More superhero madness!

Now lots of stuff has happened since I last did a superhero madness...Avengers: Age of Ultron came out for one example. Marvel's latest entry in their movie universe and the sequel to one of the most successful films ever released. I've seen it twice now in the cinema and I have to say I enjoyed it both times, possibly more the second time. It is a good movie BUT its not the best Marvel movie and it could be better in a number of ways. Firstly for the good parts, the opening scene, lots of funny moments, some great new characters, great action, now for the bad in trying to be its own movie it doesn't really acknowledge the stuff that happens in the phase 2 movies/agents of SHIELD before it, possibly to many quips, it feels rushed at times and there are some strange choices made with characters which are unexpected. It also feels a bit safe, I'm not saying that they should make it super dark but Ultron wasn't quite a big a threat as I expected. So overall its a great superhero movie but could have been better, apparently the original cut was 3 hours long and given the popularity of longer movies such as the Hobbit/Lord of the rings movies you wonder why they didn't allow a longer cut to be shown in cinemas.


The Batman v Superman trailer was released a while ago. It is very much a teaser but is certainly interesting with the idea of how the world would actually react due to the presence of a super powerful alien. Ben Affleck also looks like a beast in his batsuit. Its a bit strange that despite it having finished filming a good while ago its not coming out until next year. It also feels like we know more about Suicide Squad which is currently filming and is set to come out after Batman v Superman. This hasn't been helped by all the set leaks which are rather hard to avoid reading about or seeing.

Beast mode activated!

Its getting to that time of year where a lot of tv shows have finished their seasons, this includes the four comic book shows I've watched, Gothan, Arrow, The Flash and Agents of Shield (also Agent Carter but it was a mini-series). I haven't had a chance to watch Constantine yet but it has been cancelled so not sure if there is much point now. So to start off with Gotham, the Batman prequel series. It has been decent enough, fairly entertaining at times, that said if I didn't have the time it would probably be the show that I'd drop. Now Agents of Shield season 1 was a mixed bag, it had some good moments but I'm certainly glad I stuck with it for season 2. It has been a vast improvement with characters who were not very good last season improving greatly along with some great new characters. Just a shame the movie people don't seem to want to have anything to do with it, see here, According to that same article Agent Carter was created by people involved in the movies. It was decent enough but not fantastic or anything.  I had high hopes for Arrow season 3 after the awesome season 2, unfortunately it ended up being rather disappointing. It definitely had some great moments but the story arc was all over the place, the characters moped a lot, and the flashbacks weren't that interesting. I also thought that some characters deserved more screen time. The main crossover episode with The Flash is a lot of fun though.

Now moving on to The Flash itself. In season 2 of Arrow a certain Barry Allen was introduced in a two part episode which then resulted in a spin-off show The Flash debuting at the same time as Arrow season 3. For those who don't know The Flash is a superhero with super speed (as well as being able to move/vibrate different parts of his body resulting in a range of cool powers). With his powers and the presence of a whole load of different metahumans it is definitely bit more out there than Arrow. It is also has a tone that is a bit more fun and light hearted, that said it does get dark at times and it actually made me cry at one point (can't remember another tv show that made me do that!). It has a great not to mention ambitious story arc and the main group of actors are enjoyable to watch (there is some great acting). Grant Gustin is great as Barry/The Flash he is confident, funny with a bit of awkwardness he is definitely human and does makes mistakes but all and all he is a hero and a guy you want to root for. One cool thing they've done is to use actors from the old Flash tv show such as John Wesley Shipp who played Barry/The Flash in the original show now playing Barry's dad as well as Mark Hamill reprising his role as The Trickster (lots of fun). As a whole The Flash isn't perfect, the romance sub-plot is awkward and a bit cringey, it is a bit cheesy at times and the cgi isn't always of the best quality. BUT in the end none of this really matters, it is such a fun, entertaining superhero show which has frequently defied expectations and I can't wait for season 2.

As for what comes next you have the debuts of Supergirl as well as  Legends of Tomorrow (a spin-off from Arrow and The Flash). The supergirl pilot "leaked" online and I have watched it. I have to say I was disappointed by it. It has a lot of plot problems, the action scenes aren't that great and it beats you over the head with the fact that she is a GIRL. It is a bit annoying because instead of normalising the fact that she is a superhero who just happens to be female they make a huge deal out of it. Not to mention the irritating cliches and stereotypes in it. Maybe I'm just not the intended audience for it but when you compare it to The Flash pilot episode which is fair given that some of the same people are behind it it is inferior. The Flash pilot left me wanting more, the Supergirl pilot just left me annoyed and sceptical that it would improve enough to make me want to watch it. Legends of Tomorrow features a team up of characters from The Flash and Arrow along with some new characters. It should be good but time will tell. I don't recommend watching the trailer for it though I did because I'm impatient but given the fact that it is meant to start during the mid season break of Flash season 2 and Arrow season 4 it seems to spoil at least one of the characters story lines for one of those shows.

Melissa Benoist is fine as Supergirl just a shame about all the other characters

Thanks for reading.

In praise of Worm, a web serial

I haven't been reading as much as I used to but I came across this free web serial called Worm several weeks ago and despite its hefty length (roughly 26 typical novels according to the author) I have finished it. It is set in a world where superheroes and supervillians are common but it is much less black and white than your typical superhuman story and it is definitely not suitable for kids. There is a large cast of characters but it mainly focuses on a teenage girl named Taylor. She has developed the ability to control insects and decides she wants to become a hero but after a run in with a notorious local villian she is mistaken for a villain herself setting her down an exciting but dangerous path. The author really builds up the mythology behind this world, the government sponsored heroes, the villains, a super prison for people with powers, a gang called the slaughterhouse nine, other high level threats and of course the endbringers....There are huge battles, monsters, robots, artificial intelligences, clones, parallel worlds and conspiracies. While much as I love comic books and superheroes I have't actually read or watched that many in the whole scheme of things but that said I think the author comes up with some really cool ideas regarding powers and different ways they are used. I also liked the fact that in each chapter focusing on a story arc there are also interlude chapters which focus on events happening elsewhere or the background of certain characters. All in all the best thing that I can say is that it kept me wanting more, I probably read it too quickly as I enjoyed it so much. According to his website he will hopefully edit the story, trim the fat, basically make the best version possible before publishing it in which case I will definitely buy it.

Worm-a web serial, table of contents