Well, well, well! It’s been a good while since Smalllville, that we’ve had a show dedicated to Superman. And yeah, it’s true that Tyler Hoechlin’s version of the Man of Steel has been in the Supergirl and Crisis crossovers, but this is a show dedicated to Superman and Lois Lane. From the looks of it, the CW network must have received a bigger budget than they usually get for their shows. This looks like it belongs on HBO! Superman also gets a new costume, and it’s a slight improvement from what he wore in Supergirl. Gone are the days of the padded shoulder pieces and plastic looking cape, but this new suit looks like it’s padded to give Hoechlin a more buff appearance though. As for Hoechlin’s performance, it’s kind of refreshing actually. He gives the classic farm boy personality, while convincingly portraying the optimistic hero who just wants to do his part to help people. Lois Lane, played by Bitsie Tulloch, gives that ride-or-die, stubborn demeanor. She’s very protective of Clark and she’s a damn good reporter.
The episode opens up with a short homage to Superman’s origin. We all know the drill, by now. How he came to Earth as a baby, the Kent's finding him and raising him, to his dad dying, to his first outing as Superman (with the classic 1938 suit!).
Then things take a turn for the worse. Not only does Clark lose his job at the Daily Planet, his mother Martha dies. All the while, Lois and Clark are trying to raise their two teenage boys, Jonathan and Jordan. Jonathan is a star athlete, who has everything going for him. Jordan has a personality disorder, which can make life somewhat difficult for him. As the Kent family travel to Smallville to make funeral arrangements, they are met by Clark’s old friend, Lana Lang, and her asshole of a husband, Kyle. While catching up with Lana, she tells Lois and Clark that the Kent farm is about to be bought by the bank due to Martha taking out loans to help other farmers. Kyle is praising new businessman Morgan Edge, saying that he will bring about real change in town, while Lois is suspicious about that.
The boys are at the barn house with Lana’s daughter Sara, who takes a liking to Jordan. While messing around with their WiFi router, Jordan and Jonathan accidently make a pile of steel beans fall on top of them. Both strangely survive the encounter, due to Clark saving them. The two think that something is wrong with them. I mean, yeah. Your dad is Superman! Later on, Lois’s father, General Lane shows up and explains that someone is trying to destroy nuclear power plants. Following a very cool scene, with Superman creating his own ice glacier to cool down the reactor, the Kent boys discover the ship that baby Clark was found in. While deciding what to do with their farm, Jonathan and Jordan want answers about what’s really going on. Reluctantly, Clark explains that he’s really Superman. Jonathan takes it well, but Jordan feels like he’s been lied to.
Clark investigates another power plant that’s been tampered with, and is met by some mech-wearing bad guy. A fight ensues, with Superman’s powers being of no use. Eventually, the mech-warrior takes the fight to space, and talks all sorts of trash. Talking about how he’s pretending to be human, and how the world will never truly accept him. It’s speculated that he knows who Superman really is, then he stabs Clark with a kryptonite shiv! As all this happens, Jonathan and Jordan go to some party, where Sara is present. Jordan and Sara talk, with Jordan trying to kiss her. Sara backs up, too little too late, as her boyfriend pushes Jordan off. A fight ensues with Jonathan entering the fray. Without warning, Jordan’s heat vision goes off, starting a bonfire!
Shaking off the shiv, Clark barely regains his composure and flies back to Smallville. Kyle is tending to the Kent boys, saying that they are extremely lucky after what happened at the barn. Later on, the boys tell Lois and Clark what happened, and Jordan’s powers are manifesting faster than Clark’s did, when he was his age. Due to recent events, Lois and Clark talk about moving to Smallville permanently. Lois understands and they’re also saving the farm! Clark talks to Jordan and confesses that while he may not have always been there for him, he will do better in the future. Solid parenting. Lois also discovers that Morgan Edge is behind buying up small businesses, and that something may be up with that.
Cut to the mech-warrior flying to his hidden base, and it’s revealed to be none other than Lex Luthor himself! and he’s a brotha!
