Thoughts on CBS’ Supergirl

This latest DC television show is brought to you by Greg Berlanti, who’s busy taking over the CW network with The Flash and Arrow, and whoever else he can get his hands on from DC Comics.  For some reason, CW didn’t want his Supergirl project. So, he went to CBS.

My first thought, as I looked at Kara and her civilian dress?  “Did they just give Felicity Smoake from Arrow superpowers?”  Because the awkwardness and personality kinda match up.

My second thought was “Why is Calista Flockhart on this show? In fact, why is she employed? And can she be the villain?”

Also: her civilian alias is Kara Danvers? You mean like Marvel’s Carol Danvers, the heroine Captain Marvel? Is someone trying to backhand Marvel?

I like the feel of this, especially in the wake of the GrimDark Batman Vs. Superman trailer, which if it gets any blacker will require night vision goggles for viewing. I’m seriously, seriously tired of the GrimDark.

This? This is bright and colorful and things blow up. So, yay.

Though there are some odd moments I have with what’s going on here, and it’s probably the editing of the trailer: You have an army guy who deals with aliens dismissing the woman who can redirect a plane and stop bullets as someone who gets coffee?  Huh? What?  I think someone had time to fill in the trailer and didn’t know what to pad it out with. Because there are reasons to dismiss a powered being offering you help: there’s “you’re new” and then there’s “you’re a screw up.” Other reasons include: The writers don’t know what they’re doing. But I give Berlanti the benefit of the doubt.

Another head tilt moment: Jimmy Olsen in the comics is a scrawny, nerdy, redheaded stepchild. They’ve turned him into a tall, knowledgeable, suave fellow … who’s black? The ethnic swap is the least of these changes, but the character changes are such that I’m thinking “Why even name the guy Jimmy Olsen?” Now, if they’re going with the awesome, awesome graphic novel Superman Earth One, which had Jimmy Olsen as a former embedded war photographer who will do anything to get a picture … that would be fun.  But this guy comes off as less Jimmy Olsen and more elder-mentor type.  At which point, is Perry White so darn copyrighted? Really?

Again, it might be how the trailer was put together that we’re missing a lot of context. It might turn out to be stupid, but you know what, this at least looks like fun. And when DC comics seems to think that Grim and Gritty is the way to go, I’ll take a heroine who smiles.

But my real problem?  I miss John Williams’s music.

About Declan Finn

Declan Finn is the author of Honor at Stake, an urban fantasy novel, nominated for Best Horror in the first annual Dragon Awards. He has also written The Pius Trilogy, an attempt to take Dan Brown to the woodshed in his own medium -- soon to be republished by Silver Empire Press. Finn has also written "Codename: Winterborn," an SF espionage thriller, and it's follow-up, "Codename: Winterborn." And "It was Only on Stun!" and "Set To Kill" are murder mysteries at a science fiction convention.
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2 Responses to Thoughts on CBS’ Supergirl

  1. Also: her civilian alias is Kara Danvers? You mean like Marvel’s Carol Danvers, the heroine Captain Marvel? Is someone trying to backhand Marvel?

    Oh turn your geek card in RIGHT now.

    No, it’s not referencing Captain Marvel, it’s a reference to the weird 90s Supergirl that had the name Linda Danvers.

    Hang your head in shame. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Who DOESN’T miss John Williams’ music?

    Like

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