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popculturebuffet · 1 month

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Through a Mirror Darkly/Batmarch: Brave and the Bold: Deep Cover for Batman!/Game Over for Owlman! (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people. Welcome back to Batmarch after a long unintended break from it and welcome one and all to Through a Mirror Darkly, a new mini retrospective that goes through the looking glass and sees what dark reflections of our heroes could be. Or in less pretty words: We're taking a look at a bunch of mirror universe episodes in animation using kev's patreon slots while we wait for Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse.

It's a familiar concept: a parallel universe where for one reason or another, either they were just born worse or something happened that pivoted them in the other direction, our heroes are evil, our villians are good and usually the universe is a hell hole. I also can't say we won't ever return to this idea as there's plenty of mirror universe stories out there. For now though we're focusing on the four best we found in the genre.

Starting off we have a unique spin on one of the more iconic mirror universes with Dc Comics Earth 3. DC started exploring the multiverse to simply clear up an issue: there were two flashes, Golden Age Hero Jay Garrick and Silver Age Hero Barry Allen. Since Allen was seen reading a flash comic, they used that springboard to make a parallel earth Barry acciidently went through while tying nots for a class of school children.

Fan Reception was great so DC went to the next logical step, bringing back the rest of the golden age heroes for earth 2 and having a proper crossover, one so big, bold and fun that DC made it an annual thing: every year the JLA would unite wtih the JSA and every year another earth would be involved. So for the second the next course was obvious: a bad guy earth where up was down, black was white, John Wilkes booth was shot by Abe Lincoln, and instead of a variety of heroes protecting it, a group of the worst of the worst had conquered it.

Earth 3 has been revisited a lot and it's something I'll likely be going back to again as there's a lot to dig into: Grant MOrrison brought it back, infnite crisis brought the origianl back, ther'es been a few rebooted versions since, there's a lot of takes on this, and that naturally spreads to animation with superfriends, justice league and the film justice league: Crisis on two worlds, all taking a swing at it.

And the swing we're looking at today is Batman Brave and the BOld's take. This was Brave and the Bold's mid season finale, taking the crime syndicate and swapping out it's members for the various heroes batman had teamed up with, ironicallys howing up BEFORE the justice league itself ever did. Also for some reason their earth 3 is earth 23.

This two parter was the first in Brave and the Bold, one of only two in the series history, the other finishing off the starro saga. It's also one of those two parters where part one and part two are basically their own episodes rather than one big episode split up into multiple parts. It's something I notice more after binging X-Men the animated series recently, as most of thier two parters are of the "one big episode" variety, with exceptions like the brilliant time fugitives.

SO under the cut we have two distinct connected stories at Batman staves off an attack from Owlman, takes his identity to go undercover and figure out his world.. then is forced on the lmab and to team up with his greatest foe when Owlman returns the favor. It's a fun, furious two parter and it's under the cut.

Deep Cover for Batman!

We begin on Earth... 23.

I get putting your own spin on things but when it's earth 3 in all but name.. just do what i'm doing and call it earth 3.

ON this blighted earth, it's last hero makes a last ditch Gamble: use a device called the Phase Oscelator and escape this earth to find help. This last hero is the Red Hood and most people familiar with this identity either know where this going or are confused why it's not jason tod but the joker in a dope suit and an expresionless mask.

The Red Hood was the Joker's first identity, revealed in a silver age story as what he did before falling in that vat and made canon again post crisis with the killing joke. How much of the story leading UP to joker becoming red hood in this version is vague if it's true or just one of Joker's many backstories, but the fact he was the hood and fell in acid isn't. Jason later took the identity for his own post ressurection, his own ironic sick joke on his murderer.

Given it's silver age stylings, it's a perfect fit here and a neat way to introduce JOker: not through the clown prince himself.. but through the hero he could've been as he makes his last stand. The series does obscure the cast in shadows.. though their shadier behavior tips that something's off. that and the whole "wreathed in shadow thing". It looks utterly neat and is staged beautifully, it just makes it painfully obvious their building up to so mething. That something is the reveal of the Injustice Syndicate. Why not crime syndicate, I dunno. The change in lineup is more fair as most leaguers hadn't been introduced yet so while Owlman, batman's evil counterpart stays, this version focuses on Owls and three brand new evil counterparts: Silver Cyclone, Blue Bowman and Crimson Scarab. The designs.. are really just recolors of their heroic counterparts, which I accept for the ones we see for like a scene later, but question hwy they put no real effort into these.

This sadly extends to the villians themselves as outside of Cyclone, most of them.. are just the character but EVIL. Even Owlman, despite getting two episodes is just "batman but evil" and mostly coasts on the fact that batman but evil is a chilling concept.

Part of the problem is, while I do LIKE these episodes... I feel they pulled the trigger way too early to do a parallel universe story. The other ones we'll be tackling are a decent ways into the shows run pulling from seasons 4 and 5 of two of them, and the middle of a truly MASSIVE season one for one of them. It's far enough in to know who these people are and thus get used to the opposiite. While we know Batman well enoguh at this point to get that, we really don't know most of the other heroes here well enougH: Green Arrow.. never really grows beyond "douchebag rival". Beetle however had a whole episode fleshing him out and is one of the only heroes with two so far so they have no excuse there. Red Tornado at least had a deep enough first episode to give them just enogu hto make a chilling evil versoin: Red badly wants to be part of humanity.. while Silver's cast his aside, being cold, emotionless and pure evil as he later tortures the Red Hood. IT's the lazy way to do a mirror universe: just that character but on the wrong side and it feels disapointing the show never went back and corrected this with a followup once we got to know the cast better. I really woudl've loved an evil aquaman once we got to know ours better.

Thankfully though while the evil dopplegangers are one note, the episode itself isn't as it's a fun tense ride starting with Owlman invading the bat cave. ANd as I said Owlman may bea bit thin as a villian.. but he works simply because "evil batman" itself is intriguing. It can be done poorly

And sometimes won't go th efuck away, but the idea of someone as capable as batman using that power against us is chilling and the episodes use it well, this one having a cool parallel fight between the two, with the two evenly match, the animation flowign gorgeously and Batman winning simply because his counterpart has something he dosen't: arrogance. He pulls up night vision goggles after Batman takes out the lights... and Bats uses a MAGNEISUM FLAIR. He knows himself well enough to know his counterpart would have night vision and used that against him , locking Owlman up.

