Spoilers DC TV Arrow/Flash Universe Crossover Discussion

[kirk55555]

You do know that NPH did a episode of Glee?

I don't really see how that's relevant. I doubt he was a recurring guest (and a check on wikipedia says he's not). its not like I'm a NPH fan or anything (I'm neutral toward him). But, if they're doing the Music Meister, having the guy who voiced him, who is also a fairly popular actor who does TV work, makes the most sense, and we already know he can play the part well. Its basically the only thing that would have guaranteed I'd bother with the musical crossover, since I like the Batman Brave & The Bold episode so much.

But, without him, its just an out of place musical crossover pointless stuck on superhero shows because some of the actors on the shows were previously on a terrible tv show. Or, as I'm now thinking of it, a previously unannounced one week hiatus for Flash and Supergirl, with new real episodes the next week.

 

[Commander Richard]

Maybe they couldn't get NPH.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I

The funny this is, the Queen Flash Gordon theme, could actually almost work for The Flash too.

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If you take out the bits of movie dialogue, I don't think there's anything in it that couldn't apply to The Flash. There was one bit I couldn't make out, but it didn't seem to be anything specific to Flash Gordon.

I am surprised no one has made an edit of that video with scenes from DC TV show yet?
I am pretty sure you can find scenes that match the dialog as well.

 

[Christopher]

Maybe they couldn't get NPH.

More than likely. It's inconceivable to me that they didn't at least offer him the part; I mean, these are the people who have brought most of the core cast of the '90 The Flash into their new Flash universe, often in the same roles, and who cast Dean Cain and Helen Slater as Supergirl's foster parents and Laura Vandervoort as one of her main foes. But NPH is starring in Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events (with Supergirl's Malina Weissman), so he probably couldn't make room in his schedule.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

^It's also not like he would have had some great insight. When the upcoming musical crossover was brought up in an interview, Harris didn't even seem to remember much about the character other than that he did it and there was singing. And that's quite understandable, he's a busy guy doing movies, TV shows, broadway, and hosting the occasional award show, and the Music Meister was a one-episode voice acting gig back in 2009.

So, having NPH reprise the role would have been nice, but not essential.

 

[Christopher]

^It's also not like he would have had some great insight. When the upcoming musical crossover was brought up in an interview, Harris didn't even seem to remember much about the character other than that he did it and there was singing. And that's quite understandable, he's a busy guy doing movies, TV shows, broadway, and hosting the occasional award show, and the Music Meister was a one-episode voice acting gig back in 2009.

So, having NPH reprise the role would have been nice, but not essential.

There really wasn't anything to the original character other than the singing. Batman: The Brave and the Bold was a very broad show in the spirit of Silver Age comics, so the villains weren't exactly nuanced or given complex backstories. But NPH has a really great singing voice, and we know he can play a great comedic villain. It remains to be seen whether this Criss guy can compare.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Flash/Supergirl Musical Crossover Features Duet Written by Rachel Bloom, Song From La La Land Duo

 

[gblews]

More than likely. It's inconceivable to me that they didn't at least offer him the part; But NPH is starring in Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events (with Supergirl's Malina Weissman), so he probably couldn't make room in his schedule.

Undoubtedly this is what happened. In this particular little Hollywood hierarchy, meaning young(ish) good looking actor who can sing and play musical comedy/drama, 1. Zac Efron 2. NPH 3. Darren Criss. In this case, NPH might have rated a bit higher because of previous involvement, but if Efron expressed an interest he'd probably have gotten strong consideration. Anyway, no Efron, no NPH, Darren's the guy. I'll bet he knows it and isn't bothered by it.

Flash/Supergirl Musical Crossover Features Duet Written by Rachel Bloom, Song From La La Land Duo

Okay, this has officially become awesome.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I re-watched the Invasion! crossover and was struck by the fact that The Dominators came to Earth because of Barry, and Barry was literally the first human they saw when they landed. One of them even stopped and growled at him. Why didn't the alien just say, "Hey, this is the guy we're looking for! What are the odds?", and then pick him up and bring him back to the ship?

