DC Showcase

Earlier this week we got this trailer:

Confession time; I’ve never read an issue of Hellblazer, Swamp Thing or even the Nu52 Constantine. Prior to meeting a friend of mine, my knowledge of John Constantine came solely from his interactions with Dream of the Endless and Zatanna, which certainly doesn’t give one the full picture.

Unfortunately, I think this is an awful trailer to try and sell new audiences onto John Constantine. I don’t think it’s the fault of showrunners or the advertisers, I think the world of Hellblazer; from its concepts to its mythology; is a hard one to try and summarise in a three minute trailer. Fortunately in my case at least it doesn’t matter, I’m excited for this series, particularly after the first promo shot came out for this series.

Look at this magical mutherfucker (and yes, I know this is the doctored version)

In all seriousness, the trailer just could’ve been Constantine smoking and glaring at the camera for three minutes and I’d still be excited for this series. I love the idea of the character, and I think it’s one that can translate well to live action…

…well, better that the last attempt, hopefully:

The major complaint you can level against the 2005 film starring Keanu Reeves is that it isn’t a Hellblazer movie. Outside of that it’s a bit of fun, though Constantine stubbing out his last cigarette in his arterial blood from his slashed wrists is probably the most Constantinesque thing in the whole damn film. But let’s put this one out of our minds. If anything, the new series trailer has inspired me to track down issues of Swamp Thing and Hellblazer and start reading them from scratch. Hopefully I’ll be able to report back on what I think of it all, as John Constantine is one of few comic book characters to have such a long, unbroken run where the character ages in real time. Pity he never got the proper send off he deserved.

Moving along, and today we got this teaser:

My major concern about this show’s announcement was that I had no idea who Grant Gustin was and if he could carry a series, particularly as the legendary Barry Allen. I still have those concerns, but they are majorly alleviated by the huge amount of goodwill this trailer buys for me.

Why? Cos Ollie and Barry are Target Racing!

This was a thing the characters used to do with each other during the Silver Age and beyond. It’s a bit of goofing around, but it shows that the showrunners for each show have thought about how these two characters should interact whenever they’re on screen together. Which I honestly don’t think will be much, but the fact that these two are sharing a universe is interesting in itself.

Considering how grim/dark the original Flash TV Series was; being a product of ’90s Comics mentality and the fallout from the successful Tim Burton Batman films, it’s good to see that maybe this television incarnation of Barry Allen will be a bit lighter. I like that the Flash is exuberant in this, and even the reasonably grim Arrow cracks a smile. His darkness is a product of PTSD; realistically portrayed for the most part; but there are some moments of genuine humour from him as well. These guys can be fun characters, and it’s time that was acknowledged again.

This guy: awesome, yes. But rarely fun…unless Mark Hamill’s Trickster was involved.

So at the start of the next TV season we’re going to have four shows based on DC properties; these two, Arrow and the new series Gotham…which I completely forgot a trailer had been released for!

I’m still apprehensive about Gotham; I believe  a series centred on Jim Gordon or his Major Crimes task force, à la Gotham Central would make a great basis for a TV series set in the Batman universe without Batman making regular appearances. But I’m not sold on the idea of younger versions of the traditional Batman Rogues Gallery running around a decade before Bruce Wayne put on the cowl. That being said, with Ben McKenzie and Donal Logue as the leads, I’m more than prepared to give this a chance.

Be seeing you…