Having been left Red Hood's version of the batterang, a test run before he got captured and a calling card, Batman decides to investigate hence the deep cover and what makes this episode really work despite the thin characterization of most of the bad guys: Batman has to pretend to be his evil self, and it's clear from their actions both Silver Cyclone and Blue Bowman are suspcious from the get go, so it's a tense well done game of "how long can he keep this up"

Batman tries to spare his world by lying and saying everyone had powers there.. but this just gets Cyclone to go with option B: use a bomb to empty the world out. So not only does bats have tos tay under cover and try to minimize damage, he also has to save Earth 1 from annhilation without blowing said cover.

THankfully he has help as he gives an escaping red hood a mike and while hood is captured, Batman now has an ally. The Injustice Synidcate takes flight in a really cool scene, not just for the visuals.. but for how it's unsettling. Unlike most mirror universes at worst Earth 23 just has a bit more orange in the sky. Orange and Red skies: your sign we're all fucked!

What makes it actually unsettling is the civilians reactions.. they all run in terror and Batman's internal monologue makes it clear this is a world without heroes.. without hope. Instead of looking up at the sky in a we and at what they could be... they run in terror and pray their cruel gods don't see them.

The theft goes well though Bowman is getting more and more suspcious and has batman tailed by someone we can't see. GEE I WONDER WHAT HERO WE'VE MET IN SEASON 1 IS OUT OF SIGHT. SURELY IT MUST BE SOME NEW TAKE ON A HERO AND NOT THE ATOM. Meanwhile Cyclone tortures the red hood, saying he'll break him and showing a cruelty and lack of care that's just.. chilling coming from someone whose counterpart is noble and badly wants to be emapthetic. We also get a chilling recitation of Hood's history.. and just how determined this poor guy is: they knocked him into the chemicals, he presses on. They take out his allies after he finally gets some he continues. he won't break even in the face of this torture and it's WHY Cyclone wants to break him so bad.

Oh look it's the atom, who catches Batman just as he's about to free the prisoners sending him on the run. This sequences is the best of the episode, as Red Hood claims to be willing to finally talk.. while giving batman directions. Cyclone eventually figures this out and sends Bowman and Scarab to go finish this imposter. Unfortunately for them.... he's batman. He even says the line after he finishes them and finally can drop the disguise.

Unforutnately while the syndicate APPEARED to be just those 4 guys, it's actually a larger group and Cyclone called backup. Maybe they were in the INjustice Pool having an Injustice Mojito while playing INjustice.

They aren't named so we'll go with The Molocule, Stretch Man, Aquamenace and Flare. I REALLY wish we got to hear evil Aquaman speak and my primary reason for being dispaointed we never got a followup is that Aquaman became so integral to the show it's weird to see his evil counterpart as one of the extras.

Thankfully Batman dosen't have to fight this alone and frees the other heroes, leading to a fun fight between the Injustice Synidcate and the Justice Society... wait no that dosen't work.. the Freedom Pals? Super Friends? Super Duper Justice Parade. Yeah that's the ticket.

So the Super Duper Justice Parade and the INjustice Synidcate have a scrap and since having a master stratgeist, or batigest if you will, on your side can tip the scales and the Synidcate lack theres, they loose.. all except Cyclone who triggers the bomb.

We then get an excellent twist: Cyclone.. is the DC version of Ultron in this reality, wanting to wipe out all humans and only having worked with them for his own gain, a truly sad contrast to his counterpart who simply wants to be accepted by humanity and tries his best to understand them. The bomb was ALWAYS intended to just kill the squishes and he dosen't care which earth he gets to rebuild in his image. Thankfully Red Hood shows up and... blows up his head. Jesus. I mean he deserved it, but it's a reminder this IS the joker, down to ending with a pun.. he's just a hero. He has his evil alternate reality counter part's style, skill and determination.. but not the madness that drives him. Simply a desire to do good

So with that earth 23 minus 20 is saved, Batman goes home.. and finds that he's now the most wanted man alive.

Deep Cover for Batman is a decent episode. Like I said it's hampered by the fact only ONE of the syndicate is fleshed out.. but that one is just enoguh to help this and the well done sequences it does have along with the gorgeous animatoin make up for the lak of worldbuilding and character building for the baddies as does Jeff Bennet, Johnny Bravo himself, as Red Hood, proding an operating yet utterly heroic and loveable performance. And it'd be his best in the series... if he didn't get to top himself right after

Game Over For Owlman!

So yeah while it's only been like.. a day for batman, it's been three weeks. Owlman broke out and using Batman's first outfit, such a cool little mythology gag complete with the purple gloves he really did have.

They even made an action figure of it multiple times. It's great. I need me one of those at some point.

For now though this means all of Batman's friends are against him and it's the one part of this episode that I REALLY don't like as it feels REALLY sloppy, not to mention most of them don't seem torn up about this. It makes sense for Green Arrow: his greatest rival turning out to be evil? It's his goddamn birthday. But only Plastic Man seems REALLY hurt, which works well as Batman rode him so hard about being a reformed criminal so seeing him bein ga hypocrite clearly breaks the poor guy a bit. But everyone else just accepts this. And I get it's been 4 weeks but like.. not only is he wearing an older costume now.. but NONE OF you in a world with, up to this point in the series: Aliens, Ghosts, Super Intelligent Gorillas, Sorcerers, Atlantis, Atlanteans, Time Travel, Power Rings, my boy Mogo the living planet, Deadman, martial arts magic and fucking Bwana Beast, who I love but is objectively weird as shit which is why I love him, same for Mogo. And the bulk of this these guys were THERE FOR.. and not one of you thinks the obvious: that Batman's being mind controlled or has been replaced by a double. It's fucking agrivating. Again Ollie gets a pass as his reactoin to getting to fight batman and have a valid excuse is clear and true

But the fact Beetle, who idolizes batman or Red Tornado, whose logical as fuck don't spot the obvious bothers me, it bothers me a lot

Thankfully after this less than great start, we get to the meat of the episode and what makes this ep so damn memorable: Batman is dropped into a warehouse where he meets his unlikely savior: The Joker. And for added pizaz to this reveal this was the clown prince's first apperance all season and the first time we've seen ANY of batman's foes all series. Every previous show is a b or c list villian attached to someone else, usually not the guest hero of the episode for added points. It's part of the series charm: instead of focusing on Batman's iconic but well used foes, it uses the wide scope of the dc plucking out every other villian great and small to get some spotlight.

