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Post by lordyam on Jun 15, 2022 16:33:24 GMT -5
This is a reimagining of the thread I've posted on reddit as EmperorYogg. I've decided to try to make some changes for consistencies sake and to shorten things, but the general outline remains the same.
A few primers.
1.) While the conceit is that the show would be MADE today it would be set in the 80s-90s. I thought it was an interesting aesthetic choice and allowed a sort of correction for new earth in the aftermath of the Crisis (though with the minor conceit that there are 52 universes that survive, which is still a step down from the infinite number that existed beforehand.
2.) The effects of the show carry over; this isn't like the comics where some world shattering event happens and than things just go back to normal, oh no. There's going to be a REAL genuine set of consequences.
3.) It's kinda like the MCU and DCU in that there are phases. Phase 1 would cover the early years (1986-1990) and Phase 2 would cover the middle years (1991-1995) and Phase 3 would cover 1996-1999
Phase 1 is going to cover Superman Batman and Wonder Woman.
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Post by lordyam on Jun 15, 2022 18:14:18 GMT -5
Part 1: Superman
First off is the pilot
Pilot: This borrows mostly from the DCAU special Last Son of Krypton. Brainiac is similar in that he was a computer system who prioritized saving his own selfish rear over saving the people of Krypton). Jor El was able to narrowly save his son Kal-El, sending him to Earth (we learn he had visited earth once before and realized that they had the potential for both great nobility and great cruelty). Clark arrives on Earth and is raised by the Kents; he learns his origins, goes to university and travels the world before returning to Metropolis. He makes his great debut stopping a plane from crashing (the plane crash was caused by a bomb) and defeats the terrorists who set the bomb (led by one John Corben).
Season 1 (July 1986-June 1987): This is an introductory season of Superman learning the ropes and continuing to earn people's trust. Clark also starts making splashes as a journalist when he saves an innocent man from being executed. However this does earn Clark some enemies (turns out that the actual killer was the son of a city councilman, and the DA willingly went along with the coverup both because he felt that the killer was a "good boy who made a mistake" and felt that the guy they were framing was just a "worthless ****er"). One of the more established reporters in the Planet (I'm borrowing from another guy Hsvuede and making it Fredrick Forsyth) is also angry at Clark because he majorly pushed the original story and now he looks like a foolish bigot. Luthor operates more in the shadows and Lois ultimately figures the truth out before the end of the season (we see her develop a grudging respect for Clark as the season progresses and since she's not a dummy she figures things out quickly.)
Season 2 (September 1987-May 1988): Starts out fairly episodic (Lobo and Maxima show up) but there are hints at an expedition in the arctic that uncovers an ancient Kryptonian warship. About halfway through the season a projector to the Phantom Zone is activated, freeing Zod and his cronies. However there is a twist. This is NOT the Zod that Jor El was friends with, but rather a different Zod. His ANCESTOR. See, in this version the Kryptonians started out as conquerers centuries before. They conquered many worlds, fending off even the Green Lanterns, and even had Earth in their sights at one point. However, the ship they sent to earth crashed in the antarctic and Darkseid launched an invasion before they could follow up. Darkseid conquered them and inflicted the same cruelties that they'd inflicted on others. The Kryptonians were forced to fight alongside their former subjects and the years they spent doing so (not to mention being forced to see the similarities with what Darkseid had done and their own expansionist ways) caused them to gain perspective and thus decide to actually honor the agreement they made.
General Zod however REALLY didn't like this, and tried to stage a coup to keep the old ways intact. The plan was thwarted by Superman's ancestor Kal El I, and Zod is determined to get revenge on the House of El while also recreating Krypton on earth. He tries to use the terraforming technology on the warship to do so, forcing Superman to face him. Ultimately, Superman is forced to kill Zod in the heat of battle and the footage (combined with the other footage) makes a lot of people deeply uncertain. Clark also feels guilty about everything and realizes he needs to leave and clear his head.
