SMALLVILLE: JL or L*?

[Jetfire]

I was thinking about something and I really enjoyed The Legion Of Superheroes cartoon...I was wondering would SMALLVILLE have been better served dealing heavily on the L*(LoSH) or Sticking with the JL/JSA?

We only got 3 stories with the L* and many with JL characters and a few with JSA.

This was the story of young Clark Kent and I feel focus on the L* would have better served the character and delivered more interesting stories. I enjoyed Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Black Canary, Cyborg & the Kid Flash...also Stargirl, Hawkman & Dr Fate...but with more focus on the L* Clark would learn more about who is going to become and I would have loved seeing more Legionaries on screen.

Thoughts?

I also think it would have been cool to see Clark & the L* face off against Imperiex.

 

[Admiral_Young]

You already know my answer on this question Jetfire but...yes I think the Legion should have been brought on the show way before they actually were. Clark has had a long history with the Legion going back to the Silver Age. The two are practically intertwined with one another. For the writers to have ignored them for as long as they did was a crime in my opinion and I think most "Smallville" fans have noted "Legion" as one of their favorite episodes. As cool as "Justice" was I never really thought it made sense for Clark to be meeting and interacting with heroes he would meet later as Superman. Plus I think having them included early on would have set the stage for a live action Legion show...maybe, the budget of such a series might deter it from actually happening.

 

[Jetfire]

For real a L* series can be part Superhero series & part "space opera". I also think Kara could have had an arc with her staying in the 31st Century...seriously "Supergirl" was horrible and the character was misused...much like most of S7.

 

[Christopher]

Decisions about how to make a TV adaptation of an earlier concept shouldn't be based on copying what was done before. It needs to be treated as a distinct work in its own right with decisions based on what works best for it. And I think, looking at it from that perspective, that using time travel too much would've overcomplicated things. It's also rather unsatisfying dramatically if the whole thing is circular, if Clark ends up deciding to go a certain way because someone from the future told him he was supposed to go a certain way. Frankly I think that's a ghastly idea. I'd rather see Clark making himself the man he'll become than just being told who he'll become. The fewer advantages a character has, the harder it is for him to achieve it, then the more worthy his achievement becomes. If he's got future fanboys holding his hand and guiding him, that makes it less of a personal achievement than if he find the answers as he goes.

It's also way too limiting. Even with all the modern fondness for long-range story arcs, a show still needs to have the flexibility to change direction, to adapt to new ideas and real-world problems. Look at how the show's had to adjust to Michael Rosenbaum's departure and now Allison Mack's greatly reduced presence. It would just be a bad idea to include characters from the future on a regular basis, because that would lay down too many data points about the future and make it harder to change if the need arose.

That said, I would've loved to see more of this show's version of Imra, because she was gorgeous and an effective character. I have nothing against occasional Legion appearances. But I don't see any good reason why it should've been instead of the present-day heroes.

 

[Jetfire]

Well Clark has had people tell him what he will become...maybe not actually walking him through a Superman museum but he has yet to make a leap on his own...someone has pushed him into doing things he needed to do on his own. I see what you are saying but the writers have yet to show Clark make choices on his own...he is either pushed, pulled or given no other option...Lana comes to mind.

 

[Brent]

Well Clark has had people tell him what he will become...maybe not actually walking him through a Superman museum but he has yet to make a leap on his own...someone has pushed him into doing things he needed to do on his own. I see what you are saying but the writers have yet to show Clark make choices on his own...he is either pushed, pulled or given no other option...Lana comes to mind.

YES, someone else gets it

THIS Clark has not come into being Superman on his own, this Clark is being pushed/forced/dragged kicking and screaming into become Superman

 

[Admiral_Young]

I gave a good reason why the Legion characters should have been used instead of the Justice League characters. Young Clark...or Superboy if you will, had a long history of involvement with the Legion of Superheroes. I don't think that having them interact with him all the time would be a good thing but maybe one or two episodes per season or every couple of seasons would have been good. A two parter featuring the Legion right dab in the middle of season three or four would have been interesting.

Yeah the Smallville Clark has indeed been pushed and prodded and had people constantly telling him about his destiny. In fact it's become an injoke amongst fans I think of the show.

 

[sojourner]

Which version of Legion though?
Mon'el version?
Valor version?
Mon El version?
...

 

[Guy Gardener]

You could blink and miss either having any impact on Smallville.

Tiny blips.

A spinoff has to be earned.

Green Arrow is the only person who deserves his own show which would quickly default into a JLA Series...