Not only did this allow some villians even I didn't know existed like Babyface or Fun Haus to get spotlighted.. but it also meant when one of Batman's usual rogues DID show up it felt like a big event. Here especailly as after all this time we finally get to see one of Batman's own foes.. and it is glorious.

Jeff Bennet plays the Joker.. and he is utterly delightful. This Joker, while still vile and villanous fully leans into the silver age astetic of the show: he's still implied to kill people, still does over the top schemes, but it's in that classic golden and silver age way of more IMPLYING the death than showing the carnage he does. While other jokers can be funny this one, at least for this ep is almost entirley played for comedy, more an overgrown kid at play than the dangerous monster he usually is that's also an overgrown child just one who'd burn ants, whlie never really letting up on his competence, best shown subtly when Batman handcuffs him.. only fo rhim to have used the false wrists gag. Bennet plays it perfectly, using a posh accent to both seperate the joker from previous versoins and play into the old timey astetics the series loves.

Turns out Joker isn't happy with the new status quo as he loved the game as was and wants to partner with Batman instead.. the real batman. Unlike Batman's friends, Joker can actually TELL the other one's an imposter and can you know, tell that Batman suddenly doing crimes is weird and probably isn't him. It's not helped by the fact Owlman is horning in on his own crimes, ruining his fun.

So Joker offers batman his help: they team up and take out a mututal headache. Batman's first response is

Joker makes a valid point that sways him though: Batman is fighting someone as obessive, well thought out and type A as himself. Neither he nor Owlman really have the advantage, something backed up by their fight earlier and Owlman easily escaping the second Batman was gone: Their SO much alike that the odds of Batman actually beating him are low, as is the opposite. It's a clever way to use the mirorr gimmick.. and the joker: As Joker points out not only is he pure chaos, something harder to predict, he's also come the closest out of anyone to actually beating Batman.

Batman is forced to Acknolwdge he's right and they Take joker's car. It's a brilliant concept too: Batman and the Joker are usually so diffrent they CAN'T work together, but the stakes here are perfect to force the issue. it's also a delightful dynamic as Batman is a perfect straight man to his arch enemy's goofy antics, with joker soaking up every minute of this teamup, from saving a child then milking it for all ti's worth when the kid turns out to be afraid of batman, to , when they have to call in a batmobile after thier car gets wrecked (Batman naturally keeps a spare and in another nice nod it's the one he used in the 50s), tries to press all the buttons like a deranged 7 year old. It's fucknig great.

They had back to the bat cave after a chase form team dumbass, and Batman finds out something horrifying: Owlman found all his contenginces and is using them. This is something taken from the comics: Batman has a bunch of diffrent plans in case his justice pals are brainwashed or mind controlled. It lead to the brilliant story tower of Babel as Ras Ah Ghul got a hold of them and turned them up to lethal. It's something they SHOULD know he has and should have more consequences here like that comic, but it dosen't. It is however resonable: unlike his friends Batman again is well aware brainwashing happens and we now know there's evil dopplegangers in at least one other universe. It's smart to have a plan, some of them should just bea ware of that and for all we know they might be. They don't , and shoudln't, know what that backup IS, but they should be trusted to know he has a plan if something happens.

Ethics aside this gives Owlman everything he needs to take out all of batman's major allies thus far, and gather his own injustice league of all the various vilians, who apparently completely trust a guy pretending to be batman meaning the villians are the only ones in this episdoe who actually get that multiverse theroies a bitch and don't just go "oh this paragon of justice is evil now. Cool. That happened".

Batman and the Joker bust in to save the day.. but Owlman's already prepared for this , and after batman looses the numbers game.. offers Joker something he can't reisist.. his own trap. Batman dunked in wax. The spiral effects as he looks at the button and his eulogy after are hilarous.

Thankfully Batman , like Owlman, saw this coming and thus had the phase oscelatior repared. I also love that in hindsight, the time diffrences in dimensions.. was a chekovs gun: Batman spents some time in the multiverse finding himself.. and himself.. and himself.. and also himself, and himself once again, and oh look him as a cowboy.

It's a great reveal and one i'd forgotten: Batman found the joker was right, he can't beat himself alone.. but himselfves can.

It also speaks to the Brave and the Bold staff's love of the comics and heavy penchant for research as ALL of these batmen with exactly one exception are based on existing stories. That's the armored batman who even then still SOMEWHAT resembles Jean Paul's armor during his time of batman, but isn't close enough for me to fully think that's what they were going for

Thanks to the dc wiki though I know where the rest come from so settle in:

Going from left to right, we have the cowboy batman. Because everythings better when you make it a cowboy. It's just science.

Cowboy Batman is based on Nighthawk, a western hero I hadn't heard of before Kev showed me this wiki page. This is neat as the next year we COULD get a full cowboy look for batman during the return of bruce wayne after Darkseid seemingly killed him but thanks to a time gun he actually got sent through time and space, recarnating each time and each time becoming a new batman

Next we have Bat Creature, a giant hulking batman that came out of batman getting hit by an evolution ray meant fo rmonkeys that somehow turned him into the hulk

We then have vampire batman, the one variant I recognized as the dc 60 years of history book I read as a kid, and now have thanks to the kindnes of my mom's friend LIsa, had a section on it. It was a trilogy of elseworlds stories where Batman fought dracula and became a vampire as a result then lord of vampires. I.. really need to cover that one sometime.

Easing down past regular batman and ?????? Batman we have Captain Leatherwing, an alternate timeline bruce who became a pirate captin in a one off annual done by Chuck Dixon.

Finally we have hyper evolved batman, based off another wacky silver age transformatoin. During an issue of WOrld's Finest batman and superman found a satilite that crashed ot earth that evolves of devolves creatures. Unforutnately Hyper Evolved Batman, what was seen as 800,000 years of evolution hitting him at once, apparently ended up cold and evil and devolved superman as a result. And why yes Cave Superman versus Big Head Batman is something I should look at sometime. This version is heroic instead thankfully.

So a big ole bat-brawl insues and it's the highlight of the two parter... mostly because Joker spends the bulk of it running around with a round bomb with the biggest giggly smile on his face. The fighting though is great, with each batman getting to show off and freeing a hero. My faviorites are Aquaman's rescue, which has Black manta trying to turn up the giant sunlamp he's trapped under like he's turning up the volume on a tv before one of the batmen breaks a sprinkler allowing Aquaman to kick some ass, and Brain Batman Vs my boy THE Brain, which is won by Plastic man stretching his free arm to distract the brain. It's a well crafted wonderful fight scene that really leans into the craziness of the situation and has a lot of fun with tiself, which really sums up the show as a whole.