If nothing else, it would make for an amusing HISHE video.

 

[Christopher]

I re-watched the Invasion crossover and was struck by the fact that The Dominators came to Earth because of Barry, and Barry was literally the first human they saw when they landed. One of them even stopped and growled at him. Why didn't the alien just say, "Hey, this is the guy we're looking for! What are the odds?", pick him up and bring him back to the ship?

I wondered that myself, but I realized it wasn't just because of Barry. Barry was the catalyst, but the Dominators were concerned with metahumans in general and the threat their powers posed. And it wasn't until later in the invasion that "Agent Smith" made the deal with the Dominators to turn the Flash over to them in exchange for them leaving Earth alone -- a deal they never intended to keep, since they still dropped the Meta-Bomb regardless. Maybe they didn't know the Flash was the one responsible for the temporal incident, or what he looked like and where to find him, until Smith told them. So any head-slapping "D'oh, it was the first guy we saw!" reactions on the Dommies' part would've come somewhat after the fact.

And has anyone commented on the paradox of Agent Smith's age? We saw his younger self as the head of a Men in Black team in 1951, and to have that kind of authority he must've been at least 30, unless he was amazingly precocious. But that would mean that in the present, he'd have to be at least 95, making it surprising that he's still alive, let alone in active service. And he was played by Donnelly Rhodes, who was 78 at the time. So how did he manage to last so long? Alien technology? Or has he had access to a Lazarus Pit, maybe an in with the League of Assassins?

 

[N-121973]

And has anyone commented on the paradox of Agent Smith's age? We saw his younger self as the head of a Men in Black team in 1951, and to have that kind of authority he must've been at least 30, unless he was amazingly precocious. But that would mean that in the present, he'd have to be at least 95, making it surprising that he's still alive, let alone in active service. And he was played by Donnelly Rhodes, who was 78 at the time. So how did he manage to last so long? Alien technology? Or has he had access to a Lazarus Pit, maybe an in with the League of Assassins?

I was also wondering that about his character. The only thing I can think of about why he was still in government service was that he was a 'Hoover-esque' character who knew both literally and metaphorically where the bodies were buried and knew how to play the game and everytime retirement came up he'd side-step it. Until the invasion that is and with the creation of an Earth-1 DEO following Supergirl's suggestion, maybe he lost a big chunk of his influence.

 

[JD]

I don't really see how that's relevant. I doubt he was a recurring guest (and a check on wikipedia says he's not). its not like I'm a NPH fan or anything (I'm neutral toward him). But, if they're doing the Music Meister, having the guy who voiced him, who is also a fairly popular actor who does TV work, makes the most sense, and we already know he can play the part well. Its basically the only thing that would have guaranteed I'd bother with the musical crossover, since I like the Batman Brave & The Bold episode so much.

But, without him, its just an out of place musical crossover pointless stuck on superhero shows because some of the actors on the shows were previously on a terrible tv show. Or, as I'm now thinking of it, a previously unannounced one week hiatus for Flash and Supergirl, with new real episodes the next week.

Maybe they couldn't get NPH.

Yeah, he's doing the Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and on top of that he's pretty popular, so he probably doesn't have a lot of time for these kinds of one off roles.
I understand that NPH was the first person to voice him on TB&TB, but I don't really see where it has to be him. Sure it would have been cool to see him do it, but there are plenty of other talented actors who could also do a good job, like Criss.

Flash/Supergirl Musical Crossover Features Duet Written by Rachel Bloom, Song From La La Land Duo

Wow, that is really cool. I didn't expect them to actually bring in outside people like that to songs for them.

