B.A.G cast as Metallo for Smallville season 9

[wamdue]

I figured if they did spin off Smallville it'd probably be a Green Arrow series.

I don't think Hartley could stand another pilot not getting picked up

I think a Green Arrow series is a safe bet for a pick up, god knows the CW will need to find something to grab on to for dear life when Smallville does end.

Who would have thought Green Arrow would ever get his own life action TV show? im no DC Comics expert but he seems like a B hero to me (& one who rips off Batman), not normally one to be the lead in anything but his own comic, (however im sure there are examples of him doing more than that over the years)

 

[Skywalker]

^ George Clooney was the king of unaired pilots and he turned out okay.

Maybe one day Hartley will become a big name and Smallville and that movie he made for The Asylum will be roles he never speaks about.

You really aren't comparing George Clooney with identikit pretty boy Hartley are you ?

No, he's comparing The Facts of Life and Return of the Killer Tomatoes' George Clooney to identikit pretty boy Hartley.

You just never know what's gonna happen.

 

[Christopher]

^The premise was that being in two failed pilots would be devastating to an actor's ego or his career. George Clooney is merely one of many counterexamples that demonstrate the absurdity of that premise. Most pilots don't get picked up, so it's pretty much a given that failed pilots are going to be a recurring part of many working actors' careers. So any actor who'd be devastated by being in as little as two failed pilots has no future in the business anyway.


As for the quality of the season just ended, I disagree about the Lana episodes dragging it down. On the contrary, I thought they redeemed the Lana character considerably and gave her a much worthier sendoff than Gough & Millar had stuck her with. The whole season has pretty much been about the new showrunners renouncing and fixing everything that G&M did to screw up the show in previous seasons (which is interesting considering that they worked under G&M in those previous seasons; they must have been pretty unsatisfied in that position). Redeeming Lana as a character was part and parcel of that overall process. So I don't see it as a digression from the flow of the season. I see it as a necessary and worthwhile inclusion.

 

[Broccoli]

^ When she left (contrived as it seemed at the time) and season 8 began, Clark really seemed to be porgressing beyond what he was. True, there was some angst there with Lois, but it wasn't nearly as bad or obnoxious with how it was with Lana.

When Lana came back, it seemed like we reverted back to the pervious years with Clark looking longingly at Lana, moping around about her. If they didn't force Clark and Lana to be in a relationship (and, instead, just have them be friends as their relationshp developed in the post-crisis comics [minus the psyco-Lana period]) , I think those episodes would not have killed the momentium of the season up to that point.

Also, I don't think they were unsatisfied necessarily. I think one of the things the new producers realized when they were put in charge was that they could do whatever they wanted (as long as DC gave it's okay), so they just let their imaginations soar.

One of the complaints I saw on various message boards concerning Smallville was that, under G&M's leadership, was that the show seemed to continue to be in a standstill, particularly in regards to the "Clana" and the fact that they kind wrote Lana as if she can do no wrong. There was too much angst for the on-again-off-again relationship and it was boarding on silly.

That being said, I wonder what G&M were going to do for their season 8. According to some stories, they presented their story arc for season 8 to DC, at which DC rejected it and that caused G&M to quit the show.

 

[Christopher]

Also, I don't think they were unsatisfied necessarily. I think one of the things the new producers realized when they were put in charge was that they could do whatever they wanted (as long as DC gave it's okay), so they just let their imaginations soar.

No, I got a strong sense that the stories and dialogue here were implicitly critiquing what had come before. For instance, characters actually saying that it was high time Clark finally got out of his years-long rut and started embracing the heroic role he should've started pursuing long ago. And some of the things Lana said about the changes she'd gone through were rather critical of who and what she'd been in the past. The new writers weren't just doing their own thing, they were actually having their characters say negative things about their behavior and personality in previous seasons. There was a pretty strong sense of renunciation, not only in that but in the new storylines and characterizations.

 

[Broccoli]

^ With Lana, that could be a tough call, mostly because she has a recurring thing of not being happy with what she has done before.

