Supergirl!

[ffutures]

Gacked from selenak - I knew the show was coming but wasn't aware of the trailer.

BIG trailer for the new Supergirl series from the makers of The Flash and Arrow. Looks VERY interesting!

I suspect this will result in more Supergirl fanfic from me eventually.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Okay that was unexpectedly awesome.

When does it air?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

November.

Is it just me, or does she look and sound a lot like a younger Felicity Smoak?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Just discovered that the boyfriend/next door neighbour is Winslow Schott*, which does not sound like it's going to end well...

* Toyman

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Also that the anti-alien agency guy is Hank Henshaw, the cyborg Superman of the comics...

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

It seems to have really divided opinion, I assumed a lot of the cheesy things people hated were things that they'd done quite deliberately cheesy, and they were presumably going to be knowingly playing with some of the tropes.

But we shall see. I'm looking forward to it at least.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I think someone has looked at Lois and Clark, realised that humanising Superman made it work, and written the series accordingly. They've done a brilliant job with Flash (not so wonderful with Arrow) and I'm hoping this will be as good.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

And I love the idea of her joining a secret government team to investigate alien landings.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

Huh. Interesting. I like the tweak on Olsen.

I'm not sure I like the overall characterization; it has some of the same quality as the portrayal of Barry Allen had on the one episode of Flash I watched—kind of, I don't know, unformed and ordinary? That's not what I look for in this genre. The actual show may be different, but it's not a good sign that the preview's main goal is to humanize the character.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

The main reason Lois and Clark succeeded was that it humanised Clark - I agree that Supergirl should if anything be a bit more alien, but this is set several years after she reached Earth so I think it's acceptable. I really find it hard to relate to powerhouse superheroes with no human traits.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

That's not the sense in which I mean "humanize."

Consider the Avengers films. The Vision is definitely a bit alien, and for good reason, as he's a recently created AI in a synthetic body. Captain America is definitely human. But he's not "humanized" in the sense I mean.

The opening episode of Agent Carter made the point I'm trying to get at: When we see Peggy looking at her photograph of Steve, it's not the supersoldier; it's the skinny, sickly kid. Better than any other image, that says that he already had the heroic resolve that we see in the later movies, and that she could see it in him. We have some scenes that portray his emotional complexities, and some humorous touches, but none of them takes away that inner integrity. (In the same way, for me, the single scene in The Winter Soldier that, to me, shows the greatest courage is his visit to Peggy, where she turns away, coughing, and then has forgotten that he's still alive and has to have it explained all over again—and his response shows that he's been through this before, and he's able to face a repeat visit.)

Most of us don't have that. But it doesn't make a character more interesting, for me, to see him be made "more like us" in that way.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

OK, I get what you mean - but as with most versions of Superman, I get the feeling that she's spent years learning to hide her powers and blend in, and been told repeatedly it's the only way to survive amongst humanity. That's not going to build up confidence and is presumably a hard habit to break, and to use the story's metaphor, come out as a superhero. That "squee" moment when she's watching the news reports and realising that maybe she can pull it off is the start of that.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

You know, having watched it a second time, I'm seeing more to like in it. The sequence with her saving the plane, and her joy in having done so, is really lovely; it's like the Supergirl I always liked. This one may have potential. The scene where she talks about the insignia of the House of El is moving, too.