No, they’re not teaming together, and if you think that would be a cool team-up, you never read the one Wildstorm did with Superman. No, today I saw a couple of brief updates on both, and so I decided to lump them together in one location.
The Thundercat one is shorter, as it comes from a press release of upcoming Cartoon Network programs. Wonder Woman’s is longer and comes from an interview with David E. Kelley on the upcoming series. We’ll start with Thundercats.
Cartoon Network put out a press release about their upcoming programming. A lot of it is comedies, but DC Comics will have their own programming block, “DC Nation”. I’m assuming this will include Young Justice as well as the movie spin-off Green Lantern cartoon. But here’s the part we’re interested in for this article:
• ThunderCats: The re-imagined animated series based on the beloved 80s classic tells the tale of a hero’s epic journey to fulfill his ultimate destiny. On Third Earth, the kingdom of Thundera is being threatened by the evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra and young heir to the throne Lion-O embarks on a great quest to take his rightful place as king. The unlikely champion, joined by his faithful comrades Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, WilyKit, WilyKat and his loyal pet Snarf, must work together to save their world from darkness.
Now I’ve heard from the Hail Zeon review show (here and here) that Panthro explored Third Earth, which is why he’s scarred in various teaser images. This press release seems to indicate that instead of Thundera being a planet, it’s a kingdom on the planet of Third Earth. So no refugees. I still haven’t seen images of the Berbils or Warrior Maidens, so it is beginning to look like name-slapping is going on (although not on the level of Battlestar Namesake, as they’re at least TRYING to retain the spirit of the original characters, except for poor Snarf and no I won’t get over it) but I’m still looking forward to it. I will, however, miss some of my favorite characters from the original.
That second video I linked to, by the way, has some interesting information about the voice cast, so give it a look as well as the first one. I will note that the fact that the figures have the Thundercat symbol doesn’t actually prove anything, since the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers figures had dino symbols on their suits that the suits on the show didn’t. See also some generations of Transformers.
Now on to Wonder Woman and David E. Kelley’s interview. Comic Book Resources posted part of an interview Kelley did with NY Mag’s “Vulture” blog. I went to the actual interview to ensure I got my context right and to see what the CBR reporter didn’t comment on. Here are the interesting parts.
So you seem to like the legal shows.
I promised my kids that the next show I do will not be a law show! They’re ready to do an intervention at this point. But I am still fascinated by the law.
I guess this is why Diana is a businesswoman according to reports. 🙂
L.A. Law is where we first got a taste of what would be your trademark, those surprise, odd twists, like Roz going down the elevator shaft. Where do those ideas come from?
I promise it isn’t drugs. You know, you sort of get smarter through the years, but that’s the one question I’m really still unable to answer. I do subscribe to the theory that it is entertainment, and when people sit down in their La-Z-Boy chair at the end of the night, they maybe should be able to see something that they’re not going to see in everyday life. So arguments of mine will tend to be more melodramatic, and some of the eccentricities will be heightened. That’s just kind of what I like to do. Also, I loved The Twilight Zone as a kid, and Outer Limits and shows like that, which went in directions that you just never imagined. I do do that. I do say, “Okay, this is the scene, this is the normal way it would go. Is there another way it could possibly go that fits within the context of the show that you may not see coming?”
I’m not sure if this is good news or not for Wonder Woman. That could go very well or very badly, considering events in the comics themselves as well as other spin-off properties and TV superhero shows.
Your boss then, and now, Peter Roth, once told the New York Times back during that era that the reason you write so much of your own episodes isn’t because of ego, but because you’ve invested yourself so much in the characters that you’re sort of afraid to let go of them, to trust them to other writers.
That is a fair description. But I bet that fairly describes a lot of writers in television. If you look at the David Milchs or the Aaron Sorkins of the world, they’re not writing every script because they feel the need to. They’re taking care of their characters. When you create a show, and create characters, these people are like children to you. And you intrinsically know the voices maybe better than other writers do, even good writers who can write good stories. It’s not about being the alpha dog that wants to lift his leg on the tree; it’s about getting the voices and characters right.
I have to applaud that. I know that I’d be the same way, which is why I may not be a good fit for television.
You came back after girls club with Boston Legal, which turned into a very successful show for ABC. It was also very overtly political.
I would say if you looked at the balance of the body of my work, even though I do attack topical and provocative issues in both the legal and social, usually I’m addressing questions for which there are no answers, and that I personally don’t have the answer for myself. The exploration of the question itself is the journey. The only show that is an exception is Boston Legal. I really did have a stronger point of view, and the characters adopted that view more times than not. And there was a reason for that. Boston Legal existed in a time in our country where it was suddenly considered unpatriotic to dissent or to debate. And I certainly took issue with that. That series was a bit of a town crier. Most of the other series, if you look back, most people would not know where I fall on the issues.
Getting on my own soapbox, it wasn’t unpatriotic to dissent. It was, however, a case of certain parties demanding that if you disagreed with them and acted on it then you were violating their free speech rights. Folks like the Dixie Chicks (to pull an example out of my head) can say what they want, but they have to be prepared to deal with others exercising their free speech rights and be less than pleased (to put it mildly in both the Chicks and a few others’ cases) with what you have to say. “Free speech” works both ways and the left couldn’t deal with it. Also compare to now, when anyone who disagrees with Pres. Obama are called racists. As we’ve noted here at the Spotlight (staff of one), skin color is just grabbing a different coloring pencil, but some folks will use what they can to push their agenda.
Speaking of inviting scrutiny: Wonder Woman. Why did you decide to take this on?
Well I first said no, for all the obvious reasons. It’s not really what I do; it’s not a genre that’s in my wheelhouse. But then I started thinking about, What if there were such a person in today’s world and what must it be like to be her? And I was imagining the sense of social isolation that she must feel, that she indeed would probably be a rather complicated beast. When I started thinking about all the complications and potential layers to this superhero, I just got more and more intrigued. It was also something I was a little bit afraid of. That’s good, too. Any writer should get out of his or her comfort zone, and this was way outside of mine.
I’ll leave it to Wonder Woman’s bigger fans to comment on that, but I’ve complained more than once about the comics using writers in genres they aren’t suited for. For example, Brian Michael Bendis working on Avengers or if I were to write a Batman tale. This isn’t Kelley’s genre and although he found an approach he can work with, that doesn’t mean it’s going to work. I’ve read the vision he’s planning and it doesn’t fly with me. Someone on a forum I read mentioned that parts of this read more like a vision for Power Girl and I might be a bit more comfortable with Kelley working on that, if he can do some decent superhero/supervillain battles. That’s what my harshest judgement on this version of Wonder Woman will be looking at.
So there you have it. An animated series taking some liberties that still looks good and a live-action series that gives me pause for concern. Odd that the changes in Thundercats, the show I have a stronger interest in, actually give me less negative thoughts going into it than Wonder Woman, a show I’m mildly interested in by comparison. Life is funny that way.
Related Articles from the Spotlight
- Snarf silenced
- Thundercats: Cartoon Network’s trailer
- New TV Wonder Woman (or lack thereof)
- Wonder Woman’s new TV costume
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