. The people on the planet seems to have a guardian fighting for them. Brainiac wants Supergirl to take care of that guardian. Supergirl, under the influence of the red kryptonite, agrees to help him. She flies to the planet, lands and causes havoc. The people on the planet flee in terror.

A child looks up in the sky and sees something. It`s a bird! No, wait, it`s a plane! No, wait... it`s him! A man lands on the ground, he wears a blue suit, a red cape and an S on his chest, it`s... Superman!

Superman sees the S on Supergirls suit, is surprised to find another Kryptonian, tries to reason with her, she attacks, they fight. during the fight more memories come back to her, it makes her unfocused, Superman sees this and once again tries to reason with her. She breaks free from the influence of the red kryptonite and with that regains all of her memories. She remembers her name, that her homeworld is dying and that the Omegahedron is on Earth in the hands of the bad guy! She sees the destruction she has caused. She is saddened, she is furious, she flies out into space to attack Brainic`s ship. Brainiac calmly activates the ship`s warp-drive and disappears. Supergirl is angry that he got away but also realizes that she has more important stuff to think about. She and Superman do the best they can to repair the damage she caused.

Later: Supergirl has explained everything to Superman, they both fly away, back to Earth.

Earth: Ultra-Humanite is getting weaker. Simmons wonder if there is anything he can do. U-H tells him not to worry, he can take care of this himself.

Meanwhile, Argo: The Generators that give the Kryptonians air and electricity are weakening. Zaltar is sorry for everything.

Act 3: Next day, Earth: Supergirl and Superman arrive. They find the Omegahedron which Simmons is now using to power a giant death-ray cannon the size of a bus. He fires the cannon at Supergirl but Superman takes the hit for her. (Yes, Supes knows that Kara could have taken the blast, but still, old habit I guess.) Supes is knocked out for a minute. Supergirl fights a bunch of U-H`s goons in their flying high-tech suits, which has now been upgraded. Superman gets back on his feet and destroys the cannon, he and Supergirl then both fight and defeat Simmons.

Supergirl finds Ultra-Humanite sitting in a chair next to the Helmetron 2000 wearing one of the helmets. He`s not responding, he`s a mindless vegetable.

Meanwhile, an Airport: Delores Winters is waiting for her flight to Brazil. Her flight is boarding, she gets up, takes her bag and scratches her chin with her pinkie.

Ghasp! Ultra-Humanite transferred his mind to her body! Just like he did in the comics!

Later: Superman, Supergirl and Lana talk a little. Supergirl mentions that she has taken the pod that she arrived to Earth in and stored it in the Fortress of Solitude. Superman feels that he should take a break from space-exploration and stay on Earth for a while. Kara takes the Omegahedron, flies away, returns to Argo and restores it.

The End

*Like Zod, Ursa and Non from Superman 2, or Brainiac from (my version of) Superman 3.

** This takes place in the same universe as my rewritten version of Superman 2 where Superman didn`t erase Lois`s memory.

This took a while to write because I only had the beginning and the end finished in my head but not the middle. The inclusion of Brainiac was a last minute addition.

I think it would be possible (at least on a technical level) to make this movie in 1984 or 1985, since Star Wars: A new hope (which had impressive effects for it`s time) was made in 1977.

Jonah Hex (2010)

It was the 2010s and someone must have realized that there are more characters in the DC Comics universe than just Superman and Batman. (I know, crazy right?) And since Hex`s comic technically takes place in the same universe as the DC superheroes he must also have a superpower, right? He doesn`t? Let`s give him one then. the film was released on June 18, 2010, by Warner Bros. Pictures and was a commercial failure. (It could have helped if it had been better and hadn`t been released on the same day as Toy Story 3.) This is another one of those movies that I haven`t seen, but I know what happens in it because of reviews that I`ve seen and synopses I`ve read.

So, with that said... If I could run so fast that I could screw the laws of physics, travel backwards in time and change this movie, what would I have changed?

