I am glad that The Atom is now appearing on a regular TV series, but I wish the execution was a lot better. Brandon Routh does a fine job in his performance as Ray Palmer, but the character still doesn't seem much like the Atom from the comics. The costume is way too bulky and the helmet with the clear face shield especially does not work for me. He took his time developing shrinking abilities - and he still barely uses them! Basically, he comes off as Iron Man lite instead. I hope the producers and writers on DC's Legends of Tomorrow will steer him closer to his comic roots.
Welp, Ray's in for the fight of his life.
ReplyDeleteThey had to make changes in Flash/Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow to get the Marvel viewers too. Firestorm and the Atom aren't the DC characters; they're the Human Torch and Iron Man, although with the DC treatment on them.
ReplyDeleteThen again, Arrow and the Flash are, in their way, actually Batman and Superman respectively. So there's no surprise that they're not exactly holding tight to the DC character templates. And then again... there are no "standard" templates any more either.
Well, at least the TV shows are still good stories and good characters... WHOEVER they're supposed to be! ;)
And let us not forget...Brandon Routh also played the most lackluster Man of Steel in superhero movie history.
ReplyDeleteI like THE FLASH. I love SUPERGIRL. But, ARROW? Not so much. This post-SMALLVILLE version of Oliver Queen is even more like Batman with a bow than the Golden Age Green Arrow was! And, that's definitely _not_ a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI was worried that I might be missing out on something by not watching any of the super-hero shows on television right now...
ReplyDeleteBasically what I am hearing is that comic books do not translate well to live action. At least not for DC...
It's kind of funny, comics books have developed to the point where the characters are rarely ever out of their costumes and masks, which is the exact opposite of live action television or movies...
I'll stick to comic books.
Legends is the most fun TV show on television! It's insane, the whole family watches and we all love it! Great cover Ross!
ReplyDeleteI think I read somewhere that Routh was initially set to be Ted Kord rather than Ray Palmer. I actually think I might prefer that (maybe take away the shrinking...).
ReplyDeleteThat's a cool match up! The kind you don't automatically think of.
ReplyDeleteThough I guess Scott Lang thinks he has that thing with Taskmaster.
Ted Kord instead of Ray Palmer makes sense, but then his armor wouldn't make anyone think of Iron Man. (I always do.)
ReplyDeleteThe show is my guilty pleasure, though.
@Wayne: it would look more like a carapace, though. Which would be more fitting for a superhero with an insect motif.
ReplyDeleteLove this match-up... the guy who can target anything versus a guy who can shrink into the most elusive target!
ReplyDelete@ DF: A better match-up would be Batman, Blade, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I know you've already done the latter two, Ross. But, not all three together!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with your assessment of the Atom on Legends of Tomorrow. I'm assuming it was a budget decision that kept him from shrinking on the small screen so they turned him into an Iron Man clone.
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