DC TV Series 2014 Trailer Analysis

Wonderful!

Three trailers aired this week….all dealing with a different facet of the superhero world..

While Gotham deals with a grounded approach to the superhero world, the Flash will explore the superhuman and sci-fi aspect of that world and finally, Constantine lives in the Supernatural side of the DC universe. It is a balanced selection (one can argue that if Gotham is taken out of the picture, Arrow is also mainly exploring the grounded faction of the DC-verse).

And all of the trailers look awesome in different ways.

1. Gotham

Airing on Fox, this tv series chronicles the life of the GCPD fighting the good fight to stop the mob from running the city.

The extended trailer, courtesy YouTube is shown below:

There are radical changes to the Gotham mythos here. Its starts faithful to most comic book origins, as Jim Gordon is a new officer posted in Gotham at the time of the famous Wayne murder and comforts him. Also shown in the trailer was his fiance Barbara and for those who know, his problems with fidelity when Sarah Essen enters the picture in the book Year One.

The student becomes the teacher in this series

But the changes start now. Instead of being one of the initially corrupt cops Gordon has to face when he returns to Gotham from a prolonged and bad visit to Chicago, Harvey Bullock is his gritty superior here. Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya, two of Gordon’s prodigies in the comics, are his fellow officers here.

As for the other players here, we will most likely find Carmine Falcone, the main boss of Gotham, and his lapdog corrupt Commissioner Loeb here. The others families like the Maronis or the Vittis (from Long Halloween/ Dark Victory) are not featured here but a new character named ‘Fish’ Mooney has been introduced into the underworld power struggle.

His evolution will be captivating if handled properly

And now we come to the pre-Batman Rogues. Mooney’s right hand man is Oswald Cobbelpot, commonly known as the Penguin. While I’m not sure whether they’ll retain the Cobblepots as being rich or the founding fathers of Gotham, Oswald is the underworld boss during Batman’s vigil and this can explore his rise up the rank.

The others are mostly unseen, excepting Selina Kyle. An unmentioned feature is that Gordon is now a kind of mentor to the young Bruce (something that didn’t happen in the comics since Gordon left for Chicago shortly after the murders) and apparently, Selina witnesses a suicide attempt on the young Wayne’s part and may in the future befriend him.

Edward Nygma pre-Riddler is a recurring presence as a consultant to the GCPD, while Poison Ivy aka Ivy Pepper (don’t know why they changed her name from Pamela Isley) appears to be a youngster confined to a mental Asylum. There are noises that a pre-Scarecrow Jonathan Crane may also appear.

Hopes:

The change of Gordon from naïve officer to beaten down head of the police force will be captivating, as will be the mafia war that will rage through the city.

The GCPD has been a neglected factor in the Batman movies, so focus on Bullock, Montoya and co in the vein of the comic Gotham Central is welcome.

I do hope Penguin and Nygma feature a lot in their respective functions, becoming the advanced foes Batman faces without any costumed avatars. The visuals seem to be holding up and Gotham looks beautifully dark.

Fears:

Overused Trope #476278 - The Wayne Murders

Focusing too much on Easter Eggs or actual transformations of the villains (I’m hearing the Joker may appear in a pre-white and green form) and forced interactions between Bruce and his Rogues gallery, instead of about the GCPD vs the Mafia will be a wrong direction.

Instead of Posion Ivy, Clayface or even a non-superhuman one like the Riddler - the lesser known of Batman's Rogues Gallery like Black Mask, the Red Hood Gang or even Victor Zsarz can be featured.

But that may turn people away from the show; given Batman will be the main attraction to non-comic book readers. This is a precarious balance that they must maintain.

So, I give this trailer 4 out of 5 stars!

2. Constantine

Many many years ago, when I was still totally unaware of the comic book world despite my love of the TV shows, like BTAS, I saw a film that I actually liked very much – it was called Constantine.

Now almost a decade later, I’ve improved on my Hellblazer reading, not to mention following the bugger’s adventures in DC proper. And that may have made me look unfavorably back on that film. Besides Keanu’s one-look face or Shia Lebouf’s annoying whining, a host of problems had come up.

I still like the movie, but this trailer made me feel I could love a live-action John Constantine again.

Want to see some magic tricks, eh?

It retains much of its Hellblazer beginnings – his sardonic wit laced with a sorrowful undertone, the coat, his look and his accent. But it includes his Americanized newbie version as well, overlapping the two to make a delightful mixture.

Here's the trailer, courtesy Youtube.....