Jonah having superpowers

The first one´s a no-brainer: NO SUPERPOWERS. It would be better if Jonah was just an ordinary bad-ass. Instead of literally talking to dead folks it would be better if he found out how and why they were killed by detective work. (Not that he would carry some kinda forensic kit on him, but more like being able to read signs since he was trained by native americans.)

Jonah´s look

It has been popular to depict him with a big/exposed eye. That would recuire CGI and cost a lot of money and time.

How a bout this: he could carry an eye-patch. I also remember that I read an old Jonah Hex comic a while ago that didn´t depict him with an exposed eye but instead an ordinary sized eye with no iris. This effect could be achieved with an ordinary contact lense.

So you could have: CGI, CGI with eye-patch, eye-patch with no CGI or contact lense.

Personally I`d go with a contact lense.

Plot

It begins in medias res with Jonah, already an experienced bountyhunter, finding and shooting a bunch of bandits. After this we get a flashback that explains most of Jonah`s Origin.

As a child Jonah was left out in the wilderness by his father but saved and raised by native americans. He developed feeling for a girl named White Fawn but another young man in the tribe named Noh-Tante was also intersted in her, so there was some conflict between them. When Jonah became an adult he left the tribe to fight in the civil war, joined the confederate side and and earned a commission as a lieutenant in the 4th Cavalry. Jonah formed a friendship with a man named Jeb Turnbull and a man named Edward Cantwell, the latter saved his life on at least one occasion. After a while Jonah realized that what the confederate side fought for was wrong, deserted his post and went to the nearest Union camp, Fort Charlotte, sneaking into the commander's quarters to surrender directly. He refused to tell the commander where his unit was stationed, but one of his aides was able to determine their location by studying the clay from the shoes of Jonah's horse. The Confederates were caught by surprise, and all of them were captured. The commander, humiliated by Jonah easily penetrating the fort's poor security, falsely praised him for his "assistance" in the attack. Hex punched him and was sentenced to solitary confinement. When he was released he found out that Jeb had been killed by Union soldiers and Edward Cantwell had gone M.I.A.

Jonah came across his old tribe and found that Noh-Tante had since married White Fawn, and White Fawn was not happy about it, she still had feelings for Jonah. Jonah and Noh-Tante started to argue and it led to a fight. it was decided that they would settle their dispute through combat. Noh-Tante sabotaged Jonah's tomahawk so it would break, forcing Jonah to stab him with a knife. Enraged that Jonah had killed his son and broken the rules of combat, the chieftain had him restrained and disfigured with the "mark of the demon" by scarring the right side of his face with a heated tomahawk. With the mark serving as proof of his wickedness, Jonah was banished from the tribe.

In his exile he met and befriended a native american man named Ke-Woh-No-Tay. (In the comics Ke-Woh-No-Tay is a white guy who grew up with native americans and learned their culture and ways, but in this (nonexisting) move it would be better if he was an actual native american.)

Jonah became a bountyhunter, met a man named Arbee Stoneham, who had some experience in the field of bountyhunting. He gave Jonah a few tips and some advice. Jonah`s first bounty was a bankrobber... who turned out to be his old friend Edward Cantwell. Jonah, still valuing their old friendship, wanted to give Cantwell a second chance so that he could become a better person. But then Arbee Stoneham showed up, killed Cantwell, disarmed Hex and stole his guns. Hex vowed revenge.

Flashback ends.

(To help differentiate between Jonah`s past and his present he could wear an eye-patch (after he gets his face burned) in the flashback and no eye-patch in the present. It could symbolize that the older and more experienced Hex doesn`t care if people see him as a monster.)

We meet Quentin Turnbull, a rich plantation owner and Jeb Turnbull`s father who blames Jonah for the death of his son.