As for our big bad and his new best buddy, their defeated by their ego: both think they should finish off batman.. and thus bats is able to drop the wax thing on them.

One de waxing and a lot of handcuffs later

The villians are all arested, none of the heroes bother to apologize, and Batman geninely wonders if Red Hood means Joker has good in him. As for Owlman the other batmen take him back with him giving an omnious vow to return.. which let me check what episode that happens in.

..... you maybe see why I think this needed a followup.

At any rate while it has a bumpy start, Game Over for Owlman is pure fun once the joker gets involved and a good romp as Batman's forced to babysit his arch enemy to beat himself, and the finale encapuslates the shows "anything goes" style. You want a pirate, cowboy, hyper evolved, devolved, and armored batman beating up a bunch of foes while Joker runs around with a bomb? Yes let's do that. The show's love of just how fucking weird comics are will never not be endearing and this episode encapsulates that. These two eps aren't brave and the bold's best, but their still a LOT of fun and a decent enough story. NOt the best mirror universe story

Next in Bat Month: We have some more goofy classic goodness as we go to the golden age to find out where some of batman's most famous trophies come from as Bats must deal with gambling themed death traps, a man screwed over by pennies, and being hunted my mechanical dinosaurs on a billionares island. So a standard week fo rbatman, a good review for you

Next time Through a Mirror Darkly: We see just exactly where Darkwing Duck's arch enemy comes from as Darkwing tries to bring hope to a hopleless world. Get used to that it's goign to be a running theme.

Thanks for reading

#batman #the joker #batman the brave and the bold #earth 3 #green arrow #blue beetle #batman red rain #vampi #plastic man #red tornado #owlman #comics #animation

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birder-of-remnant · 9 months

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Here is my list of the top 12 obscure RWBY villains (part 1 of 2). While RWBY is an expansive series complete with complex characters and numerous mainline villains, there are also a surprising number of rabbit holes and side series that introduce a range of lesser-known Ne'er-Do-Wells! This is just my take on some of the more interesting scumbags in the RWBY universe outside of the main narrative, starting with some of my least favorites and working my way up. How I rank them is pretty arbitrary to be honest. Spoilers Ahoy! Naturally, this list also contains several spoilers for the various RWBY comics, manga, games, and splinter video series. Continue at your own peril!

12. Starro - Lowest on my list is Starro… the evil starfish… from outer space. Seriously, this is a RWBY villain, no joke. Anyone out there who is a fan of the DC universe may recognize this character as one of the original villains for the Justice League. For those who are not (like me), this came as a bit of a… surprise. Starro serves as the primary villain in the first RWBY x Justice League comic book where he starts the first several years of his time on Remnant hypnotizing fish. Eventually, he gets bored of exerting his domain over fish and other sea life, and decides to conquer the world by building an army of starfish-fanatical minions, including Phyrra and the other members of JNPR, who must all bear his starfish emblem to strike the fear of starfish into their foes. In the end, the Justice League manages to overthrow this oversized echinoderm (with a little help from Team RWBY). Honestly, I don't know whether to laugh or cry looking at Starro. I will give them credit for… uniqueness. I do not think that there will ever be another starfish supervillain. Still, as cringy as Starro is, it is still far less cringy than seeing Ruby flirting with superman IN THE FIRST 5 PAGES OF THE BOOK (shiver). But that is just my personal feeling, no worries if there is anyone out there who likes Red Cap or Starro, I promise that I do not cast judgement.

11. Vermillion - Honestly, I cannot say much about Vermillion at this point since I have yet to watch season 2 of the Grimm Campaign (mostly because I do not want to buy a Rooster Teeth subscription). So I cannot place him any higher than number 11 on this list, but I would recommend watching the Grimm Campaign. The Grimm Campaign is a D&D style RWBY adventure played by Sherry Shawcross and company as they explore a conspiracy in the Mistral city of Kuchinashi. This semi-canon RWBY side-series follows Team SAFR as they investigate reports of bizarre Grimm and unusual criminal activity. Vermillion is only foreshadowed in season 1 but serves as the main antagonist in the second season.

10. Edward Caspian - Okay, he may not technically be a villain. But this character from 'RWBY: After The Fall' still makes some pretty questionable choices that bring pain and misery in roughly equal proportions. Being kind by nature, he may mean well but he still makes Qrow's bad luck semblance seem like mild indigestion (yes, I know, but it is still his decision for them to be there).

9. Deery & Perry - The only two antagonists on this list from the main series. Both are members of the White Fang that kept popping up during the good ol' Beacon Days. Perry is perhaps the more recognizable of the two due to wearing glasses. Both first appeared during the White Fang recruitment rally in season 2 and played minor roles during the Mt Glenn incident. While Perry's fate following that literal train wreck is not known, Deery apparently escaped and could often be seen next to Adam in season 3, even participating in the Fall of Beacon. As with many other villains, they probably believed that their extremist actions were just. Honorable mentions go to Floyd the Geist from the Chibi universe for this spot.

8. Hei Xiong - A minor villain in the book 'Roman Holiday' alongside Neopolitan's father, Xiong was the biggest and scariest crime lord in Vale until Roman came along and showed him the door. In terms of personality, he is kind of your standard mafia boss-type persona. Although not as brazen as Lil Miss Malachite, he ruled with a subtle hand and a keen wit, unlike his son Junior from the main series. Although the book is excellent, Xiong himself is somewhat of a plain-vanilla type of character and so I placed him down here at number 8.

7. Bram Thornmane - Okay, perhaps not as obscure as some of the other villains on this list but still not one of the show's staple boogeymen. Bram is an antagonist from the game 'RWBY: Arrowfell.' He wraps himself in a cloak of false nobility and lies to manipulate others into doing his dirty work. Unstable and egotistical, he seeks only vengeance over a petty grudge. Some people just can't handle rejection. Overall, I found his character somewhat forgettable but at least he puts up a good fight.

This ends Part 1! Thank you to anyone crazy enough to actually read this. Sorry for any spoilers! Though I promise you are not missing much with Starro. I will be posting Part 2 in a while.

#RWBY #greenlight volume 10 #RWBY spoilers #villians #top 10 #Starro the Starfish #idk

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crossoverworldtree · 2 years

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Biomegas!