There’s a lot of Hellblazer’s stories included here – his stint at the Mental Asylum Ravenscar (Arkham, Ravencroft – so many madhouses!) and his deep shame at the death of a young girl with the added problems of his soul getting damned in the process.

Bollocks! Should have known! Asylum = Crazies!

John Constantine is not a hero by any measure. And that is highlighted in the first minute only when he tries to ignore a demonic possession but being a good guy inside, helps out. If he’s in danger though, he’ll sacrifice anything and anyone to get himself out of the jam.

Those facets are subdued though, as he travels to America to help protect the daughter of a deceased friend. The ability to travel both worlds – the living and the dead is also highlighted, as the daughter Liv finds out through some really gruesome visuals that would make a horror movie proud.

Crowley and he should have dinner sometime

The supernatural world surrounding them is also shown, though I’m yet to warm towards the angel shown here. The demon who took the girl and John’s soul looked menancing though.

Matt Ryan is clearly in his elements here. He’s great at changing moods from joyful to protective to sad and makes a great John. The rest of the cast are yet to prove themselves, though I hope with time and exposure they will.

The effects look great. Whether it is the crater left in the Angel’s wake or the horrifying visuals of Liv’s dead Grandmother falling apart, it all looks good.

There are easter eggs scattered everywhere. The Helmet of Fate and it’s associated garments make some appearances and hopefully more will come to expand the roster.

Hopes:

This looks like it has the makings of a great supernatural show. The special effects are top class and the leading man is great.

The gang's all here!

Given Goyer is on the project and also involved in the Man of Steel Snyderverse, I hope they’re able to connect these and give me the much anticipated Del Toro’s Justice League Dark.

Fears:

The supporting cast, which includes the Angel and Liv, failed to impress me in the brief moments they had.

You can do better than this!

They’re playing around with the comic book canon, and the death of a beloved long standing character in the trailer itself shows that. I do fear that too much of a departure from the Hellblazer trappings may alienate the fans of the character. A balance must be maintained.

And finally, I have no knowledge of the budget approved for this show, but the effects shown in the trailer (and most likely, the pilot) may not be consistent throughout the season.

So, I give this trailer 4.5 out of 5 stars.

3.The Flash

When this was first announced, I was more than a bit apprehensive. Grant didn’t come across as lead material and the special effects on Arrow didn’t inspire confidence in what Flash would do.

But all those have been unfounded and how.

See the trailer below, courtesy of Youtube….

It seems they’re going to include more comic book canon in this show than they did in Arrow. The first minute itself affirms that.

Family is everything

But the focus on family, as the team did on Arrow, is not neglected. Including Detective West and the STAR Labs team does diminish the whole ‘secret identity’ thing, but results in complex associations that would be vital to the show’s long run.

But the main feature here was the special effects. And they were excellent! From the display of super speed to the tornado effects – all bore movie level quality.

Who killed Nora Allen?

It also plants multiple threads which will be dealt with either this season or fingers crossed, in subsequent ones. The mystery dealing with the murder of his mother will lead Barry down interesting roads and the dimensional anomaly that gave Flash his powers will be expanded apparently very early on.

Superfriends!

There are multiple teasers and homages to the comics present here, though the most intriguing one is the Ferris Air teaser. As most know, the company is connected with the Green Lantern franchise and in the comics, Barry and Hal (the first main Green Lantern) are close friends and hopefully, they have enough budget to maybe include him with lantern ring for maybe one or two episodes.

Still, even without those enticements, this is shaping up to be a good show worthy of the DC hero.

Hopes:

The family relationship should be expanded upon without going into overly melodramatic territory and like the WeatherWizard in the trailer, an organic introduction of more metahumans should be done (maybe leading to the Rogues in the future)

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Whoa, that's cool!

Hopefully, the special effects will continue to be as awesome as the trailer.

Grant has improved since the Arrow episodes and with time, he looks like he can prove himself as Barry, 

The exploration of the speedster mythology given what is seen in the trailer (hints of Speed Force and confirmation of Reverse Flash) and expansion to include more superhuman heroes, hopefully from the Ferris Air teaser only, are also wanted.

Fears:

Budget problems leading to reduction in quality is the biggest fear. The costume remains a visual problem as well.

Needs a new tailor

Also one of the problematic and turn off factors in Arrow was the the horrible teen drama.The ancillary actors and lessly Grant himself are yet to prove themselves in the roles, and that may lead to such situations where the melodrama will overshadow the story.

So, I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.