Cian Beirdd's Blog, page 8
March 13, 2014
How About a New Approach to the Conan Universe?
Hyborian Age. The word is barely in the American lexicon but represents the foundations for the sword and sorcery genre. It was a term coined by Robert Howard in the 1930s. He used it to describe the fictional historical period his most famous character, Conan, inhabited. He defined it as the period after the fall of Atlantis and before the Indo-European invasions. Later writers have specified his words as a period sometime after 20,000 B.C.E. and before 9500. What Howard was after was a period of history we didn’t know much about so that he could give it the history he wanted.
Howard’s universe has been attractive to many writers, among them several continuators of the Conan story. But it does suffer from some painful inaccuracies. For instance the horse was not domesticated nor the sword forged till 4000 B.C.E. Farming was not discovered until 8000 B.C.E., and obviously there could have been no fermentation of grains before then. Though communities emerged immediately after we found a stable food source, there isn’t even a suggestion of kings until 5000 B.C.E.
To be blunt, though reading about a period without any preconceived notions provides a good place for letting an imagination centering around the supernatural to flourish, not having some limitations in the end leaves any creative enterprise without structure. Small children can’t grasp the concept of kryptonite, untrained youths won’t understand that Superman is a solar hero. Without those foundations, the defender of truth, justice, and the American way is boring. Without any boundaries of magic, logic, or science, so is Conan’s ‘Hyborian Age’.
What the 20,000 to 10,000 period consisted of, basically, was surviving the ice age. With glaciers moving south to the equator and the Southern Hemisphere suffering from aridity and heat life was brutal and often short. Groups of people came together out of mutual need. The ice age wasn’t exactly a world of magic. And with clans no larger than twenty or thirty there could have been no real battles. However, a setting like that might be worthy of some interesting stories. Certainly interesting for a loner who likes to travel around the world.
I have a proposition. Instead of yet another Conan movie/book/comic with an oversized sword and two-dimensional female characters, why doesn’t Hollywood try something a little more interesting? How about a clever, muscular, amoral man running around the world in the last years of the ice age trying to use the tech of the time to get the girl and win as much money as he can. We might not generate an iconic figure that way, but the movie would have some serious entertainment value. Imagine how a loner coming upon a primitive Eleusian Mystery might react. Or how he might respond to a sacrifice? Imagine his perceptions of daily life versus the perceptions of a clan fully indoctrinated in their culture. A documentary, drama, or even comedy would be great vehicles for this kind of story
What do you think?
http://conan.wikia.com/wiki/Parodies
http://www.conan.com/barbarian.shtml
By the way, I have a wiki up on my little universe. If you are curious, go to http://xiaverse.wikia.com/wiki/Xiaverse_Wiki
March 10, 2014
Women in Comic Books who are more than Skin deep: #1. Deadly Little Miho.
Psychopath more like, but definitely some depth
Originally posted on Dave's Corner of the Universe:
Women in Comic Books who are more than Skin deep: #1.
Women in Comic Books who are More than Skin Deep: # 2 Amanda Waller.
March 7, 2014
1,001 Light-Years Entertainment
I just read this book by Dave Loeff. If you enjoyed the storytelling, the magic, and the connectivity of ’1,001 Nights’ (the name is no coincidence) and read the genre of soft science fiction, this book is something you need to pick up. There is no Sinbad or Aladdin in the book, but plenty of stories within stories and happy endings. An excellent first novel.
1,001 Lightyears Entertainments
March 6, 2014
Pacific Rim Matter Bridge
Pacific Rim is an interesting combination of several genres that have never been readily accepted by the American public; oversized monsters called Kaiju have been a part of Japanese entertainment for decades (Godzilla among them). Jaegers are a common name for very large robots. The movie also has elements of disaster films. Del Toro has bluntly stated that his creation is about overcoming differences of sex, race, and even prejudgment. All of them are great and nicely meshed into a seamless story. The director even sidestepped making it look like a war-glorifying film by giving ranks that belong more in a Western than a military film. But what made the movie intriguing for me was the concept of the Matter Bridge.
The Matter Bridge is not a new concept. I remember hearing of it first with The One, where two policemen patrol a “multiverse” where every person may have a counterpart in every other universe. The television programs Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis both also used matter bridges for various purposes. But the concept was always the same there; the cast was introduced to their counterparts from another dimension/reality.
