You Know Who

That's true, though I think The Spectacular Spider-Man rivals Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Animated Series in terms of sheer quality. The rest of the shows, though, fall far behind.

HA! Even Mr. I-Love-Grant-Morrison's-Work over here agrees that this film isn't so great!

I disagree: However, the film was still awesome without that. I would say it was closest to New Frontier as being the best film they've done. The cast, bar Luthor were all awesome, Luthor's voice did get better as the film progressed though. My top three list: New Frontier All Star Superman Under the red hood Awesome this film was not... I'm not a Grant Morrison fan at all, so take what I said as you will, but this film only increased my distaste for his work. Admittedly, of his stuff I've only read JLA: Earth-Three and All-Star Superman, but reading the later--his supposed magnum opus-- makes me not want to give him anymore of my fucking money.

Amen; sounds a bit too kid-friendly.

How many people going see it would know that it shared the name of a line of Spider-Man comics out of continuity with the mainstream Marvel universe? Also "Ultimate" implies finality. Like you said, though, not that important.

If it's a trilogy, "Ultimate Spiderman" would be a good name for the last film.

I said "could", not "will".

I do agree it may be pushing it to add a love story element, but Talia has always tried to make Bruce see the good in the League and has made him question himself, Selena, while she is Catwoman, she really isn't a "bad guy, " she does care for Bruce and Batman, just like Talia does, however, Talia is a bit more of a villain than Selena as she is willing to kill more than Selena. The Holiday Killer story would serve better if it was started in the first film and slowly developed through the 2nd, like the Phoenix saga did in X-Men(although, their execution in the 3rd film wasn't as good)series. However, it does present a challenge for Bruce as the police force already sees Batman as a killer, so if a new killer was framing him he'd have to clear his name AND avoid the police. So, the "Rises" could also mean that kind of rising. Between posts, I realized they could have Alberto Falcone as a second antagonist, like his father in Batman Begins and Maroni in The Dark Knight. He'd be taking up the family business and trying to fill a power vacuum left by the mob and the Joker from the last film. The Holiday Killer storyline would be a bit too gimmicky and though I have something of a soft spot for The Long Halloween (being the first Batman book I ever read), I have to question why the cops didn't currently predict one of Alberto's killings and apprehend him on Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day after murders coinciding with previous holidays. What you said about Talia vs. Catwoman makes sense, but I wouldn't want to see it coincide with a film featuring Batman vs. Bane. True, Bane could be a member of the League of Shadows and could even be a rival for Talia's affections, but I think Bane would be the kind of person who wouldn't take shit from anyone and wouldn't be a part of any criminal operation he wasn't running himself. (O, and for the record, I'm kind of ho-hum about all three X-Men films and actually think X3 is more satisfying than the other two action-wise)

If "Rises" also signifies a challenge of the heart that Bruce will have to face, why do you need Talia when you already have Selina? Why do you need Falcone for that matter when you already have Bane? If you try to tie a third movie directly back to the first one and also throw in a new love interest and a new villain, you get Spider-Man 3. That's why I think Nolan should stay away from Talia and Alberto Falcone.

The pattern around the hands and boots of the costume is an interesting break from Maguire's costume. Wonder what the Lizard will look like...

Ra's has always been a character that easily averts death time and time again, although in Batman Begins the idea was that he died, there is always a chance of an explanation for his survival. It would be a nice closure to the trilogy if Talia made an appearance because if Ra's started the series it should end with a connection. Ra's surviving that explosion--whether by jumping out at the right moment or because he's immortal--would go very much against Nolan's vision of Batman in the real world. And though I see your point about launching and tying up the trilogy with the al Ghuls, I think it would work much better had Talia been introduced in Batman Begins along with her father and that Bane would be a much better antagonist to round the series out because he poses a much greater challenge to Batman physically and mentally. Talia, by comparison, is a useless cock-tease.

Supposedly, we're gonna get Wonder Woman and Superman spotlight episodes as well.

She's a Super Villain. Calling her a bitch seems a bit redundant. Not all supervillainesses are bitches; Harley Quinn's probably the best example

I'm pretty sure Ra's is dead. On the subject of tabloids, I also read somewhere that they cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Alberto Falcone/The Holiday Killer. Is that true or just another rumor?

I've ranted before on this thread that her appearing in the film would be really contrived and her inner struggle of choosing between Bruce and Ra's would be negated by her father being absent. She could be back from revenge after Batman left him to die, but that would be extremely cliched. I also agree with WFP listeners who have referred to her as "Talia 'The Bitch' Al Ghul".

From AICN who got it and translated it from a French website The nerd rumor is she's playing Talia. I hope not.

thanks

Damn was this episode good. Had great action and character interactions. I particularly like the telepathic argument the team and the doctor had. I also like how the League of Shadows apparently has its own young Justice League in the form of Cheshire, Hook, and Black Spider. Also, a fairly random observation: The Sensei looks like a mix between Iroh, Admiral Zhao, and Zuko of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I had never seen an episode of Doctor Who and I had never seen an episode of Doctor Who and on a whim today saw the Series 1 premiere "Rose". I wasn't that crazy about it overall thanks to the poor special effects, the ridiculousness of the episode's antagonists, and the title character: I know from listening to a few episodes of Bigger on the Inside and Better in the Dark that she's a very annoying, unsympathetic character, but I didn't know she was too dumb realize her boyfriend had been replaced by a plastic dummy. Also, I think mannequins actually are pretty fucking creepy, but this episode missed the mark by not giving their faces the soulless, unblinking eyes that mannequins have. Eccleston, though, was really entertaining and I loved some of his lines ("Won't work; he's gay and she's an alien), but the teaser for the next episode killed any interest I had in watching the rest of the season. As a complete outsider to the series, are my criticisms valid? Did I choose the wrong episode as my introduction to Doctor Who? If so, where should I start instead?

http://www.slashfilm.com/protogoblin-spiderman-reboot/ HOORAY!

Hang on a sec...I thought this was a reboot out of continuity with the previous films As for the trailer, meh...

We're gonna need a third person to weigh in on this debate... Third opinion: NEEEEEEEEEERDS. Seriously, though, I think a quieter episode of the kids interacting with their mentors on an off day (the comic's really emphasizing their relationships with their mentors, or in Superboy's case, their desperate need for approval/attention of their mentor), or what Suave suggested, would be a good way to feature the JL while still keeping the YJ in focus. I like this idea too. There's an episode coming up called "Downtime"; maybe what you said above will be the focus of it.

We're gonna need a third person to weigh in on this debate...

It's not the same, though. A JLU episode focusing on minor heroes like Shining Knight and Vigilante works because the episode serves to put a spotlight on two lesser-known characters. Having JL-centric Young Justice episode, though, would be like having the seven founding members of the league needing to step in to save the lives of a few minor leaguers. I'm sorry but that's a terrible idea because it would totally undermine the younger team's effectiveness; it would be like the scenario I described above or Batman saving Robin's ass from a villain or gang instead of Robin's badassery or willpower prevailing.

NO NO NO. That's never gonna happen and should never happen. This is a show about teen heroes and their growth. It would be just like having Batman on appear on Teen Titans: He would just overshadow Robin and company. While Batman and the Justice League do appear on the show, they appear strictly as mentors.