Bio-Mega Beast Motivation: Chaos and Destruction, also orders Critter Type: Bio-Mega Life Points: 66 Drama Points: 2-5 Attributes: STR 7, DEX 6, CON 6, INT 1, PER 3, WILL 4 Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 18, Brains 10 Abilities: Biomega, Armor Value 15, Supernatural Attack, Attractiveness -6

Maneuvers Name - Score - Damage - Notes Punch - 18 - 19 - Bash Kick - 17 - 21 - Bash Beam - 18 - 25 - Fire

The average Biomega monster. They appear at seemingly random to destroy everything around them. They spawn Drones to search out for more to destroy -- and if the main one is destroyed, a surviving drone can grow into a full biomega.

Bio Mega Drone Motivation: Orders Critter Type: Bio-Mega Life Points: 38 Drama Points: 0-1 Attributes: STR 4, DEX 4, CON 3, INT 0, PER 2, WILL2 Ability Scores: Muscle 14; Combat 14; Brains 9 Abilities: Attractiveness -4, Armor Value 8, Biomega

Maneuvers Name - Score - Damage - Notes Punch - 14 - 11 - Bash Kick - 13 - 13 - Bash

Biomegas are the 'foot soldiers' common in Super Sentai series. They are dumb, violent, and prone to ganging up on people, but usually take on foes one at a time. Oddly polite for such a beast.

Bio-Mega Kaiju Motivation: Chaos and Destruction, also orders Critter Type: Bio-Mega Life Points: 466 Drama Points: 2-5 Attributes: STR 27, DEX 6, CON 6, INT 1, PER 3, WILL 4 Ability Scores: Muscle 60, Combat 18, Brains 10 Abilities: Biomega, Armor Value 100, Supernatural Attack, Attractiveness -6, Increased Size 6, Increased Life Points +400

Maneuvers Name - Score - Damage - Notes Punch - 18 - 105 - Bash Kick - 17 - 107 - Bash Beam - 18 - 125 - Beam

Sometimes, a Biomega will be left to its own devices for too long and ... grow. And sometimes, a massive amount of biomega biomass just makes the things.

Regardless, they show up, and are naturally huge problems for others. This is a small one, some 60ft tall. They can get much, much bigger. It is rumored that the dreaded Centre is the original source of Biomega material. Many have claws, tails, tentacles, and other abominable features, but this is the basic outline of such a monster.

Name: The Centre Motivation: Destruction of the Warm-Blooded Ones! Critter Type: Great Old One/True Demon Attributes: Str 100, Dex 5, Con 10, Int 6, Per 7, Will 6 Ability Scores: Muscle 206, Combat 8, Brains 16 Life Points: 60000 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Increased Life Points, Kaiju Size 11 (23 Kilometers across), Armor Value 200, Magic 10, Spawn (Creates several Minion organisms per turn), Flight (Advanced) 5, Telepathy 10 Name - Score - Damage - Notes Tentacle - 20 - 300 - Bash or Slash/Stab Plasma Jet - 20 - 305 - Plasma Telepathy - 16 - None - Reads/Dominated Minds The land of Caspak is said to be alive. The fact that it's thrown out several massive horrors like these seems to confirm it. These organisms are extremely dangerous and powerful (and we're overdue for a new one). The creature seeks to escape the earth and fly to a different planet--but it needs fuel to do so.

Name: Dragonsaurus Motivation: Destruction of the Warm-Blooded Ones! Critter Type: True Demon Attributes: 50, Dex 5, Con 10, Int 3, Per 7, Will 4 Ability Scores: Muscle 106, Combat 16, Brains 20 Life Points: 3050 Drama Points: 5 Special Abilities: Armor Value 100, Regeneration (150 per turn), Flight 5, Tentacles (5 attacks per round), Increased Size 30, Increased Life Points +2800, Reduced Damage (1/5th Bullets, Missiles) Name - Score - Damage - Notes Tentacle - 18 - 205 - Bash or Slash/Stab Bite - 16 - 1504 - Slash/Stab Tornado Rush - 106 - 34 - Slash/Stab, resist by Muscle or be knocked over. The land of Caspak is said to be alive. The fact that it's thrown out two massive horrors like these seems to confirm it. These organisms are extremely dangerous and powerful (and we're overdue for a new one). The creature seeks to escape the earth and fly to a different planet--but it needs fuel to do so.

Starro! The Conqueror! Motivation: Conquer! Critter Type: True Demon Attributes: 20, Dex 5, Con 10, Int 3, Per 7, Will 4 Ability Scores: Muscle 46, Combat 20, Brains 20 Life Points: 330 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Armor Value 30, Tentacles, Increased Size 4, Regeneration (Con per Turn), Weak Spot (Central Eye has No Armor), Flight (Advanced)

Name - Score - Damage - Notes Tentacle Slam - 20 - 65 - Bash Atomic Ray - 20 - 105 - Beam Grab - 22 - None - Impairments Vary Crush - 46 - 79 - Must Grapple First Throw Drones - 20 - None - Target hit with Drones Dodge - 15 - None - Defense Action

Starro! Drone Motivation: The Will of Starro! Critter Type: Demon Attributes: 5, Dex 4, Con 1, Int 1, Per 4, Will 4 Ability Scores: Muscle 16, Combat 14, Brains 18 Life Points: 17 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Tentacles, Regeneration (Con per Turn), Weak Spot (Central Eye has No Armor), Flight (Advanced), Reduced Size 1, Reduced Damage 1/2 (Falls), +3 Stealth

Name - Score - Damage - Notes Grab - 17 - None - Allows for Mind Control Hold On - 16 - None - Holds On Control Mind - 18 - None - Controls Mind of Target

The most famous of the spawn of the Centre, Starro is a massive starfish demon that controls the minds of those whom it attaches drones, making combat against it quite tricky.

#Biomega #Atomic Robo #Power Rangers #Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #Super Sentai #Grendizer #Mazinger Z #Dragonsaurus #Justice League #Starro the Conqueror

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talestoshowcase · 6 months

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That time Starro conquered a planet and no one could do SHIT

#starro #dc comics #justice league #justice league international #guy gardner #superman #supergirl #Batman #the suicide squad

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weedle-testaburger · 1 year

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it says a lot about how dumb i can be that i never clicked that starro the conquerer is called that because it is, in fact, a giant starfish

#personal crap

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paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 · 3 years

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Just Hear Me for a Second On this.....