In Pacific Rim, the Matter Bridge is used to transport an alien species’ Kaiju, cloned war-monsters, to Earth as a prelude to conquest. This film is not about a neat way for characters to talk with each other, nor does it go into the well-traveled road of alternate timelines. It is an exploration of an alternate form of travel.
It’s also a feasible. Recently, scientists have discovered that there may be Matter Bridges throughout the universe. They are discovering an increasing amount of evidence that dark matter may serve as a type of connector for the universe, helping to keep it tied together and structured even as the galaxies expand exponentially. According to the theory, Matter Bridges are composed of this dark matter. It is possible that they span not only galaxies but (perhaps) work on the smaller scale of solar systems as well. And, if there are other universes or dimensions (a big if), then it stands to reason the dark matter and therefore Matter Bridges would connect them together as well.
In effect, the movie brings to attention not only another hypothetical means of transportation across the stars but opens up another means of potential alien invasion. Better than that, the suggestion is made that the sea might be the end of the Matter Bridge just as easily as a point in space or on land.
I think that is perhaps the most brilliant detail in the movie; aliens launching an invasion from another dimension with a launching platform in the Pacific Ocean. There are large stretches of square miles in the Pacific that are so deep we have no ships built to withstand the intense pressures. The bottom of the Pacific would be a perfect place to launch an invasion. With our technology as it is, we would never be able to destroy their base.
To sum up, we could be attacked at any time, from a direction we would never expect and from which we might not have the technology to combat. NEAT! I can’t wait for a sequel.
March 4, 2014
Fighting Abilities in the Various Universes
In an attempt to systematize the fighting abilities of characters from different universes, I have below listed those elements that are considered important. For instance, whereas the natural swordfighting abilities are of importance in the Star Wars universe, athletic prowess and strength seem to be foremost in DC and Marvel. In all universes, knowledge of individual fighting styles are significant, though the names of those styles may vary. I have found that the simplest way to measure and compare abilities is by the following formulae:
Swordsmanship + Damage + style points + DPT + APT
Athletics + Swordsmanship 12345672SwBow4SwWhTK
Forms 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2Swords Bow 4Swords Whip Empty handfighting
1:1 1:1×2 1:0 2×1:1×2 0:1 1:1 2×1:1×2 2×1:1×2 2×1:1 2×1:1×2 2×1:1 1:1×1/5
Damage = Swordsmanship + Damage bonuses and detriments
1 = -5; 5 = +10; Bow = -5
Yoda 99 655935400000
Luke Skywalker 97 305650800000
Darth Sidious 94 553655800000
Darth Tyrannus 90 393333300000
Darth Krayt 88 300003540000
Darth Maul 87 300400507005
Mace Windu 86 555555900000
Revan 86 543700400000
Kit Fisto 85 901000000000
Galen Marek 85 402460300000
Exar Kun 84 300430047000
Ganner Rhysode 84 785000000000
Darth Sion 82 500000700000
Naga Sadow 82 360040700000
Kyle Katarn 81 350030600000
Obi-Wan Kenobi 81 308304000000
Kol Skywalker 80 406000300000
Even Piell 79 901000000000
Qui-Gon Jinn 79 400670000000
Anakin Skywalker 78 324540000000
Nomi Sunrider 78 507500000000
Uliq Qel-Droma 78 400060400000
Meetra Sutra 77 333430060004
Voolvif Monn 75 600730000000
Asajj Ventress 74 360003040000
Arden Lyn 74 600004800009
Belia Darzu 74 050300860000
Saesee Tiin 74 500070000000
Lord Hoth 73 503060000000
Shaak Ti 73 405300220000
Darth Bane 72 450090600000
Darth Nihl 72 000000860000
Darth Talon 72 500030800000
K’Kruhk 72 406050000000
Lucien Draay 72 705000000000
Mara Jade 71 310200240004
Rakatan Warrior 70 555555507000
Kyp Durron 69 300320500000