 

[kirk55555]

Yeah, he's doing the Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and on top of that he's pretty popular, so he probably doesn't have a lot of time for these kinds of one off roles.
I understand that NPH was the first person to voice him on TB&TB, but I don't really see where it has to be him. Sure it would have been cool to see him do it, but there are plenty of other talented actors who could also do a good job, like Criss.

for me, I just question why they'd even use the character. Music Meister is only remembered because of NPH, which is why even someone like me who is generally neutral toward the actor would have tuned in to see him play the character in live action, because I liked the episode of Batman:thew Brave and the Bold. . But, personally, I think that without him this whole crossover is just a pointless musical that takes time away from real episodes. Since I hate musicals (outside of some cartoons) anyway and now have absolutely no reason to watch them, I'll just skip Flash and Supergirl that week.

 

[dahj]

for me, I just question why they'd even use the character.

Because they wanted to do a musical episode.

since I hate musicals anyway I now have absolutely no reason to watch them, meaning I'll just skip Flash and Supergirl that week.

It's only one episode, the Flash one.

 

[kirk55555]

Because they wanted to do a musical episode.

It seems weird to bring back a one shot character from a cartoon that's only really remembered for being played by a certain actor just for that. Then again, I bet what happened is that the idea of a musical in the CWverse was so stupid they couldn't think of a justification, then someone remembered Music Meister. from that perspective, I guess it makes sense. It doesn't give me any desire to watch the musical, but it explains why they bothered to use the character at all.

It's only one episode, the Flash one.

Oh, ok. I thought since supergirl was involved it was in two episodes. I wish it had been on Supergirl instead, though (I'd rather lose an episode of Supergirl then an episode of Flash).

 

[JD]

They said they are doing to same thing they did with Invasion, they'll be a set up at the end of Supergirl, before the main story is on The Flash.
As for why they're doing a musical, it's because they have a cast filled with really talented singers, and so they decided to take advantage of that. As for Music Meister, there have been plenty of times where a character was known for being played by a specific actor, and somebody else has played and it was great. I love musicals, and after seeing clips of Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist on Glee, and the Rent movie (which is a great movie by the way) with Jessie L. Martin, I couldn't possibly be more excited for the Supergirl musical.

 

[kirk55555]

They said they are doing to same thing they did with Invasion, they'll be a set up at the end of Supergirl, before the main story is on The Flash.
As for why they're doing a musical, it's because they have a cast filled with really talented singers, and so they decided to take advantage of that. As for Music Meister, there have been plenty of times where a character was known for being played by a specific actor, and somebody else has played and it was great. I love musicals, and after seeing clips of Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist on Glee, and the Rent movie (which is a great movie by the way) with Jessie L. Martin, I couldn't possibly be more excited for the Supergirl musical.

That's fair enough. I don't consider that a good enough reason, and I'd rather have a real episode of the Flash, but its not that hard to skip one week of Flash and a few minutes of Supergirl. Hopefully its a one time thing and won't happen again. It reminds me of older shows that would save money with a clip show. Its not quite the same thing, but its similar in that they waste an episode of a season for dubious reasons, but at least its an episode that can be skipped without consequence.

 

[Gaith]

And has anyone commented on the paradox of Agent Smith's age?

Isn't it time we acknowledged that nothing in that television "Event" made one damn bit of sense?

Also, was that the catastrophe that was so horrible the Time Masters decided to ally with Vandal Savage? A throwaway plot that's already been more or less forgotten, mere months after the fact? Because, if so, that's some serious weak sauce.

 

[dahj]

Also, was that the catastrophe that was so horrible the Time Masters decided to ally with Vandal Savage?

No, they were concerned about the Thanagarian invasion that's still on schedule for the 22nd(?) century.

 

[JD]

That's fair enough. I don't consider that a good enough reason, and I'd rather have a real episode of the Flash, but its not that hard to skip one week of Flash and a few minutes of Supergirl. Hopefully its a one time thing and won't happen again. It reminds me of older shows that would save money with a clip show. Its not quite the same thing, but its similar in that they waste an episode of a season for dubious reasons, but at least its an episode that can be skipped without consequence.

I don't know if I'd just write it off like that . Musicals tend to deal a lot with characters' emotions and personal issues, so I wouldn't be surprised if we got some fairly significant developments in The Flash episode. Just look how important Once More, With Feeling was to Buffy's story arc.