THE BATFAMILY VS STARRO THE CONQUEROR

That is all XD

#the batman #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #duke thomas #damian wayne #starro the conquerer

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comicbookcovers · 4 years

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Captain Carrot and The Final Ark #3, February 2008, Pencils: Scott Shaw, Inks: Bill Morrison, Colors: Tom Luth

#comics #captain carrot #starro the conquerer

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keefechambers · 3 years

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Starro the Conquerer did nothing wrong*

#*starro the conquerer did very little wrong

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grandnightmarequeen · 5 years

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if jarro survive year of the villain just know

Batman taught him !!!

from the gravel voice

to the nerve pinch and stealth

heck he even got the trick Batarangs

not to mention the bat canon

bonus: someone been listening to lemonade

#jarro #starro the conquer #justice league 29 #justice league #legion of doom #cheetah #lex luthor #brainac 5 #gorilla grodd #batman teaching

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kimhargreeves · 3 years

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🔵🟣Happier part 2- Polkadot Man x Reader🔴🟢

Summary: You and Abner seem to get closer while on your time in Corto Maltese. But your team is soon in danger when you have to fight off Starro The Conquerer. Will you all make it out alive?

A/N: Holt shit I can't believe many people have liked my previous work on Abner! Thank you all so much❤️ This is the last part but there will be more of our man. Polkadot Man is one of my favorite characters now and James Gunn did him dirty. If you know then you know. I hope everyone enjoys this and there will be more soon. In the meantime I have a Rick Flag and Javelin one shot out if any are interested!

"La Gatita Amable?"

I raised an eyebrow at the bars strange yet funny name. I couldn't help but chuckle at it earning me a few looks from my team. "It means The Kind Little Kitten."

Some were surprised and some didn't care. "How'd you learn Spanish?" Abner's soft spoken voice asked me.

"My parents were born outside of the U.S, they knew English but I had to learn their language as well growing up. It really comes in handy when someone starts talking bad at you and you can cuss them back." I laugh to myself remembering one time I punched a guy for a few things he said.

"Does he really need to stay behind?" Cleo asked looking back at the car we had gotten off. Milton the driver went to hide himself and King Shark on the back of the building.

"People would've freaked out seeing a walking shark, of course we had to." Rick answers her.

"Just a reminder, I certainly would've like the shark to be here instead of him." Peacemaker pointed at Bloodsport who looked at him angry.

"Fuck you. Let's get this over with." We each made it inside the building and yes it was completely full of people, drinking, dancing or making out.

Rick and I sat opposite to each other with Abner by my side and Christopher on my other side. "See? Getting you into that dress wasn't so bad." Christopher teases me.

We couldn't come in here with out costumes so we each had to change and Rick had gotten me a dress so wear. I hate wearing dresses since I was never used to them, so the guys grabbed me and tried putting it on me until Cleo thankfully saved me and asked me kindly to put it.

It seemed childish of me but another reason I didn't like wearing them was because my legs are covered in many scars. I'm sure they all must've noticed them.

"Maybe not for you, look at you what are you even wearing? You look like a fucking 80's porn star with tight skinny shorts and shirt or a very douchy Captain America."

Bloodsport coughed up with drink with Rick and began to laugh at my comment. "Hey! It's not bad at all, makes it look to everyone that I can take them down in a fight."

"Well, I think she looks very nice." We all looked at Abner. They all raised their eyebrows and looked at each other surprised. They know what was going on.

"Please tell us you still aren't seeing your mother." Bloodsport begged.

Abner looked at him and shook his head. "No, I try not to."

"You're a good guy despite your weird Polkadot powers, but I like them." Cleo smiled and Sebastian her rat gave a thumbs up.

"Thank you, that means a lot." I said looking back at him and smiled. I felt like a young school girl again having a crush. It's been so long since I had someone very important to me.

"Alright love birds!" Rick laughed and patted Abner's shoulder and raised his glass full of alcohol. "Here's to us. The brand new Suicide Squad. We'll all make it out alive."

We raised our drinks and clinked our glasses together and I could feel my throat on fire.

"I'm warning ya I'm just having one drink." Robert warned.

"Definitely." I agreed and Rick nodded.

"One more won't harm us." Rick called for a waitress to bring us more.

🟡🟢🟠🔴🟣🔵

"My mother told me that the world has got its plans

I wanna hold em til they burn right through my hands

Don't ask me questions cause I'm tired of confessing

And I know that it's not much to say but I swear that I'd like to change"

I laughed and saw everyone dancing or trying to. "Won't you join us, (Y/N)?" Cleo asked jumping up and down and made sure Sebastian was okay, he was on the table drinking.

"I'm not good at dancing." I tried excusing myself from making a fool of myself.

"I can't dance either and none of us can." Abner said and looked at the rest of our team attempting to dance. "You can always blame it on the alcohol."

Abner offered me his hand. I looked at it unsure but I finally gave in and took it.

"I can't sleep, I hope I stay awake

Cause I've been running, running, running all day

Long nights, no peace, I feel like everybody's eyes on me. I can't sleep."

We all began to dance and not giving a care in the world if we got weird looks. I laughed at the odd dances everyone would do, I danced weirdly as well and twirled around and was caught by Abner who was holding me tight.

I felt his hands running through my hair and he quickly leaned down and captured my lips. It was an unexpected surprise but a very well invited one. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gripped his dark hair.

I didn't even realize we had gotten away from the crowd and into a bathroom, he continued to kiss me until he hoisted me up from the floor and I wrapped my legs around him. I normally wouldn't do this, but it felt right and who knows if we might did tomorrow. I held onto him tight and enjoyed the moment.

🟣🟡🔵🟠🔴🟢

"A bunch of wannabe superheroes like you would never be able to stop what's inside Jotunheim."

"Villains, man! God knows we're far from being heroes." Someone shouted from inside the van.

I had my eyes closed and had a bit of a hangover. Thankfully Cleo went and grabbed a few pills for me, King Shark in his own way was asking if I was okay and if I needed something else.

"Can you just shut up?!" I screamed at The Thinker or also knows as Dr. Gauis Grieves. I looked at him and hummed.

"You sorta look like someone I saw a long time ago on tv." I mostly said to myself and was ignored by him.

I looked at the seat behind me and avoided eyes with Abner and he did the same. We were both avoiding to talk about what happened last night between us. "Nom Nom, (Y/N)?" King Shark asked holding an empanada to me.

"Thanks, but I'm not hungry." I said holding onto my side since I felt like throwing up.

"You're going to get us in." Rick warned when the car made its stop and it heavily began to rain. We went to capture Harley but she successfully did it on her own.