Darth Malak 68 350040000000
Darth Vader 68 324560000000
Quinlan Vos 68 320430700000
Agen Kolar 67 440060000000
Plo Koon 67 900070000005
Depa Billaba 65 555555900000
Mira 64 304503000000
Thon 64 506630000009
An’ya Kuro 63 304530000000
Jarael 63 100000002000
Antares Draco 62 500070000000
Leia Organa-Solo 62 303430540000
Lumiya 62 320400300503
Shado Vao 62 547040004000
Jaina Solo 61 303020000002
Stass Allie 61 405003000000
Grievous 60 333333330300
Jacen Solo 58 302060000000
Luminara Unduli 58 305020000000
Rahm Kota 57 405000600000
Visas Marr 57 030000600000
Carnor Jax 56 300020405000
Wolf Sazen 56 406000000000
Juhani 55 300220000000
Ayala Secura 54 300520020000
Roan Fel 54 504040000000
Bastila Shan 53 400520005000
Darth Nihilius 53 001700000000
Freedon Nadd 53 330440500000
Roni von Wasaki 53 764000050000
Ki-Adi-Mundi 52 300040000000
Kreia 52 305000003000
Veda Kennede 52 333333305003
Atris 51 305006000000
Corran Horn 51 302000000004
Valara Saar 51 500000000007
Coleman Trebor 48 500006000000
Marasiah Fel 48 304020000000
Mical 48 305002000000
Darth Plagueis 47 533333300000
Sly Moore 47 300000200000
Atton Rand 46 300005200000
Barriss Offee 44 303020000000
Darth Bandon 44 300050003000
Bao-dur 43 305000000000
Jolee Bindo 43 304000300000
Anakin Solo 41 304303030000
Komari Vosa 41 300003030000
Kazdan Paratus 40 304300000000
Vodo-Siosk Baas 38 901000000000
Cade Skywalker 36 303000300000
Zayne Carrick 36 300000000000
Maris Brood 34 303000040000
Charal 34 102030000000
Nahdar Vebb 34 402000000000
Cay Qel-Droma 31 304500000000
Roron Corobb 30 303000000000
Zuckuss 28 200000000000
Ahsoka Tano 26 200020000000
Ferus Olin 25 403000000000
Ephant Mon 23 000010000000
Jax Pavan 22 201000000000
Jagged Fel 19 301000000000
Ulaha Kore 17 100000000000
Soontir Fel 12 100000000000
Wicket Warrick 9 100000000000
Grael 8 100000000000
Teebo 7 100000000000
BoShek 7 100000000000
Athletic Strength Primary Secondary Specialty Armor Shield
Blade 10 4400 0050035 000000300000000 0000000300 2 0
She-Hulk 9 620,000 0000020 000000000000000 0000000000 150 0
Ultron 9 200,000 0000020 000000000000030 0004000000 400 0
Namor 9 180,000 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 20 0
Beast 9 20,000 0095040 000000000000000 0000000007 0 0
Miracle Man 9 2000 0000000 040630000000000 0000000000 0 0
Spider-Man 9 1200 0002020 000000000000000 0000000009 1 0
Daredevil 9 200 0000400 008030400000000 0000005000 0 0
Thor 8 500,000 0000070 700000000000000 0000000000 900 0
Wonder Woman 8 400,000 3055000 000000300005000 0700000000 18 0
Loki 8 10,000 0000022 000000000000000 0000000000 900 0
Captain America 8 1400 0606510 000000000050500 0000000090 0 250
U.S. Agent 8 800 0303310 000000000040300 0000000070 0 250
Black Cat 7 900 0050010 000000050000000 0000000000 0 0
Green Goblin 7 500 0000040 500000000003002 0000000000 3 0
Black Panther 7 300 0057000 050555500000500 0050000000 180 0
Mystique 6 100 0050010 000000050000000 0000000000 0 0
Sabertooth 5 4000 0500000 000000000044030 0050000000 0 0
Wolverine 5 2700 0550555 050005000000005 0080050000 0 0
Batman 5 500 9995908 990090099909099 0000090000 2 0
The Wasp 4 500 0201110 000100000000000 0000000000 2 0
Green Arrow 4 300 0035613 000000000003000 0000000000 0 0
Robin 4 200 0809800 509080080808088 0000080800 2 0
Quake 4 150 5334220 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Batgirl 4 100 0024200 603000000000000 0000000000 2 0
Red Skull 4 100 0000000 000000000020000 0000000000 0 0
Storm 4 100 0334234 020232200000202 0000040000 0 0
Hulk 3 900,000 0000050 000000000000000 0000000000 920 0
Hercules 3 600,000 0300300 000000000000003 0000000000 21 0
Black Adam 3 550,000 0800067 000000000000000 0000000000 100 0
Colossus 3 200,000 3311432 000000000000000 0004000000 80 0
Bane 3 6000 0750090 000500005500006 0000000000 0 0
Aquaman 3 3500 0000030 000000000000000 0000000000 10 0
Moon Knight 3 800 0404040 302330000500000 0000002000 0 0
Rogue 3 600 0040010 000000000000000 0000000000 2 1
Star-Lord 3 600 0430050 000000000040000 0000000000 0 0