Season 3 (June 1988-March 1989): Superman IN SPACE!!!!!! Clark has a pilgrimage to Krypton's system, where he finds his cousin Kara trapped in cryostasis on Argo; he then tries to come to terms with what happened. THEN we get the the War World Arc; Superman gets captured by Mongul and thrown into the Gladiatorial rings, with Kara trying to bust him out. The doctor of the gladiators is a telepath who has history with Kryptonians; he's somewhat distrustful but is surprised by Clark's merciful nature. He shares a mind meld with Clark, and ultimately helps him realize that he needs to come to terms with both his guilt and the fact that he made the selfish decision by running.) The midseason finale climaxes in a duel with Mongul; Superman holds his own well enough that Mongul resorts to outright cheating to overpower him (the crowd is FURIOUS at this); Mongul is about to kill him (while giving a mad rant about how honor is worthless) when Draaga (a gladiator Superman beat and spared, which offended Draaga's sense of honor) intervenes. He doesn't LIKE Superman but he respects his skill enough to believe that he deserves to die in fair combat (and also realizes that Superman at least HAS a moral code and sense of honor even if they differ from Draaga's whereas Mongul's just a scumbag). This gives Superman the chance to overpower Mongul, who he pounds into submission. Mongul tries to goad Superman into finishing the job, and Superman is tempted because of just how VILE Mongul is.....but ultimately he chooses mercy and spares his life. Mongul's ministers, seeing which way the wind is blowing, throw their support behind Superman (and when Superman recommends Draaga be king instead they gravitate to him.) Superman and Kara decide to head back to earth.
The second half is the journey home. Superman meets Aeon and Word Bringer (persuading him to at the very least give people the option of whether or not they want to assimilate into his hive mind) and also encounters Brainiac for the first time when he tries to save a world (meeting the Green Lantern Corps). Superman is unable to stop Brainiac from destroying the world but he is able to hold things off enough for some of the population to escape the destruction. He manages to then return to earth, and the people have largely gotten over what happened and realized they were overly harsh. Brainiac however is now interested in Earth and the lost son of El.
Season 4 (March 1989-November 1989): This is the final season. Superman returns but Brainiac is now interested in earth and so he decides on a more....stealthy approach dispatching Brainiac 8. There are TWO personalities (one is the genuinely lovable and innocent Indigo, and the other is the monstrous Brainiac 8). The plan is that Indigo will earn Clark's trust and than betray him, leaving the world open for Brainiac's invasion. However, things go wrong when a survivor of one of Brainiac 8's missions makes his way to earth and reveals the surprise. Brainiac 8, realizing her cover is blown tries to kill Superman, who has the moral quandary of potentially destroying the innocent Indigo (Brainiac 8 reveals the deception both to revel in her own cleverness and to make Superman hold back). Fortunately Superman is instead able to inspire Indigo to fight from within and in an intense mental duel Indigo is able to defeat the murderous Brainiac 8 personality, with Brainiac 8 howling in rage as they're permanently deleted.
Brainiac however is furious, seeing Brainiac 8 as his property (and how DARE Clark take away his property.) So he decides "screw subtlety" and decides to just pulverize Earth and make Superman watch his world die screaming. Brainiac 5 (one of Brainiac's other Praetorian generals) goes rogue at this point and sabotages things to give Clark time to prepare, while also warning him. Due to vague memories of finding Brainiac 5 familiar he decides to hear him out (basically in the past Superman as a teen met the Legion of Superheroes. Brainiac 5 cryptically mentioned to Clark that they WILL meet in the future, and that Clark gave him a chance no one else would. Clark remembers the encounter and decides to trust him.) This forces Superman to gather both his allies AND his enemies to prepare against Brainiac (he also calls in favors from aliens he helped back in Season 3, as well as Maxima and Lobo); even the younger version of the legion of superheroes show up and decide to help (it's a stable time loop). By pooling resources with Brainiac's original blueprints (which was among the codex Jor El sent with Kal) and the remnants of the Neural network in Indigo and Brainiac 5 they're able to come up with a plan. Using a virus that they created they plan to upload it to Brainiac's core (which is located on his skull ship) and use it to shut down his army. They manage to complete it just as Brainiac arrives...but the bad news is they have to infiltrate his skull ship and directly upload the virus that way.
