I know I've said it before, but the one thing that really annoys me about Michelle Jones is the same thing that annoys me about JGL in Dark Knight Rises. Back when they were still trying to pass off 'John Blake' as some new mystery character, Nolan and company kept going "Oh nooo, we're totally never gonna have Robin, why would we ever have Robin, nobody wants Robin, so we're never gonna do it," and then right at the end of the movie they go "Ha, he was Robin all along, we fooled you!" They did the same thing with Zendaya, they kept saying she's a new character, and she's totally not MJ, then right at the end "Oh hahaha, she was actually MJ the whole time, we fooled you!" That's not a trick, it's not pulling a fast one, it's just lying.

If you're gonna make a major change to a character, have the decency to commit to the bit. Don't just lie to the audience and then pretend you're clever for doing so. And would it kill you to at the very least dye a red streak in her hair or something to give her some slight indication as to who she's supposed to be?

I need to work on posts instead of talking to people.

I know I've said it before, but the one thing that really annoys me about Michelle Jones is the same thing that annoys me about JGL in Dark Knight Rises. Back when they were still trying to pass off 'John Blake' as some new mystery character, Nolan and company kept going "Oh nooo, we're totally never gonna have Robin, why would we ever have Robin, nobody wants Robin, so we're never gonna do it," and then right at the end of the movie they go "Ha, he was Robin all along, we fooled you!" They did the same thing with Zendaya, they kept saying she's a new character, and she's totally not MJ, then right at the end "Oh hahaha, she was actually MJ the whole time, we fooled you!" That's not a trick, it's not pulling a fast one, it's just lying.

If you're gonna make a major change to a character, have the decency to commit to the bit. Don't just lie to the audience and then pretend you're clever for doing so. And could it kill you to at the very least dye a red streak in her hair or something to give her some slight indication as to who she's supposed to be?

Again, I think this is indicative of studio culture seeing the internet as this horrible haven for spoilers more than anything. They don't even announce the names of anyone aside from the lead hero anymore, and it's annoying on it's own, because telling us who is going to be appearing in the movie actually helps build hype, not deflate it or ruin some big surprise. Sometimes we don't even get to hear who the villain of the movie is until closer to release, which in itself is baffling, because half of the point of a superhero movie is "Who the hell are they fighting? Oh, shit, that character? Where can I get my tickets now?!"

Though, with Nolan, I suspect something a bit different and wholly unique in his case. I think he was pretty much put in a position to introduce Robin or not get the movie made, either from Warner Bros. or his more comic book-centric brother screenwriter, so he came up with the most backhanded compromise imaginable. I don't think Nolan ever actually intended to do Robin in any way. I think he just really liked working with Levitt on Inception and wanted a role for him, got the "C'mon! We need Robin once if this is the end!" schpeel, and said to everyone "Goddammit, fine. Joseph Gordon-Levitt can play Robin. But don't call him that! And have him just be a lousy fucking cop who accidentally shoots people to death and is somehow worthy to carry on the mantle of the Batman with absolutely no training!"

_{(I don't know if anyone knows this, given the amount of times I've ranted about it, but I haaate The Dark Knight Rises.)}

I need to work on posts instead of talking to people.

*looks at last time you posted*

Yeah. You do.

Y'know, in theory, the idea of Dick Grayson being a young prodigy cop who's more Jim Gordon's protégé instead of Batman's could have worked, especially since the Nolanverse prided itself on being 'realistic' (made-up superweapons and ancient ninja cults notwithstanding). But that would have required Nolan and company to not treat the character like they resented his very existence.

Y'know, in theory, the idea of Dick Grayson being a young prodigy cop who's more Jim Gordon's protégé instead of Batman's could have worked, especially since the Nolanverse prided itself on being 'realistic' (made-up superweapons and ancient ninja cults notwithstanding). But that would have required Nolan and company to not treat the character like they resented his very existence.

There's always been a weird stigma with Robin that I've never understood. People act as though the minute that he was introduced in the comics, Batman was ruined and "the darkness" was gone forever. Despite the fact that Robin was introduced about a year after Batman was, being one of the earliest parts of the mythology to remain.