Hawkman 3 600 0000000 000000000030000 0009000000 2 0
The Blob 3 500 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 4 0
Cyclops 3 200 4002400 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Green Lantern 3 200 0000030 000000000020000 0000000000 0 0
Nick Fury 3 200 0030000 000004000030000 0000000000 0 0
Solo 3 200 0000340 000000200020000 0000000000 0 0
Invisible Woman3 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000020000 90 0
Darkseid 2 650,000 0000020 000000000000000 0000000000 1000 0
Superman 2 600,000 0000040 000000000000000 0000000000 1000 0
Supergirl 2 400,000 0300030 000000000003000 0000000000 1000 0
Ghost Rider 2 50,000 0000020 000000000000000 0000000000 240 0
Iron Man 2 10,000 0000010 000000000000000 0005000000 40 0
Aaron Stack 2 4000 0000020 000000000000000 0000000000 160 0
Ra’s al Ghul 2 200 9993099 730050093309697 0000090000 0 0
Ant-Man 2 200 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Blazing Skull 2 150 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Sinestro 2 150 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Talia al Ghul 2 120 9700775 739560073305643 0000050000 0 0
Cypher 2 100 0000010 000050000000000 0000000000 0 0
Dr. Strange 2 100 0230200 000000002000020 0000020000 0 0
Emma Frost 2 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Empath 2 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Gideon 2 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Jean Grey 2 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 20 0
Joker 2 100 0001010 000000400000000 0000000000 0 0
Lightspeed 2 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Raven 2 100 000040 000000000004000 0000000000 0 0
Tarot 2 100 0000011 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Apocalypse 1 400,000 4000000 000070000000000 0000000000 500 0
Brainiac 1 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Mr. Fantastic 1 100 0000340 000500000000000 0000000000 0 0
Lex Luthor 1 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 35 0
Professor X 1 100 0030010 000000000010000 0000000000 0 0
The Leader 1 100 0000010 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
Mxyzptlk 1 50 0000000 000000000000000 0000000000 0 0
February 20, 2014
Hobbits as Heroes
A fan or not, it’s hard to get around the fact that Middle Earth is a font for blockbuster movies. There have been five so far, each installment getting an extended version, and people flock to watch the movies and buy the videos. And why wouldn’t they? With wizards capable of unique and powerful magics, bizarre and neat looking monsters, elves capable of superhuman feats, and even humans wading into these fantastic tales, the stories seem to have something for everyone.
And then there are five hobbits – Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, Peregrin, and Meriadoc. They can’t do magic, they are no more clever than we are, they are nothing more than short humans. And yet it is their successes that allow evil to be defeated. They aren’t put in unrealistic situations, either. Each character is drawn as a real person with deep flaws. Each of them is accidentally thrust in a position of temporary importance during the course of the story. And all five come through when they need to.
Perhaps Tolkien was a master at making the average person look important. Maybe the personal aspect of the hobbits’ characters allowed him to generate a much greater feeling of closeness to them than we might otherwise have felt. But the fact is that hobbits make Middle Earth work. They are the only characters to be trusted with the ring. They hide it, they travel with it, they destroy it. They make the trip to Moria possible, they bring the Ents into the war against Sauron. They bring the human/elf/human trio into Rohan where they save the king and protect its people from invasion. One saves the Gondor seneschal’s son. Others are better fighters, better strategists, better speakers, but without the hobbits nothing happens.
