DC Heroes United: Episode 2 Analysis

When I did my review of the first episode and the game attached to it, and the official interview with the showrunners, I thought they were just going to post the episode and then have the voting on the app. I was going to wait for the series or season or whatever they’re doing to end and maybe do a Saturday Night Showcase special once Christmas was over. Then I watched episode two, “Friend Or Foe” part 1, which released on YouTube and Tubi on Friday. I hadn’t counted on them actually showing the divergent paths after the episode. I was hoping for a deleted scene special or something, but I didn’t expect it would be after the episode.

I still don’t want to play the game, so as not to be disappointed later when my vote doesn’t go through, but I thought “well, if we’re going to see the roads not taken, why not review those roads versus what ultimately won, to see if the decisions made were in line with the reasons I was a DC fan for so long. In a sense this is the fans deciding what the DC heroes and villains should be, and DC Comics should be paying attention. I doubt they will be and the writers will continuing killing my favorite superhero universe, but that’s why I’m breaking out the analysis the first time I get a chance. If they all come out on Friday, based on my schedule that will be on Tuesday.

I don’t know why episode 2 is called a “part 1”. I thought this was an ongoing storyline, not an episodic one. For those of you just joining us, DC Heroes United is a combo TV series and game by some of the people who worked on the Batman series for Telltale before its premature collapse. Dr. Fate’s tower has suddenly dropped into the middle of Gotham City. This not only brings out ARGUS and Amanda Waller’s team, which in this continuity is a race-swapped Steve Trevor, Cyborg, and Wonder Woman, while having a bit of a rivalry with race-swapped Lex Luthor. This is the only character I’ll keep bringing up the race swap for because calling him Black Lex amuses me for reasons I believe I mentioned in the review of episode one. There’s also race-swapped Alfred, and I don’t know if he’s joined Marvel’s Jarvis in being replaced by an AI or just using a hologram cellphone. Batman also deals with Black Canary, who they surprisingly left white but gave her a punk rock hairdo (minus the hair color so at least she’s still blonde and the jacket might grown on me), who he doesn’t want to get along with because 2020s Batman. Look, it’s a cartoon. They have no reason beyond art style to not get this right. We have Cyborg and Amanda Waller, with Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes teased in the intro, though he’s not here yet. It’s not like the cast wasn’t going to be diverse. Actually, given Hollywood mentalities I’m surprised Black Canary isn’t black because it’s in the name. They done that before, right Jet Black of live-action Cowboy BeBop?

Just say no to stereotypes, kids. Black Lex being rich and potentially a good guy based on choices is already a shocker for modern Hollywood. Figured Black Lex would be in the ghetto trying to become a celebrity or push drugs as the only way out of the hood. Or he’d be rich, but just as evil as we usually expect the businessman version of Lex Luthor to act. That’s how modern writers write, and somehow they’re not the bad people.

Episode 2 continues where the first episode left off. Batman and Black Canary are going after Bane because they think he holds a clue to what’s going on (plus Black Canary has an unexplained score to settle with Bane) while Superman decided to best solution was to punch the tower and he may or may not be possessed by something from the tower that hit him. Now Wonder Woman needs to deal with him as we go into “Friend Or Foe” part 2, which I will post first to ensure we’re all on the same page.

The animation feels a bit stiff, especially on Superman. Not enough to be a deal breaker but between this and Batman: Caped Crusader I have to wonder if all this time of not doing animated superheroes for older kids is lost or forgotten by today’s animators. Then need a refresher course. The fights are cool but they could have been amazing. It’s also not really clear if Superman is under the control of someone/something or not. He’s pretty calm before attacking Wonder Woman for otherwise no reason. This is Superman. Talking it out should be welcome for him. Also nice of Clark to walk over to Diana in ARGUS base for the visual dramatic effect when she’s singing the organization’s praises. (Are they trying to make her sound like Gal Gadot?) It’s the only reason he walks over there, and where I really noticed how stiff he is just to show his chest puffed out. Bane also moves funny, like they motion captured a puppet. At least the voice acting is really good and the character models I only have minor personal quibbles with artistically, like Superman’s cape around his neck the way it is. (I like the belt, though.)

Superman showing he could have broken out any time he wanted without saying it also adds to the reassurance. He’s here peacefully, and Diana is the only person who has a chance of standing up to him. Steve certainly isn’t and Cyborg doesn’t seem like much of a fighter. We don’t know the limits of Black Lex’s exosuit (a nod to the Super Powers armor from wore in that toyline instead of his usual mad scientist outfit of the pre-Crisis DC years) but he only shows up later. Also curious is why Black Lex, who is at least better at appearing to be a decent guy than usual (even when he’s on the Justice League, Lex is Lex), doesn’t accept Cyborg as a potential member. Having a former ARGUS member with Victor’s level of high tech knowledge (when he become a tech genius anyway?) would be a benefit to Lexcorp I would think. It’s why he grabbed this version of Barbara Minerva, and I can guess how she becomes Cheetah in this reality, if the choices go that way.