So, overall, I feel this episode is the start of good things to come from Superman. For fans who want a more classic take on the Man of Steel with a modern setting, this is for you. One thing, I want to know is, will we see Supergirl, despite the show being cancelled? Will other Arrowverse members stop by? And what is it that Luthor wants? Revenge for past events? And the fact that he has to juggle with being a superhero, a husband, and a father! How do you feel about this latest interpretation of Superman? Leave your thoughts below, and till next time my fellow Blerds!
Well! Did I call it? or did I call it with Monica! But before we get into the episode, HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD!!! The latest episode opens with Wanda in bed, seemingly tired from her expanding the Hex Field last episode. Tommy and Billy go to her room and ask if she’s getting up. She says that she’s just resting her eyes. The Twins seem to be worried about her. This episode has a Modern Family vibe to it, with different characters talking to the “narrator”. As we see Wanda kind of become dismissive of current events, objects around the house are changing, from the twins video games to random things in the house like the chair and the sofa. Wanda says that she's taking a “me day”. Can’t say I blame her.
She also tells the kids that Pietro isn’t their real uncle. Meanwhile, back in the “real world”, Director Hayward and what’s left of the S.W.O.R.D team try to comprehend what is happening with the Hex Field. But the broadcast signal is no longer there, so the team can’t watch the “sitcom” anymore. Agnes comes over, and offers to “watch” the twins Tommy and Billy, while Wanda recovers. Meanwhile, we find Vision awake in a circus tent, with all the other S.W.O.R.D agents as circus performers, including Darcey! As Vision resets Darcey’s memories, and she fills him in and what happened during the events of Infinity War. Wanda is at home, alone taking “anti-depressant” pills called Nexus, which also has a creepy commercial stating some side effects include causing even more depression!
Agent Woo and Monica meet with Monica’s Army contact and they give Monica a modified space rover and astronaut suit. We also find out that Hayward was trying to bring back Vision to life and weaponize him. That explains why Wanda broke into S.W.O.R.D HQ and took him. Woo has his concerns about getting back into the Hex Field, but Monica is determined to go into the Hex and rescue Darcey and Wanda out. While at home, Wanda is speaking with the “narrator”, and he asks if she deserves what’s happening to her. Wanda is confused, not with the question, but with the fact that the “narrator” actually asked her a question. That’s never happened before in the “sitcom”. Monica suits up and tries to drive the rover into the Hex, but the Hex is rewriting the rover’s reality. Monica jumps out, but instead runs into it!!! While trying to break inside, her mind is flooded with past memories of her mom and Captain Marvel. Fully motivated, she breaks through, eyes glowing blue, able to see the energy waves in the town!
Vision and Darcey try to go into town, but they notice every time they get close, the Hex creates roadblocks and construction crews. Vision phases out and flies off. As Wanda tries to relax, Monica shows up. She tries to explain what really was supposed to happen, when S.W.O.R.D tried to make contact, but Wanda ain’t having none of it! Monica keeps trying but here comes Agnes. She “comforts” Wanda and rushes her back inside. While inside, Wanda sees things that look off. Roaches, rabbits, and a strange kids Muppet show! When Wanda asks where the twins are, Agnes says they’re in the basement. Now, the show has given me straight Goosebumps vibes, as Wanda goes downstairs and sees purple vines on the walls, weird artifacts and such. Agnes discovers Wanda looking around and she reveals herself. Her real name is Agatha Harkness, and apparently she’s a witch who’s behind everything! Cut to an Addams Family style scene, where we see Agatha behind all the “show’s” hijinks, including killing the dog, faking her memory loss when meeting Vision, and bringing back the wrong Quicksilver!
The episode ends with a mid-credits scene, with Monica trying to break into Agatha’s home, and we see what looks like a normal “Pietro”. If you look close, you can see Monica’s eyes go purple. Is she under Agatha’s spell, or can she “see” the energy around him? I am SOOOOOO glad that Monica got her powers. While we’ll have to wait and see how powerful she’ll be in the show, it’s a sight to behold. And, I’m pretty sure that most viewers guessed that Agatha was behind all of this, a few episodes back. So, what now? Is she more powerful than Wanda, or did she and Wanda make some sort of deal with the devil? Bring back Vision, at the price of something Agatha wants , and only Wanda can give it to her? And how did she bring back the wrong Pietro? Are mutants finally canon in the MCU? Will Monica and Wanda team up to fight Agatha? And where is Vision going? Till next time, me fellow Blerds...