"You're looking pale, (Y/N)." Even Harley grimaced at how I looked.

"You're one to talk you look like a ghost."

"Am I a pretty ghost?!" She happily asked. K have her a look and began to grab my gun, dagger and whip.

"I had too much to drink last night."

"You're gonna be alright." Rick smiled at me a messed up my hair.

We followed him outside and began to shoot the soldiers that were made visible once we reached them. I took one of my guns and easily hit their heads even if I felt tired.

Rick and Bloodsport opened the door and we entered the Jotunheim. We began to put up bombs on the wall and began to run, to try and find what we were supposed to look, project Starfish.

I stood by Rick's side and Cleo's. The Thinker was beside us and we looked at the people, horrified to see they were strapped down and experimented on. "This is sick, who would do this?"

"The American's."

We looked at The Thinker in horror and he explained to us all. The U.S government was behind Project Starfish this whole time. Rick and I exchanged looks when a giant Starfish behind a glass made itself appear.

"The files. Rick, we have to let them all know." Rick nodded his head and went to grab them until Peacemaker showed up. He betrayed us, he was on Waller's side.

"Drop it or I'll blow your heads off."

"The fuck? And just when I was starting to warm up to your weird charms." I sarcastically tell him. He was an idiot for doing this. Just when we were about to fight the building began to collapse because of the explosives.

My head was certainly hurting even more when I opened my eyes and saw everything in pieces. I got up when I heard something shattering, I moved closer and saw Rick and Peacemaker fighting.

I saw the file and ran to grab it but Peacemaker grabbed my hair tight and began to hit my head against the ceramic wall. Rick quickly hit Peacemakers head which made him drop me. I felt blood dripping down to my face.

But I quickly stood back up next to Rick's side. We exchanged looks and took our position to fight. I grabbed my whip out of my waist and began to hit Peacemaker, but he easily caught it which was wrapped around his arm. I had to let go of it and dodges his attacks when he tried to hit me again.

"Don't you dare harm her." Rick warned. We had a brother and sister relationship, so we would have each other's back.

Rick ran towards Christopher and each began to fight. I grabbed my gun and shot it at Peacemakers leg and shoulder but he didn't even flinch. I screamed when I saw he had stabbed Rick, right in the heart.

My vision got blurry and I ran to his side and fell to his side. "Rick.." I was pulled up and held tightly.

We looked up ahead and saw Cleo looking at us, with tears running down her face too. "Run." Cleo grabbed the disk and began to run. I made it out of Christopher's grip and pulled my whip back and began to climb through the wall.

I began to run and jumped as far as I could to the other end of the building and I made sure my whip was being held tightly so I wouldn't fall. I held onto it for dear life and carefully began to climb down and saw half of our now small team below. I had to let go of my whip and jumped down onto the concrete and climbed down the rocks with my bare hands.

I coughed up the dust and dirt off and I raced over to Abner and wrapped my arms around him. "He's dead. Rick's been killed. Peacemaker and the U.S government were behind this all along."

"I knew it! Never trust the government!" Harley said angrily since Rick was also her friend.

Abner held me close as we began to run when the building collapsed even more and a giant Starfish emerged from within.

"Starro the conquerer."

He began to destroy everything and smaller versions of himself started falling from the sky. "Get this off me!" People began screaming once they attaches themselves to their faces.

I covered my face and Ratcatcher did the same using her mask. Bloodsport looked in defeat when the giant creature walked past us and into the city. "We're fucked." We all said looking at it walking away.

Waller gave us an order to leave. To leave everyone here to die. Bloodsport was the first to turn around and start walking away from us. Slowly everyone did the same while I stayed and looked at them sadly.

"Come on guys, we can't leave like this. What if that were us on the other side? I'm terrified like you all are but we can't leave these innocent people to die because of a fucking intergalactic starfish."

Bloodsport made a stop and began cursing to himself.

Cleo looked at me and was the first to join my side. "Fuck!" Bloodsport angrily told himself and also came. Abner and Harley did the same and we all began to run towards Starro ignoring Waller's warning to blow us up.

"What are we supposed to do then?"

"Distract him? I've never fought an alien before."

"Neither have any of us so we gotta try everything."

The people who were being mind controlled by Starro began approaching us. Bloodsport didn't hesitate and began to shoot many of them. Abner was hidden and uncertain on what to do.

I tried to make it was close as I could to the people and try to cut open the starfishes. "This won't do, they are too many." I ran over to Abner and grabbed his hands.

"We need your help, I know how much you hate killing but you need to use your weird but awesome polkadot powers." Abner's dark eyes landed on mine and he seemed a bit terrified.

"I know you can do it, I really enjoyed our time together and I would really really like to know you more." I was pouring my heart and soul into him.

Abner grabbed my shoulders and smiled while he nodded his head. "I'm gonna do it! Together, (Y/N)."

"I hate to interrupt your little chat but we need some help!" He heard Bloodsport.

"Polkadot Man!" He pointed at Starro. "That's your mother!"

Abner began using his powers. "I'm a superhero!!"

I looked at Abner weirdly but couldn't help but cheer him on to defeat the massive Starfish. I ran over to Bloodsport and joined him. "Tell me you shot that jackass dead."

"My bullet went through his neck. That's what he got for being a bloody bastard."

The ground shook when Starro landed one of paws down. My mouth fell open and I slowly looked over where Abner once was.

"This is fucking war." I grabbed a grenade from Bloodsport and angrily tossed it at Starro. The creature whined and fell back a bit, until Harley stabbed it with her javelin and went Starro's eye and Ratcatcher called all of her rats and ate at him.

🔴🔵🟠🟢🟣🟡

I was still on my knees and crying holding onto a single a pice of fabric of his costume. "I say after this suicide mission, we deserve to be set free." I heard Bloodsport tell me. I could tell he isn't a man to express his feelings, so all he did was sigh and patted my shoulder.

Harley slowly walked over to us, soaking wet from being inside of Starro. "Geez, (Y/N).. I'm sorry..Believe me I was in love a day ago, I shot him. But I will say he a huge-"

"Harley. Now's not the time." Bloodsport told her.

I felt King Shark sit beside me and with his fins he pulled me close in a hug. It felt weird but comforting.

"(Y/N)." Cleo knelt down to my side.

"Yes, I know you're all sorry! I get it..sorry it's just, everyone I seem to love always gets killed or betrays me." Sebastian who was on her shoulders made its way on my leg and he began to make movements with his tiny hands.