This leads into the big badass finale as Brainiac's army attacks the planet, inflicting damage all over the earth (which does play into later stories.) The allies Superman calls in get a big damn heroes moment showing up and helping to stem the tide (battling Brainiac's armada and soldiers), but it's very touch and go. However, ultimately the virus is uploaded (in a form of karmic justice it's one of the survivors of Brainiac's purges who does the deed) and Brainiac 5 is able to save the knowledge Brainiac accumulated. Brainiac's army shuts down and Brainiac dies in the same fear and anguish as the countless civilizations he's slaughtered.
The Good Guys have won but there is a heavy cost and the world will never be the same again.
Season 5 (First 6 months of 1990): This is the final season; Luthor takes center stage at long last. He's trying to use his role in helping to stop Brainiac and Zod to propel himself to even greater heights. However at this point a journalist named Peter Sands starts digging into Luthor's past, and he uncovers a lot of secrets. He contacts Superman, and while he gets murdered he was able to give Superman a copy of what he found before this happens. Clark and Lois are able to build on this, and while Luthor tries to silence them and the planet they keep at it and are able to finally expose his crimes (notably the murder of his father). Luthor undergoes a villainous breakdown and facing arrest, dons his power armor and goes after Superman. If he's going down, Superman's going down with him. Things get dicey but Superman is able to overpower Lex. Superman takes Lex to the cops, and Luthor is finally arrested for all the crimes he's committed over the years.
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Post by lordyam on Jun 16, 2022 0:52:49 GMT -5
Okay and here's Batman in Part 2
Pilot (1986): This is different in that it's more of a standard detective story. We see Bruce near the end of his journey (albeit with some flashbacks to his youth; the death of his parents, the fact that his father instilled values such as cherishing life, or Alfred teaching him the difference between killing in self defense and killing for murder.) Bruce's mentor is Harvey Harris, who is helping Bruce learn detective skills. They work together to solve the mystery, but poor Harvey ends up dead at the end of it all. He advises Bruce that he needs to control his anger.
Season 1 (1987): This is basically a season long retelling of Year 1, albeit expanded. Bruce meets Jim Gordan and works to try to make a difference (albeit stumbling along the way). We see Bruce become better over the course of the season; it ends with Gillian Loeb (the corrupt Commissioner) and Branden (the violent head of the SWAT team) arrested and the SWAT team purged.
Season 2(1988): This covers the second year of Batman's tenure. Robin is recruited when his parents are killed by one of Falcone's mid level thugs. Bruce teaches Robin how to channel his anger constructively, and also begins training the boy, who he adopts. This leads to the arrest of Tony Zucco (Falcone does NOT intercede to protect him because he considers what Zucco did stupid and reckless). We also get the Joker's origin (we see the chemical plant incident and he comes out laughing from the storm pipe).We also see our first encounters with the Masked Criminals (though they're still a trickle at this point.
Harvey Bullock meanwhile starts out as a corrupt cop designed to keep Gordon in line, but starts to slowly come around to believing that maybe they do have a chance at cleaning up the city (Harvey was once idealistic but was broken by the sheer amount of corruption). Harvey becomes Gordon's man, helping to feed the mob false info so that Batman Dent Gordon Alliance can move more freely; this ultimately helps them remove the judges on the mob's payroll, sending the mob into a panic. This causes most of them to pool resources and hire assassins in a last ditch effort to take out Gordon, Batman, and the untouchables (Falcone stays out of it because he realizes it's not going to end well).
Several things happen: 1.) One of the assassins is Lady Shiva, who's assigned to test Bruce Wayne. She's satisfied, but hints that Bruce may hear from her master. 2.) Harvey and his fiancé Glinda are attacked in their apartment by Firefly. Batman and Robin are able to save Harvey, but he's badly burned and Glinda perishes in the blaze.
Ultimately the assassin blitz backfires on the Mob, giving conclusive evidence to finally put most of them away. Falcone however remains relatively free because he realized it was a bad idea. Harvey (Who's been slowly showing a bit of a dark side) outright snaps due to the trauma that he's endured.
Season 3: (1989): This continues the rise of the Costumed criminals, but in the shadows Harvey Dent is slowly working to gather his own followers (some of the costumed rogues escape at the end of their episode and Harvey recruits them; one of these is the Joker trying to poison Gotham Reservoir.) Heart of Ice also plays out but it's Freeze's only appearance (Batman reveals his identity to Freeze to show he will take care of Nora). Harvey ultimately gathers his forces and carries out a vicious Godfather Style Massacre on the remaining mob bosses (personally killing Falcone with a headshot). Unfortunately the Joker double crosses him to put his OWN evil plan into motion. Batman is narrowly able to stop the Joker with Two Face's Assistance and he gets sent to Arkham for treatment.