I do admit, that first episode of the season, they did lay it on pretty thick with Clark saying stuff along the lines of "It's time for me to move on" and what not. Personally, I wonder if that was more of a message to the fans saying "Hey! We are going to be different! Don't leave us!" as opposed to the writers outright bashing what went on before. Judging from what I have read in interviews and whatnot, the writers always seemed very enthusiastic about the show. Also, if their intention was to outright bash the previous showrunners' way of doing things, that would strike me as very unprofessional.

I have more thoughts & theories on this, but I don't want to derail this thread further.

 

[Christopher]

Judging from what I have read in interviews and whatnot, the writers always seemed very enthusiastic about the show. Also, if their intention was to outright bash the previous showrunners' way of doing things, that would strike me as very unprofessional.

In interviews, the people involved in a production almost always seem enthusiastic about it, because they have a vested interest in making it sound good. As for the latter point, it's not "outright bashing," just an implicit critique. A lot of fans online may think that the only possible way to express disagreement is with "bashing," but professionals are not so immature. They know how to disagree about creative decisions without making it personal. They understand that critiquing a story is not the same as judging the person who wrote it.

 

[Procutus]

No, I got a strong sense that the stories and dialogue here were implicitly critiquing what had come before.

What, you mean the line about "No flights, no tights?" in 'Legion?





Seriously though Christopher, I do see where you're coming from, though I do have to say that I can't quite agree with you 100% on the Clark/Lana issue. You're right that her send-off was a bit more redeeming for the character than what she was given at the end of S7, but I still feel that her return mid-season simply set Clark's character growth back about four seasons. I really liked where the season was going up to that point.

My only other major grip about how the new showrunners are handling things was with the weak resolution of the Doomsday arc in the season finale... Unless like my wife said, it was that weak because it's really just starting and Doomsday will be back, ala the Doomsday from the 1993 comics.

As for the original direction of this thread - I think BAG coming in is a great idea and since I wasn't familiar with Metallo to begin with, this should be fun to watch him become this character.

 

[Christopher]

Seriously though Christopher, I do see where you're coming from, though I do have to say that I can't quite agree with you 100% on the Clark/Lana issue. You're right that her send-off was a bit more redeeming for the character than what she was given at the end of S7, but I still feel that her return mid-season simply set Clark's character growth back about four seasons.

Yes, but I think that was the point. The purpose of the S8 Lana arc, as I saw it, was to demonstrate that Clark's fixation with Lana wasn't good for him, and that they were both better off if they were freed from one another. After the show spent seven years presenting Lana as basically Clark's soul mate, I think it was important to spend some time on the counterargument, the proof that their relationship was actually holding them both back. So after we get to see how much Clark has grown since Lana left, we then see her return and Clark fall back into his old habits, and we thereby see more clearly how detrimental that is. I see Clark's reversion as part of the season's arc, not a digression from it. Sometimes a character's journey includes setbacks.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

Yes, but I think that was the point. The purpose of the S8 Lana arc, as I saw it, was to demonstrate that Clark's fixation with Lana wasn't good for him, and that they were both better off if they were freed from one another. After the show spent seven years presenting Lana as basically Clark's soul mate, I think it was important to spend some time on the counterargument, the proof that their relationship was actually holding them both back. So after we get to see how much Clark has grown since Lana left, we then see her return and Clark fall back into his old habits, and we thereby see more clearly how detrimental that is. I see Clark's reversion as part of the season's arc, not a digression from it. Sometimes a character's journey includes setbacks.

I don't see where you're getting this from. The writers, contrary to certain quotes following Requiem, paid about as much lip service to the counter-argument as in the previous season, in episodes like Action, Wrath and Lana's leaving video from the finale. In the end, they got back together, gave Lana superpowers so they could fight side by side, and then broke them up with Kryptonite, not because they realised they were wrong for each other. They didn't show the relationship as detrimental, they just turned both Clark and Lana into victims.

On that subject, what do you make of what they did to Lex in the Lana arc? Sure, he's got to be the bad guy so no redemption there but did they have to turn him into such a petty villain? His evil plan was to break up Clana.

 

[Broccoli]

^ Exactly. When she got powers, their relationship was depicted as perfect and no longer a threat to Clark's "destiny".

Then she became Kryptonite-Woman.

 

[Christopher]

Well, I don't remember the details well enough to offer a counterargument. All I can say is that I got that impression.