Act 2: Turnbull hires five ex-Confederates to take him down, Jonah manages to kill all of them but innocent bystanders get hurt in the process by the ex-Confederates. This angers Jonah, he can understand why someone wants him dead, but if someone has a problem with him they should focus their vendetta on him and only him and leave innocent bystanders alone! He finds out who sent them and tries to kill Turnbull, but Turnbull was prepared for the possibility that Jonah would survive and sends some hired guns to intercept him. Jonah kills them as well but gets mortally wounded in the process. Fortunately he is found and saved by Ke-Woh-No-Tay who takes him to an old friend who nurses him back to health; a native american woman named Tall Bird. Back to full health Jonah decides to continue his revenge journey towards Turnbull. Ke-Woh-No-Tay and Tall Bird don`t like this, they didn`t save his life just so he could go and get himself killed again. Ke-Woh-No-Tay tries to talk Jonah out of it but Jonah is stubborn. Ke-Woh-No-Tay realizes that he can`t stop him and decides to tag along from a distance so that he can assist Jonah when things look too tough for him.

Act 3: Jonah reaches Turnbull`s home and fights some of his hired guns. At one point Jonah gets attacked from behind but his attacker is shot with an arrow fired by Ke-Woh-No-Tay. Jonah fights Turnbull, a fire breaks out in Turnbull`s mansion, Turnbull disappears in the flames and is later presumed dead (I haven`t decided yet if I want to save him for a sequel or not). Ke-Woh-No-Tay is glad that Jonah survived and the two part ways. There`s just one thing left for Jonah to do now.

Jonah finds the town where Arbee Stoneham is living but discovers that Arbee is now an old man in a wheelchair (as a result from a gun-fight years ago) who doesn`t even remember him. Seeing no reason to kill him, Jonah buys him a beer and they talk a little. Jonah then gets up on his horse, visits Jeb Turnbull`s grave to pay his respects. He then gets up on his horse and rides away, towards new adventures.

The End

This one was easier to write since I already had a beginning, middle and an end finished in my head.

I haven`t seen the movie but I have read some issues of the comic and the comic is very pure Western. It is self-contained with, very rarely, any connections to the larger, mainstream Superhero DC universe. It is very much capable of standing on it`s own and does so regularely. That`s why I didn`t include any nods to said universe, or any Sci-fi gimmicks.

Buut... If I were to include any nods to a bigger, connected DC universe I`d do it sparingly, like this:

Early in the second act: Jonah could walk through a town and one of it`s inhabitants (let`s call him Hunter) could look at Jonah as if he`d just seen a celebrity.

Jonah: "Do I know you?"

Hunter: "Oh, sorry! I thought you looked familiar."

Then, after the movie is over we could get a Mid-Credit scene where we meet Hunter again.

It`s night, Hunter is carrying a satchel, standing outside a town, looking at his watch. The clock turns twelve, a time machine the shape of a sphere materializes. It opens, out steps a woman named Bonnie Baxter.

Bonnie: "You got the journal?"

Hunter (holds up the satchel): "Sure did! I also met a historical figure."

(That`s right, it`s Rip Hunter, the time traveller.)

This little cameo could be fun, but it wouldnt`t be super necessary for the movie to work. That`s why I wrote it in a way so that it could easily be removed from the movie without hurting the narrative.

I have to admit that I like the scene with the gatling gun on the horse, I think I`ll keep it in my version.

And that`t how I would do it.

It is of course very easy for me to write these because I have the luxury of hindsight. And unlike the filmmakers I didn`t have a movie studio full of corporate suits breathing down my neck, focus grouping the movie to death, forcing in unnecessary changes and pressuring me to get it made before a deadline.

Why do I write these?

For several reasons. I`m nitpicky. Sometimes the movies I criticize aren`t bad, I just like my own ideas better. Sometimes the movies I critize are bad. I care about good storytelling and it`s a fun excerize in creativity and script doctoring.

But also because I have a lot of of free time.

--------------------------------------------

Started writing this 2024-07-27

If you`ve been following me for a while you know that these two movies have been on my to-do list for quite some time. Glad to finally get them out of my head.

Comments are appreciated.