Season 4: (Ends August of 1990): More of the Gotham masked rogues, but we also get more hints of Ra's Al Ghul (Bruce meets Talia as Bruce Wayne and they hit it off, but Dick finds himself somewhat suspicious of her.) At the same time one of Ra's minions Dr. Darhk (seemingly) goes rogue and tries to enact his own plan. Ultimately Bruce and Talia are forced to work together to stop Darrk from destroying Gotham. The final scene sees Talia communicating with her father, with Ra's saying that the events prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bruce is worthy.
Season 5: (Starts one month after the end of Season 4, lasts for about 4-5 months): This is the Ra's Al Ghul season.
Act 1: We learn that Dick and Talia have seemingly been kidnapped and Ra's approaches Bruce, saying they must work together to find them. It's basically the plot of issue 232, but stretched out somewhat, largely because I want to give Ra's the opportunity to explain his backstory (somewhat) and motivations to Bruce, trying to tempt him. He's charming, affable, and you can see Bruce is somewhat considering. Eventually however they arrive where Talia and Dick are; Bruce reveals he figured out Ra's involvement from the word go, and ultimately rejects the offer. Ra's is angry at the rejection, but like in the Demon's Quest they have to take him to the Lazarus Pit. Ra's nearly kills Talia in a fit of pit induced insanity, but Batman stops him. Bruce still rejects the offer and Ra's (realizing that Bruce saved Talia's life) lets them go just this once (basically his way of saying "we're even"). However, he warns them that they will be at war.
An interesting thing about Ra's is that we find out that the Lazarus effect is starting to run out. He needs to be bathed in it more and more frequently, and he has bouts of madness when he's revived, which are far more intense than before.
Act 2: Ra's focuses his efforts on destroying Bruce financially, partially to punish him but also because he needs to keep Bruce from investigating him and figuring out his endgame. To this end one of his minions Gregorian Falstaff attacks Bruce Wayne's company; Bruce is able to fend off the assault, though it is very touch and go, before going on the offensive.
Act 3: Bruce goes on the offensive, at one point heading to Switzerland. Selina happens to be hiding in Switzerland after the Season 3 finale and she agrees to work with Bruce to stop Ra's evil plan.
This all culminates in a final battle on Infinity Island, Ra's headquarters; Ra's has a plan similar to the one in the Animated Series episode the Demons Quest. Talia secretly helps Bruce stop her father, because she realizes that he's gone way too far in his methods, and we get an epic sword fight between Bruce and Ra's al Ghul. Ra's plan is thwarted and Ra's ultimately lets himself perish (at this point the pits are working less and less frequently and he knows the next time he goes in he'll loose more of himself.)
Talia escapes at this point, explaining that she still believes in her father's ideas even if she thinks he went off the deep end. She and Bruce part as amicably as they can under the circumstances, and Bruce returns to Gotham with Selina.
We get a scene of Talia in a Shadows base, with baby Damian being grown in an artificial womb, and Talia promising that he will rule the world one day.
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Post by lordyam on Jun 16, 2022 0:58:35 GMT -5
Pilot: Taking a page out of I Claudius it would focus more on Hipployta in ancient times. The whole Heracles plays out differently (since even in the original myths he was NOT a rapist). Rather they initially hit it off, but one of Heracles's men drunkenly tries to force himself on an Amazon and gets shanked for it. Heracles (while not being a rapist is rather sexist) can't believe the accusation and so has his men launch an attack which kills a lot of Amazons. The Amazons are divided into those who want to follow the God's instructions and forgive and those who want to take bloody revenge. We see time pass, and Steve Trevor's mom Diana crashes on Themyscira, dying when she helps stop Cottus from escaping. The pilot ends with Diana being created from clay.