Apparently Batman has history with both Wonder Woman and Doctor Fate. Bane is closer to his Nolan depiction rather than the guy who wanted to rule Gotham’s criminal underworld and take what he sees as Batman’s control of Gotham City. It works for whoever has taken over Fate Tower to manipulate him and it isn’t a terrible idea. It gives him something different from the usual mobsters or current takes on The Penguin, especially the Matt Reeves version with Colin Farrell from what I hear of it. Although Bane does talk a lot before passing out.

That’s the critique, let’s go for the analysis. In essence there are two storylines going on, though I expect them to combine as Batman is going to talk to Black Lex. The other is Superman and everyone at ARGUS versus Black Lex’s offer. The divergents between the chosen and unchosen paths are minor at this point and are marked by the question asked in the app. I am curious how that works. Do they get the episode up to the choice or are they waiting like the rest of us, and just answer the questions based on the previous episode? The events still happen as in the main story, but we can look at the responses chosen by the players and analyze how the alternate choices would have affected their relationships going forward. For this episode, let’s look at the two stories individually, starting with…

How will Wonder Woman combat rogue Superman?

• Get him on her side: The winning answer and the one that most matches Wonder Woman. Or at least the Wonder Woman I grew up with versus “Lady Kratos”. The ambassador of truth and beauty would choose the least violent path as soon as it opens up to her. It’s the right choice and the one most likely to win him over to ARGUS’ side. We see he’s more open to listening to Waller’s proposition, as this Waller (at least for now on the surface) seems willing to work with metahumans, superhumans, and people who understand magic. So far I like this Waller better than anyone outside of the original Super Hero Girls series. I’m glad they chose this path not only because it’s the best one, but how Diana would respond if written properly. I miss Diana written properly. Wrapping Superman in the lasso to reassure the agents is also the right move even if it exists just to keep the part where he slips out of them in each potential version of the scene, which is Superman’s act of reassurance.
• Contain him: There is a certain logic to this plan. This is Superman’s first day in the spotlight beyond being a “blur” (Smallville nod?) It would allow Diana to be a bit more badass without going full “girlboss”, but it would weaken Superman’s trust, especially the “study” part leading to the “specimen” lines. It’s possible Clark already thinks scientists would love to dissect the alien to see how he ticks and his powers work since he’d be just an alien to them, at least in his mind. This might even make him more willing to accept Lex’s offer, though Diana and Waller do try to calm him. I wonder how this would have affected their later conversation about how Diana recruited him, though.
• Take him out: Certainly what a modern DC writer would have chosen despite being the least “Diana” of the options. Again she gets to show off in taking down Superman, but that leads to him having even less trust. He’ll team with them because he has to, but don’t expect him to sign up. This would be the most likely to lead him to accept Black Lex’s offer unless he wonders if even he is trustworthy. Rookie Superman is still a bit confused about his place in all this. He hasn’t even told his girlfriend Lois that he has powers, and now he’s in the public, with the unsuspecting Lois calling him Superman and everyone going along with it. This would have been the worst option for a story that expects the heroes to unite by the final episode enough to make it the title.

How will Batman react to Canary’s plan to capture Bane?

Did Canary have a plan besides showing up and beating goons up?

• Go in first and lead the way: Was it the best way to earn Dinah’s respect? No, but it’s certainly in line with Batman at this point in the story. The fact that he let her in at all is already kind of amazing. The players at least realized Batman needs help, and maybe Alfred’s telling Bruce that would sink in. He may be realizing how big this is, and like Waller has opted to accept help. Plus we didn’t need the options to tell us she’d go in anyway. In the end he does show her respect, showing that he’s growing as a hero, at least for this case. Canary may not think much of it, but Batman trusting her to have his back and being able to be part of “his” war on crime is still a step forward for him.
• Let Black Canary take the lead: This is the one that would have made Black Canary the happiest, and make her connect more with Batman, but like I said before that wouldn’t feel right for this version of Batman at this point in the story. It did allow Dinah to show off, like the second and third options would with Diana, but she ends up injured. Maybe she gains a bit of wisdom in realizing her impetuous move wasn’t the best strategy. Notice also the subtle position change when Canary and Batman double-team Bane. When Batman is in the lead in the other two, he is on the left, while in this one Canary is on the left, a power position for those of us used to looking left to right.
• Do the whole mission solo: It’s like they saved the worst options for last, and I’m glad the players didn’t take the bait, at least overall. I’m sure plenty of modern Bat-Fans chose this, joining DC’s current point of view that Batman is a loner despite having a whole family around him and being part of the Justice League and occasionally other groups like the Outsiders in previous continuities. It also could have gotten him killed if Black Canary didn’t show up to save him, and just got her to respect him even less for his ego driven stupidity.

As to what piece of equipment players should choose in the EveryHero Project game, may I recommend the necklace if you haven’t voted yet? We’re dealing with magic and unless our mysterious woman is using magic boots, that necklace could even be the “fatebreaker” Bane was planning to steal from Black Lex. At the very least it has the most potential to be useful given the situation.

And so we end episode two part 1 verse 3 chapter 11…seriously, isn’t this an ongoing storyline? Why the part 1? Wouldn’t episode 2 be part one? Anyway, stay tuned for episode three part two or episode two part two or however they’re doing this, and you can find the app in the Google and Apple stores if you want to play along or just watch the episodes on YouTube and Tubi. Then return here for the analysis…and the episode. Your choice, really, and that’s what the game is about.