Other movies on my Constructive Criticism list that you can look forward to

The Spirit (2008) The Dark Knight trilogy

And as usual: English is not my first language, so if my writing doesn`t seem to flow naturally, you know why.

You can find me on artstation and my sister has a patreon if you`re interested.

[lostinaflashforward]

LE NOTIZIE DELLA SETTIMANA!

[sbrn10]

It's always funny going back through a tag on your blog and the first entry is "I don't even go here but ?????"

[the-femslash-wishlist]

Yes, yes, The L Word intentionally excluded.

Place your answer in the tags if it’s none of the above, especially if it’s The Facts of Life, or South of Nowhere, or Sailor Moon, or Skins, or Rizzoli & Isles, or Grey’s Anatomy, or Person of Interest, or Orange is the New Black, or Orphan Black, or Steven Universe, or Agent Carter, or The Bold Type, or Killing Eve, or Captain Marvel, or The Haunting of Bly Manor, or Critical Role, or Warrior Nun, etc. etc. etc. eta: or Legend of Korra, or Wicked, etc. etc.

It was hard to whittle the choices down to 12, okay?

[fandom]

Ships

If it's not canon, at least there's always fanfic.

Byler Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Stranger Things

Steddie Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson, Stranger Things

Destiel -2 Dean Winchester & Castiel, Supernatural

Blackbonnet Blackbeard & Stede Bonnet, Our Flag Means Death

Ronance Robin Buckley & Nancy Wheeler, Stranger Things

Buddie +2 Evan Buckley & Edmundo Diaz, 9-1-1

Lumity -5 Luz Noceda & Amity Blight, The Owl House

Nandermo Nandor the Relentless & Guillermo de la Cruz, What We Do In The Shadows

Geraskier +11 Geralt of Rivia & Jaskier, The Witcher

Piltover's Finest Caitlyn Kiramman & Vi, Arcane

Hannigram -1 Hannibal Lecter & Will Graham, Hannibal

Supercorp -5 Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Supergirl

Ladynoir +10 Ladybug & Chat Noir, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Huntlow Hunter & Willow Park, The Owl House

Adrienette +15 Adrien Agreste & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Bakudeku -12 Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Boku no Hero Academia

Wangxian -3 Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian, Mo Dao Zu Shi

Ineffable Husbands +8 Aziraphale & Crowley, Good Omens

Symbrock +12 Venom (symbiote) & Eddie Brock, the Marvel universe

Dreamling Dream of the Endless & Hob Gadling, The Sandman

Daemon x Rhaenyra Daemon Targaryen & Rhaenyra Targaryen, House of the Dragon

Marichat +11 Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Chat Noir, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Tomgreg Tom Wambsgans & Greg Hirsch, Succession

Wolfstar -3 Remus Lupin & Sirius Black, the Harry Potter universe

Patpran Pat & Pran, Bad Buddy

Jayvik Jayce & Viktor, Arcane

Kathony Kate Sharma & Anthony Bridgerton, Bridgerton

Raeda +49 Raine Whispers & Eda Clawthorne, The Owl House

Merthur +7 Merlin & Arthur Pendragon, Merlin

Stucky -19 Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes, the Marvel universe

Harringrove +37 Steve Harrington & Billy Hargrove, Stranger Things

Lumax Lucas Sinclair & Max Mayfield, Stranger Things

Narumitsu +9 Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth, Ace Attorney

Drarry -12 Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, the Harry Potter universe

Imodna Imogen Temult & Laudna, Critical Role

Jonmartin -18 Jonathan Sims & Martin Blackwood, The Magnus Archives

Twiyor Loid Forger & Yor Forger, SPY x FAMILY

Catradora -29 Catra & Adora, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Elmax Eleven & Max Mayfield, Stranger Things

Hualian +15 Hua Cheng & Xie Lian, Tian Guan Ci Fu

Percabeth +19 Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase, the Percy Jackson universe