I don’t think that Tolkien had intended it, but it’s easy to see the hobbits as the real heroes of the stories. Throughout the books, all the other characters do what they do whether that be fighting, talking, healing, or working magic. But hobbits are farmers, craftsmen, and carpenters. Simply leaving their Shire was outside their normal life experience. And that is only the beginning. The five grow so much in their time away. They become thieves, diplomats, soldiers, and a dozen other things in their adventure. Together, they manage to end the eons-old threat of Sauron; the struggles of the rest of Middle Earth are really no more than distractions for that goal.
Perhaps that is one more layer of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. That, for him, the hero isn’t necessarily the man who has volunteered and trained to serve his country who is the real hero. Instead it’s the person thrust into a role he isn’t bred or trained for who manages anyway. I always like to keep in mind that he and his three close friends were drafted into World War I, a role none of them were ready for, and only Tolkien survived. Maybe, just maybe, the Middle Earth stories originated as his way of saluting their sacrifice, of recognizing what they could have been, and of bringing attention to the significance of their lives. In that way, I think he immortalized them all.
http://notionclubpapers.blogspot.com/2011/06/tcbs-inklings-notion-club.html
http://oxfordinklings.blogspot.com/2008/08/early-years-and-tcbs.html
February 13, 2014
The Traditional Heroine
Last week I spoke about the development of the female hero from a masculinized woman into a woman who is allowed to retain her normal social roles. This week I would like to focus on the woman’s contribution to adventures. If women were not traditionally the heroes in the classical sense then certainly they had other roles beyond being the prize or the damsel in distress.
Characters who qualify for study here are reasonably numerous; many are even famous for their alternate functions. Medea, Niniane, and even Athena spring to mind immediately. There are more; Signy from Norse myth, Medb from Irish myth, Morgan from the Arthurian corpus among a host of others, but the first three will work well to make my point.
Athena is the goddess among them, it should be remembered of war as well as wisdom. But she is not a fighter; she is rarely presented as even wearing armor. What she does do is guide the hero and provide him with the tools he needs in order to accomplish his quest. She arranges for Perseus to find the Medusa and for Bellerophon to capture Pegasus. She helps Tydeus in his career as well.
Medea and Niniane, too, guide and protect their respective heroes. Medea advises Jason on how to deal with the fire-breathing bulls her father would have killed him with. She also arranges for the Argonauts’ safe journey from Colchis by killing her brother and leaving his cut up pieces in the sea to be picked up. Niniane serves as a useful advisor to Arthur in the latter part of his reign, helping him with his decisions and later arranging for his transport to Avalon for healing.
As a rule, the perception has been that a woman (as opposed to a god) had to be underhanded and break ties of loyalty in order to help the hero. She has in effect been portrayed as a stereotype that we are comfortable with; fickle in her emotions. Males do this, too. Loki seems genuinely interested in helping Odin while not hesitating to have Baldr killed and spawning the three greatest threats to Asgard in his spare time. Midas is one of the best kings of Greek mythology, until he makes that wish about gold.
I’ve chosen these two characters intentionally, they are among the most notorious people in myth and legend for the perception of them as foolish or at least lacking foresight. But for women such qualities are o.k., because that’s all they can do.
Two things to be taken from this. First, that women were not traditionally perceived as helpful in the hero’s quest and so the only way they were acceptable in that role was if they were using deception and cruelty.
Second, the simple invention of the superheroine is a huge step in our social progress, to be sure. However, I don’t like that we have patterned it after the male superhero. Women think differently, behave differently, are heroic differently. I look forward to the day when they are properly represented as different.
http://flutiebear.tumblr.com/post/41962624966/sorveharth-i-think-the-main-difference-between
http://www.alternet.org/story/154784/heroine_with_a_thousand_faces%3A_the_rise_of_the_female_savior
February 6, 2014
The Superheroine Liberal
Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Black Cat, Sue Storm, and Jean Grey. Your typical female superheroes, right? Not so much. I did a quick search of my library and on the internet and learned a very interesting fact; there are only three superheroines in the legends and myths – Atalanta, Caenis, and a warrior from the Mahabharata. Atalanta and the Mahabharata heroine refused to marry, and when they were finally forced to both women lost their martial abilities. Caenis was raped by a god and asked in return to be made a man. Caenis, or Caeneus, is a good symbol for all three women. To be considered a superhero, a woman traditionally had to give up being a woman altogether.