I guess it's just because he's a kid, and nobody buys into a grown man throwing a kid out there into an open battlefield, which I guess is an acceptable caveat - if this weren't fantasy and absolutely nobody lapped up every single scene of the character of Hit-Girl whenever the first Kick-Ass movie came out. There's a strange idea that because Robin is bright and colorful, he fucks with Batman's goals of scaring people and being a brooding vigilante and always being a loner who can do it all by himself, despite Alfred, Gordon, and all the other supporting cast. When infact, the opposite is true.

Bruce has been rendered to be so far on the edge of slipping from being able to hold up his morality above all else that he needs someone there to hold him back, and remind him that what he does needs to be done for the sake of heroism, not personal vengeance or hatred of the criminal element. Giving him a surrogate son who doesn't give a crap about being one with the shadows and being spooky adds alot more to Batman's character than just having him be out there by himself because Bruce not only tolerates it, but leans on it as an acceptable caveat to just going nuts and snapping the necks of every criminal he comes into contact with.

Which is why I'm looking forward to building to UOU's version of Robin, because my Batman is very intentionally being written to show why Bruce without the sidekicks ever being a factor doesn't quite work as well as some might think.

...Despite the fact that Robin was introduced about a year after Batman was...

...Which is why I'm looking forward to building to UOU's version of Robin...

I'm picking up what you're putting down, big guy.

*starts S2 Dick Grayson application*

<Snipped quote by Inkarnate>

Fifteen year old me would've been head over heels. I still think she's wonderful.

EDIT: BUT NOT IN A WEIRD WAY.

Edit 2: Never mind her actor's twenty one. Nothing to see here folks.

Almost got yourself taken out of the running for the Guardians of the Galaxy directorial gig there...

<Snipped quote by Eddie Brock>

Oh, don't get me wrong, I do like the jock version of Flash quite alot in the comics and the animated shows. My problem is that the movies just don't have a really big frame of time to establish his more likeable quirks, such as being a massive Spider-Man fanboy or the fact that underneath all of his douchebaggedness, he has a heart of gold and only needs to grow out of a phase that made Peter's life a living hell.

It only took the comics...

...many, many, many years to show that it was just a phase.

I will say, though, that while on an emotional level it will always bother me if they don't bring back "With great power...", intellectually I do love watching them squirm, right? So we had:

Raimi: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Then:

Webb: "Your father believed that if you could do something to help people, it was your duty to do those things."

And then:

MCU: "Because when you can do things I can, and you don't? And then the bad things happen? They happen because of you."

So I can only assume the next reboot will be something like: "Wherefore as a person or persons is possessed of some unique capabilities, and being so possessed has the agency with which to enact change, they should and must then comport themselves in a manner displaying all due responsibility of such a station."

Where P = Power and R = Responsibility...

Raimi films
P ---> R

Webb films
The square root of P² ---> 2R / 2

MCU
P+P-P/1 ---> RxR / R / 1

<Snipped quote by Eddie Brock>

Where P = Power and R = Responsibility...

Raimi films
P ---> R

Webb films
The square root of P² ---> 2R / 2

MCU
P+P-P/1 ---> RxR / R / 1

Ew.

Mathematics.

>QuitsRP

Two months, nineteen posts, several photoshopped images, absolutely no idea where any of that was heading, and a ton of sleepless nights later, and I have... officially... completed my very first arc in the game.

With a little over a month left in the season.

And sure. I'll grant you that finishing one arc shouldn't have taken that long.

But I finally fucking finished it.

Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm gonna to go pass out.

You know some of this because I've mentioned it before, @Master Bruce...

Denny O'Neill is my favourite Batman writer ever. I've got his novelization of Knightfall at home and I'm chipping away at it and...

I've gotta say your Batman stuff is better than Denny's Batman prose.

You're more Batman than the man who epitomizes Batman to me.

...stupid talented prick.

@Master Bruce Now to go around telling other heroes they aren't broody enough.

I promise y'all my next post will have Iris.

I promise y'all my next post will have Iris.

Who cares if it doesn't have Iris? Tell the story you want to tell however it works best for you.

I promise my next post WON'T have Marc Spector in it!

Sit on it and spin, expectations!

So I'm finally working on actually finishing my Arc.

I'm hoping I'll be able to get a post up either today or tomorrow. This past week has fucked me up. I went from working from home for the past month to actually working on-site and it is an adjustment.

Did we ever get a final answer on what's to happen with the next MME?

Did we ever get a final answer on what's to happen with the next MME?

Master Bruce was waiting until a date that I can't remember before delivering the verdict.