Cockles -15 Misha Collins & Jensen Ackles, actors

Jegulus James Potter & Regulus Black, the Harry Potter universe

Superbat Superman & Batman, the DC Universe

Villaneve Villanelle & Eve Polastri, Killing Eve

Nick x Charlie Nick Nelson & Charlie Spring, Heartstopper

Solangelo -6 Will Solace & Nico di Angelo, the Percy Jackson universe

Dreamnotfound -43 Dreamwastaken & GeorgeNotFound, streamers

Satosugu +41 Gojo Satoru & Geto Suguru, Jujutsu Kaisen

Thasmin Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan, Doctor Who

Drukkari Druig & Makkari, Eternals

Sasunaru +26 Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Naruto

Suselle Susie & Noelle, Deltarune

Eddissy Eddie Munson & Chrissy Cunningham, Stranger Things

Sterek -11 Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale, Teen Wolf

Tarlos -18 TK Strand & Carlos Reyes, 9-1-1: Lone Star

Spirk +14 Spock & James Kirk, Star Trek

Fexi Fez & Lexi Howard, Euphoria

Jopper Joyce Byers & Jim Hopper, Stranger Things

Jikook -45 Park Jimin & Jeon Jungkook, BTS

Chenford +38 Lucy Chen & Tim Bradford, The Rookie

Sambucky -59 Sam Wilson & Bucky Barnes, the Marvel universe

Zukka -47 Zuko & Sokka, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Obikin +36 Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, the Star Wars universe

Ladrien +28 Ladybug & Adrien Agreste, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Dinluke -42 Din Djarin & Luke Skywalker, The Star Wars universe

Bumbleby -50 Yang Xiao Long & Blake Belladonna, RWBY

Shadowgast -33 Caleb Widogast & Essek Thelyss, Critical Role

Sonadow Sonic & Shadow, Sonic the Hedgehog

MileApo Mile Phakphum & Apo Nattawin, Actors

Klance -32 Keith & Lance, Voltron: Legendary Defender

Kanej -38 Kaz Brekker & Inej Ghafa, Shadow and Bone

Yennskier Yennefer of Vengerberg & Jaskier, The Witcher

Sashannarcy Sasha Waybright, Anne Boonchuy & Marcy Wu, Amphibia

Loustat Louis de Pointe du Lac & Lestat de Lioncourt, Interview with the Vampire

Batcat Batman & Catwoman, The Batman

Codywan +7 Commander Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Jancy Jonathan Byers & Nancy Wheeler, Stranger Things

Kiribaku -54 Kirishima Eijirou & Bakugou Katsuki, Boku No Hero Academia

Harlivy -11 Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy, the DC Universe

Kinn x Porsche Kinn Theerapanyakul & Porsche Kittisawasd, KinnPorsche

Soukoku Nakahara Chuuya & Dazai Osamu, Bungou Stray Dogs

Jargyle Argyle & Jonathan Byers, Stranger Things

Korrasami -52 Korra & Asami Sato, The Legend of Korra

Stolitz Stolas & Blitzo, Helluva Boss

Damianya Damian Desmond & Anya Forger, SPY x FAMILY

Spideypool Spider-Man & Deadpool, the Marvel universe

Dramione -43 Draco Malfoy & Hermione Granger, the Harry Potter universe

Zutara -61 Zuko & Katara, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Mileven Mike Wheeler & Eleven, Stranger Things

Marcanne Marcy Wu & Anne Boonchuy, Amphibia

Zelink -55 Zelda & Link, The Legend of Zelda

Sasharcy Sasha Waybright & Marcy Wu, Amphibia

Griddlehark Gideon Nav & Harrowhark Nonagesimus, The Locked Tomb series

Tomdaya Tom Holland & Zendaya, actors

Johnlock -45 John Watson & Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock

Jily -9 James Potter & Lily Evans, the Harry Potter series

Calliette Calliope Burns & Juliette Fairmont, First Kill

Malex -19 Michael Guerin & Alex Manes, Roswell, New Mexico 

Serirei Serizawa Katsuya & Reigen Arataka, Mob Psycho 100

The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from the previous year. The ones in bold weren’t on the list last year.