So I suppose it's possible to say that Jim Marsters has the clout to carry the show after being predominant in two seasons of Smallville and speckling over a few more...

Hartly vs Marsters is the real question, no?

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'd use the version that currently exists which is a retconned Silver Age version that does not currently feature Mon-El (he's still in the Phantom Zone after the events of War of the Supermen). Back then though it would have been the Waid/Threeboot version I think.

Oh and I totally agree with Jetfire's comment regarding Supergirl. Instead of halfheartedly explaining that she zoomed off looking for Kandor based on rumors (where exactly did those rumors originate anyway and how would she have come by them? J'onn?) I would have written Kara showing Clark a Legion ring of her own and explaining that off-screen she had met one of the Legionaires who offered her a chance to come to the future and she tells Clark that is what she is going to do. "I have never really fit in here Kal, you know that better than anyone. There in the future, I have a chance to do something with my life, make a difference. I'll be back, but I don't know when."

 

[ElScoob]

I'd use the version that currently exists which is a retconned Silver Age version that does not currently feature Mon-El (he's still in the Phantom Zone after the events of War of the Supermen). Back then though it would have been the Waid/Threeboot version I think.

Actually, Mon-El is around in the current Legion series, just offstage for the moment. The Mon-El who's back in the Phantom Zone is the younger version, who has yet to exit the zone in the 30th century and join the Legion.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Okay...wasn't he brought back by Shady and a rescue squad during Legion of Three Worlds? I assume he's going to have a few words with her regarding Earth-Man when he does come back into play.

 

[Jetfire]

Plus there is no embargo on L* characters...that I know of...we saw the main ones already...Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl & Brainiac 5...I would have like to have seen Phantom Girl, Bouncing Boy, Triplicate Girl & Timber Wolf...Wildfire & Shrinking Violet.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ That is close to my line up to my Legion show that I scrapped.

 

[Morpheus 02]

i was actually going to post a similar thing...

i think the Legion would have been a better set-up than the "Freak of the Week" that's gotten over done...even this week's episode...MORE Kryptonite? It's more common than gold!

The way i wouldhave done it is have the Legion show up over season 1 as observers...some times "obvious", in the shadow, maybe sometimes as a student who's a recurring character.

They might even make contact with Clark's parents first, and THEY conspire together.

After a couple of seasons, they could drop the Legion, and run with the other characters.

 

[Jetfire]

^
That's not bad.

I would love a new show with Smallville/Legion Of Superheroes and S1 takes place in Smallville...Clark is a sophomore not a freshman with Legionaries in the back ground and S2 Clark would become aware of them and they would work together in Clark's time and S3 would be Clark's senior year it would focus more on Smallville type stuff with a 31st century threat looming and Clark graduating and S4 Clark would be in the 31st Century helping the Legion with various things and the big threat hinted at the end of S3. S5 would jump forward and he is in his senior year at college...and that season would take place in the past and future with the big bad being Imperiex and end with Clark becomeing Superman in his time...but he has worn the \S/uit in the future with the L* in S4. I would only want it to be 5 seasons...and every ep be balls to the wall exciting...with no filler.

 

[theenglish]

Well Clark has had people tell him what he will become...maybe not actually walking him through a Superman museum but he has yet to make a leap on his own...someone has pushed him into doing things he needed to do on his own. I see what you are saying but the writers have yet to show Clark make choices on his own...he is either pushed, pulled or given no other option...Lana comes to mind.

YES, someone else gets it

THIS Clark has not come into being Superman on his own, this Clark is being pushed/forced/dragged kicking and screaming into become Superman

So it is The Last Temptation of Christ version of Superman.

 

[Christopher]

...and S4 Clark would be in the 31st Century helping the Legion with various things and the big threat hinted at the end of S3.

You really think they could've afforded to set an entire season in the 31st century? Or that it would've appealed to the broader demographic the show was aiming for? It would never have happened.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ It's just his suggestion of what he would have done Christopher not a serious pitch. Obviously the CW would not be able to afford to set a show in the 31st century and do it justice. As for the demographics...oh boy...a teenage group of superheroes mixed with romance, tragedy, action and adventure!!??? I think a Legion show matches the CW's demo perfectly dude.

 

[Christopher]

^If you say so. But Smallville was designed to interpret the Superman mythos for viewers who wouldn't be normally interested in Superman. These days it's incorporating a lot more DCU mythology, but that's partly because it's had years to ease the audience into it and partly because movies like Iron Man and The Dark Knight have made superhero fiction more respectable. But back when Smallville first started, something like the Legion would never have passed muster because it was just too far out.