"Why don't you turn-"

"Let's just go back to jail." I said in defeat and got up angrily and began to walk away still staring down at the ground.

"(Y/N)." I can even still hear his voice. Wait..I stopped and turned around and my mouth fell open and I began to cry without realizing it.

There he was alive! Really hurt but still alive! Abner was covered in blood and dust even his dark hair was covered in dust and dirt. I began running faster and finally met his side, Abner wrapped his arms right around me tight and so did I.

"You're alive." I continued to cry.

"We tried telling you." Harley said which earned her looks.

"Friend alive!" King Shark excitedly exclaimed and came to us and lifted us both off the ground making us laugh.

"I never thought anyone would care so much for me." Abner told me making me look back up at him.

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "We've known each other for less than a week, but I really love you. You mean a lot to me. I hope this doesn't make you want to die again."

Abner smiled back and ran his fingers down to my hair and rested his hand on my cheek. "..I love you too, (Y/N)."

Cleo ran toward us and wrapped her arms around him once we let go. "I'm so happy you're alive too my friend."

Harley smiled at Bloodsport, "Time to head back home, Milton."

"For the last time my name isn't Milton!" The man angrily told her.

The six of us spotted the chopper up ahead and raced towards it and with that we were out of Corto Maltese. We were all exhausted but despite all that, I was extremely happy we made it out alive.

Abner kept holding my hand when we sat down, the sun was slowly setting down as we made it back. I rested my head on Abner's shoulder and enjoyed being here, in this very moment with him.

#the suicide squad spoilers #abner krill #the suicide squad 2021 #abner krill x reader #polkadot man #david dastmalchian #bloodsport #harley quinn #peacemaker #rick flag #ratcatcher #king shark #starro #dc #the suicide squad x reader

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giveamadeuschohisownmovie · 3 years

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“The Suicide Squad” movie review:

Short review:

It’s better than the 2016 movie. I give it a solid A rating.

Long review:

I’m going to approach this movie from a different angle than my usual reviews. For me to really talk about this movie, I have to go back and discuss how I felt about the 2016 movie. First and foremost, let me just say that I hate the 2016 Suicide Squad film. It was clunky, pointless, and felt like a bunch of scenes stapled together rather than a cohesive picture. What’s interesting is that a big reason why the 2021 movie succeeds is that it fixed a lot of what I felt were the 2016 movie’s problems.

This is why I have to take a different angle for this review. To really talk about the good points, I gotta go into what I felt were problems in the 2016 movie and explain how the 2021 movie rectified those mistakes. Alright, let’s begin.

1) The mission is more appropriate for this type of team. I felt that the 2016 movie went about the wrong way by sending the Suicide Squad in to stop Enchantress from conquering the city/world. I know that it was more so to rescue Amanda Waller, but I felt that the mission in the 2016 movie was more suited for a Justice League-type team.

The Suicide Squad is a black ops team made of imprisoned supervillains that is sent in to do Waller’s dirty work. They should be doing shady shit that rubs the audience the wrong way. And in the 2021 movie, that’s what they’re doing. The mission is objectively horrible since it’s the US intervening in a South American country to cover up their illegal actions (insert real world parallels here). That’s far from heroic, but it works for the movie since that’s exactly what the Squad should be used for.

2) The movie actually lives up to the “Suicide” part of “Suicide Squad”. If I recall correctly, only two members of the Squad and some rando Navy SEALs died in the original film. While I generally frown on stories just killing people off for shock value, Suicide Squad is an exception since a high body count is to be expected for this team. Heck, even Deadshot called out that there’s a high chance most of them will die during the mission. So yes, most of the team dies in the 2021 movie, but it’s fine since it’s being true to the story and the comics.

3) The movie did a better job at portraying the team as villains being forced to do another villain’s dirty work. Deadshot repeatedly says in the 2016 movie that they’re bad guys, but the movie didn’t do a good job showing that. It’s Will Smith, the audience knows his character is actually a good man on the inside. And that’s not even covering Diablo, the tragic man who is trying to repent for his past actions, or Katana, who isn’t even a supervillain.

In the 2021 movie, it’s a lot more clear that the characters we’re following are horrible people. Bloodsport is a shitty father who competes with Peacemaker over who can kill the most creatively. Peacemaker is Captain America but if he was a crazy, right-wing monster. Ratcatcher 2 is an apathetic bank robber. Polka Dot Man is basically Norman Bates. And Harley Quinn is...Harley Quinn. While the team does get their hero moment, I like that the Squad was actually portrayed as supervillains being forced to do good.

4) Way better characterization for Amanda Waller. While 2016 Amanda Waller was no saint, 2021 Amanda Waller is straight up an irredeemable monster. And that’s good because the concept of the Suicide Squad (forcing prisoners to do illegal operations for the government) is vile to begin with.

5) The found family dynamics feels more earned in this movie than the 2016 film. I already wrote this in another post, but it’s not enough to just tell the audience that the team is a family. Harley Quinn can say her teammates are her family all she wants, but it’s not convincing since there were barely any scenes of the 2016 team just bonding. Yeah, they had that scene at the bar, but most of that scene was dedicated to Diablo’s backstory. Other than that, the team were just sorta together.

In the 2021 movie, you actually believe that the Squad is a found family just based on how they interact. What’s the big difference? Well, the team actually...you know...interacts with each other. This is where James Gunn really shines through since the “Guardians of the Galaxy” vibe really works for this type of story. You can’t just tell the audience that the team is a family, you need to show it, which Gunn does.

6) The movie utilizes the team way better than the 2016 film. A big problem I had with the first film was that the story didn’t really justify why the Squad had to be the ones to handle Enchantress. The US government already had the Navy SEALs. Plus, there were several members who didn’t really contribute to the mission. I kept forgetting that Killer Croc was there, Captain Boomerang wasn’t given that much to do, and Katana was completely wasted.

The 2021 movie did a better job justifying why each member of the Squad was important. Yes, most of them died, but the deaths established just how expendable the team was. And for the final battle, each member contributed in taking Starro down. I never felt that there was a teammate who could’ve been left out of the movie. Even the members who died early on were more memorable than the 2016 roster.

Okay, that’s a good stopping point. To sum up, this movie feels like James Gunn read the negative reviews for the 2016 movie and used them as a reference in directing the 2021 movie. Even though Warner Bros and DC don’t want to call this movie a reboot, it really does feel like one due to how much it feels like a do-over. And you know what...I’m fine with that since the end result was a much better, more cohesive story.

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