Not the DCU

[beccaelizabeth]

In addition to the Talos two I wrote of this morning, who are not Beetle and Booster, I have decided that the Constantine equivalent in this 'verse is glam, instead of punk, and possibly Ethan Rayne. As played by Tilda Swinton. I don't know, my brain, odd place. Do not want the trenchcoat brigade. Want variety.

Also I was thinking, the Batman equivalents, what if that whole lineage was black? If the Batman guy was Wesley Snipes, sort of thing. Only the Batman generation aren't the most active dudes, by now. Nightwing gen would be mature, Jason Todd gen the guys who think they can do better if the old guys get out of the way, Tim Drake serious college student dude, and whatsit, the new one, kid sized and making all the *facepalm* of teen sidekick really really obvious. So, anyway, how does it change if the only thing you flip is skin color? If all of them are black but the same rich/poor mansion/street background applies? Do we really want Batman to be a rich dude in a mansion, or is the important part the dead parents never again spooky alleys bit? I keep poking bits but its like a mobile, the whole thing shifts with any one part changing.

The thing with the Batfamily is I don't so much want to file the serial numbers off or change it much at all. I just want to let it make sense. Everything gets compressed while trying to not let Batman age. Just let them all keep growing up and there's still story in it.

Also I want to keep all the Batgirls. Exactly as they were at their most heroic. Including being Oracle now.

Arrow family I want to keep as long as I can keep them diverse. You remember when Connor was black? *sigh*

... so, okay, I probably don't want to reinvent the DCU, I just want to take my best loved bits and love them and hug them and keep them all wrapped up tidy.

Different comics titles are different genres, like horror and magic or detective and vigilante stuff. Making them all xover doesn't make very much sense really. Batman can fit in a lot of different genres of story but not all characters translate real well.

Also I discover I like my heroes waaaaaay more than I like inventing villains. I care about the heroes. If I care about the villains its cause they're dating the heroes. And, also, not exactly villains. Possibly poor misunderstood woobies who just want to rule the world because it would work so much better that way. I seem to know a few of those.

Villains are difficult. How does one start inventing villains? I get stuck on that bit a lot.

And then you need like a dozen of them per season? No ways. Story arcs. Make them last longer.

Comments

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

I think the trick with villains is figuring out why they're villains. Do they think they're really doing good (like the people who think the world would be a better place without certain other people or things)? Are they out for everything they can get (the wanting to be richest/most powerful style of villain)? Do they have a personal grudge against the hero (he saved thousands of people, but he didn't manage to save the one person that the villain cared about)? And so on...