Into the DC Murderverse: "Man of Steel"

 "Man of Steel" (2013)

First off, I have to fess up that I didn't come up with the name "DC Murderverse." That was my friend, Mark, so I want to give him credit right up front. I'm not sure if he will ever read this, but if he does, hopefully he's cool with my borrowing this from him.

There had been talk of re-booting the film version of Superman for years. Remember when Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage were going to do a Superman movie loosely based on the death and return of the Man of Steel? Maybe you've watched the documentary and thought, "Man, that would be better than this." You'd be right, but I digress. Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures and DC were into a pitch by Christopher Nolan, the director of the Dark Knight trilogy, and David Goyer, who wrote "Batman Begins." They greenlit the movie and hired Zack Snyder, "director", to make the movie and launch DC's version of the MCU.

Principal photography on "Man of Steel" began in August 2011 and wrapped in February 2012. The film stars Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent and Russell Crowe as Jor-El. The film was written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Christopher Nolan. It was directed by Zack Snyder. "Man of Steel" was released on June 14, 2013.

A Long Time Ago, During the Clone Wars: "Rising Malevolence," "Shadow of Malevolence," & "Destroy Malevolence"

 Star Wars The Clone Wars

Remember when I said that sometimes "The Clone Wars" had little three episode arcs? Well, we are to our first one! Woot. Let's dive in and also get the first official "Clone Wars" introduction of some classic prequel trilogy characters.

"In the Name of the Moon" Rewatch: "Usagi's Panic: Rei's First Date" & "A Girl's Dream: Usagi Becomes a Bride"

 Sailor Moon

One thing I'm surprised I haven't mentioned since we've been going on this journey back through "Sailor Moon" is the backgrounds. I really love them. They are painted and just really gorgeous. They are lighted really well. It's awesome. 

"I Am the Night" Re-Watch: "Cold Comfort" & "Double Talk"

 The New Batman Adventures

Welcome back! I hope you all really did watch "Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero" a few weeks ago or are familiar with it because if not, you may be a little lost watching this episode. Alright. Time for more modern B: TAS fun with some questionable character re-designs.

"The Truth Is Still Out There" Re-Watch: "The Jersey Devil" & "Shadows"

 The X-Files

We are trucking through the first season of "The X-Files." It's always interesting to watch a series when it's first starting out and see everyone involved kind of finding their footing. That is exactly what these two episodes are. Lots of finding their way.

Re-Visiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor: Ragnarok

"Thor: Ragnarok" (2017)

 There was a changing of the guard with the third "Thor" movie. The first two had spent time alternating between Asgard and Midgard (Earth). "Thor: Ragnarok" fully embraced that Thor is a god. He spends time with gods. He is not like the other Avengers. "Thor: Ragnarok" wrapped up the MCU slate of 2017.

Principal photography on "Thor: Ragnarok" began in July 2016 and wrapped in October 2016. The film starred Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Cate Blanchett as Hela, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, Karl Urban as Skurge, Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and Anthony Hopkins as Odin. The film was written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost. It was directed by Taika Waititi. "Thor: Ragnarok" was released on November 3, 2017.

A Long Time Ago, During the Clone Wars: "Clone Cadets," "Supply Lines" & "Ambush"

 Star Wars The Clone Wars

We are diving even deeper into the Clone Wars and things may be a little different, if you've read any of my other television recaps. I usually stick to two episodes per post. It's manageable for me and people reading, but that is going to be different with these. "The Clone Wars" has a lot of multipart episodes and a lot of them are three episode mini arcs. I really want those to be part of one post so some of these posts will be two episodes, some like this one will be three, heck, even four. Who knows? Here we go.

"In the Name of the Moon" Rewatch: "Girls Unite: The End of Jadeite" & "A New Enemy Appears: Nephrite's Evil Crest"

 Sailor Moon

The overarching villains for this first season of "Sailor Moon" are of course the Dark Kingdom, but it is broken down into smaller blocks each focusing on one of Beryl's lieutenants. With these two episodes, we end the Jadeite arc and meet Nephrite.

"I Am the Night" Re-watch: "Holiday Knights" & "Sins of the Father"

 The New Batman Adventures

We have made it to season 4 of "Batman: The Animated Series," which is technically the only season of "The New Batman Adventures." It was a continuation of the original B: TAS that premiered on Kids WB rather than Fox Kids on September 13, 1997. If you were a fan of B: TAS, you will find a lot to like here. It's basically the same show with some updates. "The New Batman Adventures" updated the animation style of B: TAS a little bit. Rather than continue with the Art Deco style of the original, it made things a little more modern. There were new character designs and things were a little grittier than they were in the original series. Batman's sidekicks played a much larger role in this series especially Batgirl. Dick Grayson evolved into Nightwing and Tim Drake became the new Robin. The voice cast from the original B: TAS carried over except for Melissa Gilbert who voiced Batgirl. She was voiced by Tara Strong, who would become the voice of Harley Quinn when Arleen Sorkin retired.