Not so with the comic book genre. Wonder Woman was created in 1942, and in that very same issue she fell in love with Steve Trevor. The feelings were returned, and the couple have carried on a romantic relationship. In the 1960s and 1970s the Invisible Woman and Jean Grey were similarly able to have marriages, with both women eventually marrying. Interestingly, in all three cases the women were more powerful than their mates.
Batgirl, Supergirl, and Black Cat have all had more complicated romances, but they have had relationships. And in no case have they lost their powers because of the fact that they were allowing themselves to love. With these women, too, they have been more powerful than most of their romantic interests.
In this regard, the development of the superheroine has been a tremendous step forward for women. That a woman could have both her full abilities and a romantic partner would have been unthinkable before the twentieth century. The functional fixedness of women’s perception; as either intelligent and forceful or a wife and mother was ingrained not just into the public’s thoughts of their heroines but of society’s thinking toward women in general.
That a woman could be more powerful than her man would have been unthinkable up until the last few decades. In our society, the thought that a woman could be better, at anything, than a man continues to be an issue. I just watched Hancock again, and there is a scene where Charlize Theron asks her husband to open a bottle she is having trouble with. It’s silly, and I laughed at the irony. But the scene is so honest it’s also frightening.
With all the advances being made, there is still one point in which women are well behind the men – intelligence. Mr. Fantastic’s powers are no match for his wife, but he is a powerful mutant in his own right. On the other hand, he is possibly the smartest human in the Marvel universe while the Invisible Woman was a model before she became part of the Fantastic Four. His brains are why he is the team leader. Similarly Cyclops is generally portrayed as more intelligent than the more powerful Jean Grey and he is the field leader of the X-Men. Wonder Woman defers to Steve, despite the fact that she is supposed to be more intelligent than him. Supergirl is the immature cousin of Superman. Black Cat is the ethically challenged sometime partner of Spider-Man. Batgirl only became intelligent when she was crippled. Comic heroines have moved perceptions of women well beyond their mythological role models but they still have some distance to go.
January 30, 2014
Justice League 2017; Bad Idea
Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of another bunch of superheroes banding together for whatever excuse. The interactions of godlike beings is always entertaining, especially when they are portrayed with such typically human qualities as the Fantastic Four and Avengers have been in recent years, or as the latest Justice League cartoons managed in the in the years before that. But there are a couple serious flaws with making the movie right now as opposed to say in another five years.
For one, movie makers must realize that if they are going to have a successful movie they will need to attract beyond the comics readers, and the only way that crowd knows most of the primaries (apart from Batman and Superman) is through a media that has traditionally portrayed them as flat and uninteresting characters (here Marvel already had a huge advantage). Take Wonder Woman, traditionally the number three in DC comics. Not much to her. And the only successful show about her took place in the seventies. Aquaman and The Flash still suffer from the same perception of being two-dimensional. The Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz, is almost completely unknown to the public.
Marvel had a huge advantage in this regard. All of the most important characters had appeared in more than one medium over the decade before they started making the movies, and Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, and even Thor were all well in the public consciousness. More importantly, they had all been reincarnated as three-dimensional personalities.
Second thing, Marvel took established actors for most of the key roles, people an audience already wanted to see. This was especially important for Iron Man (a complex character hard to play) and Captain America (someone difficult to play as anything but flat). In the JL movie Wonder Woman would have to be a key element, and she is to be played by a virtual unknown apart from small parts in three Fast and Furious movies. And while she is an attractive woman, she hardly calls to mind an Amazon with her slight figure.
Now certainly Smallville and the recent game Injustice: Gods Among Us has improved the public’s awareness of the characters who will be in this movie, but here again DC needs to take a lesson from Marvel, which has been extremely successful with its Avengers franchise. In a series of movies, they gave us the chance to be reintroduced to their leading characters and eased into the actors would play those roles. In the process, they generated interest years before Avengers actually came out. If Justice League is to be a commercial success, they will need to do the same thing. They will have to do so more carefully, as they have many hokey movies such as the 1960s and 80s Batman and Superman movies to live down before they can try such a delicate project as a team superhero movie.
http://screencrush.com/arrow-stephen-amell-justice-league/