Ororo Munroe, a.k.a Storm the Co-leader of the X-Men. One of the most powerful members on the roster, and one of the few omega-class mutants in the Marvel Universe. Storm has the power to control the weather so basically, Storm is so powerful. She can create the most horrendous hurricanes, freezing blizzards, and summon lightning that would make Thor and Raiden proud. Ororo is even hailed as a goddess from her native Kenya, due to her powers. Also, she is Wakandan royalty, having married (and separated from, sadly) T’Challa, a.k.a Black Panther. With all this going for Storm, why haven't the live action movies did her true justice, and actually shown just how important is she to us?
No matter what you think about the X-Men movies, we have to acknowledge that Storm was hot and cold. What I mean is that in the very first movie, storm has an accent but in the second film, X2: X- Men United (2003) Storm has no accent at all. The movies didn’t even expound on her powers at all. Whenever we saw Storm in an action scene, almost always she would hover in the air and shoot some lightning. It’s cool but was very underwhelming considering how powerful her comic-book counterpart is. One point in the plus column was the wardrobe. Storm was always rocking the classic cape, attached to her wrists, like the comics. She also had numerous hairstyles, from long to the straight hair including her iconic mohawk. But again, with every X-Men movie, her role was reduced more and more. (I am still salty about how she was treated in X- Men: Days of Future Past (2013).
As is always the case when making movies about comic-book characters, the source material tends to be more faithful to certain characters than the movies; this includes Storm. In the comics, her powers are much more powerful. Not only can she control the weather, Storm can control the ocean currents, solar winds, create a personal field of electromagnetic energy, she can even separate molecules! And due to her emotions affecting her powers, she potentially could be even more powerful! Really, her power is limited by her will and endurance. Storm also has some useful skills, being a expert thief, close quarters combat proficient, and perhaps a better field leader than Cyclops! Now of course, she does have one noticeable weakness, being claustrophobic. As a child, Ororo was trapped under rubble for days, watching her mom die. And although she overcame this fear as a adult, she still gets the occasional flashback.
Remember when I said that Storm was royalty? Well by her falling in love and marrying
T'Challa aka the Black Panther, she became the new queen of Wakanda! And I remember this not only being a big deal in the comics (due to them wedding during a civil war in the Marvel Universe), and her being perhaps the most important mutant alive as a symbol of human/mutant relations, but her wedding dress was actually designed by Shawn Dudley, Emmy-Award winning Costume Designer for Guiding Light?! The dress was revealed on the cover of TV Guide! Breaking all kinds of barriers! Sadly their marriage wouldn’t last due to being on opposite sides in a war between the Avengers and the X-Men (the Phoenix was resurrected for, like the thousandth time),after Panther declared the X-Men enemies of the state. Storm had zero choice and threw up the deuces, and their marriage was annulled. Later, though they eventually reconciled.
I remember back in the day, the one team that flew the Marvel flag high was the X-Men, not the Avengers. Damn, if we’re being honest, the X-Men were the crew back in the 90’s! Their comics broke record sales, they had their own cartoon show that debuted on Fox Kids. There were toys, numerous video games, etc. And in my eyes, Storm was the first lady of the squad (sorry, Jean Grey fans). She had poise, power, and style. With all the success that the MCU is having right now, it’s baffling how long it’s taking to incorporate our favorite mutants into their franchise. It’s even more strange that after sequel after sequel, Fox Studios would downplay her role and powers to the point that the X-Men movie franchise became the Wolverine/Mystique show, possibly giving the other members a few cool scenes or one-liners. But if the latest episode of WandaVision taught us anything, it’s that you never know what’s gonna happen. Or who’s going to pop up. One day I hope that Storm gets her just due in future live action movies, as she has in the the comics. Till then, I’m forced to watch old episodes of X-Men and X-Men Evolution, since the cartoons can seem to do what the movies fail to do...make Storm a true force to be reckoned with. In the future we will revisit this powerful queen. But for now, we will enjoy what we have even if it's just a storm!