Season 1 (February-May 1987): This would largely adapt issues 1-14 with a few changes. The first half is Ares' plan to initiate WWIII and assert his supremacy over the gods. Diana goes to man's world to stop him after winning a tournament. This results in her meeting Julia Kapetelis and her daughter Vanessa, as well as Steve Trevor and his friend Michaelis (Etta Candy also shows up.) They stop Ares' plan when Diana binds him with her lasso, showing him what will happen if his plans succeed (namely that humanity will die and Ares too will perish from lack of worshippers). This makes Ares abort the plan. Phobos escapes vowing revenge.
The second half covers Issues 8-14; this includes Diana's first encounter with Barbara Minerva aka the Cheetah. However one of Circe's bestiomorphs (having impersonated Pan) manipulates Zeus into ordaining the Trial of the Gods. We find that Heracles was turned into a living statue and cursed with holding up Themyscira as punishment for his crime years ago, and Hippolyta and Heracles are bound together with the lasso. This allows them to both feel the other's pain, and Heracles (having finally realized the full extent of what he's done and the pain he caused) is finally freed. Diana is able to stop the demonic energy from escaping, giving it to Ares. The Bestiomorph is defeated (though hints at far worse to come). Hippolyta and Heracles also make peace, and Heracles manages to earn the Amazon's forgiveness by showing genuine remorse for his actions.
Season 2 (September 1987-May 1988): The first half of the season is about how a lot of people don't quite know what to make of Diana; many social conservatives hate her because she directly calls social conservatism evil and they see her as promoting "pagan" ideals. Dr. Psycho makes his first appearance, as do a few other recurring baddies. Diana also goes on a tour to Greece, which results in her first encounter with Circe. Diana ultimately rallies Circe's abused subjects into helping them overthrow the Witch (Circe confirms that she was responsible for the whole trial of the gods thing, and also references how she murdered Antiope years ago, which comes into play in Season 3. Circe has plans involving the Goddess Hecate, and she's forseen that Diana will be a threat to her plans.) Circe's son Telegonus is killed in the battle, which just makes Circe even more bitter and angry. Hermes tries to "help" Wonder Woman (though it's clearly his ego), which results in tragedy when Phobos makes his play for revenge, unleashing Ixion on the world. Ixion is killed and Phobos is imprisoned for his crimes, but Boston is in ruins. Hermes meanwhile is punished for causing this tragedy by being stripped of his godlike powers and forced to live as a mortal until such time as he can learn humility.
Season 3 (June 1988-December 1988)
The first half covers the aftermath of Ixion's rampage; Donna Troy is introduced as a 12 year old girl who lost her entire family when Ixion went on his rampage. Since she has no real family, Diana adopts her and takes her to Themyscira. This however causes Vanessa to start to feel somewhat jealous. Hermes also tries to live as a mortal and learn humility. One of the recurring antagonists who appears is a woman who blames Wonder Woman and Hermes for the death of her son (who died in Ixion's attack.)
The second half of the season is the Bana Migdhall arc, which covers Issues 27-35 (we also get the return of the Cheetah). The Bana Migdhall are the Amazons who broke off from Themyscira because they couldn't forgive. Things temporarily mended with Antiope marrying Theseus but than Antiope was murdered; Pythia ended up getting executed for the crime because she was supposedly seen fleeing. Diana reveals what Circe told her back in Season 2 and suggests that maybe Circe's bestiomorphs were the ones who committed the crime and framed Pythia. Things ultimately culminate in the Egyptian military trying to destroy the city; Hermes demonstrates true selflessness by trying to help Diana, which causes the Gods to give him back his divine powers. This in turn allows him to use his godly abilities to stop the strike and save everyone. These actions encourage the Bana Mighdall to open talks with their Themysciran sisters. Diana also decides that the time has come to fully have Themyscira reveal itself to the outside world.
Circe meanwhile approaches Sebastian Ballesteros, telling him that she can help him get more power beyond his wildest dreams.
Season 4 (March 1989-December 1989): There are two overarching plots; Diana is both trying to assimilate the Bana Mighdall and open Themyscira to the outside world. Opening an embassy, setting up a cultural exchange, making more public appearances. Circe tries to interfere with these but Diana overcomes her and is able to use the Lasso on her, forcing her to admit that she was the one who caused the deaths of both Antiope and Pythia all those years ago as her way of screwing over the Amazon's mission and breeding chaos. This ultimately helps mend the rift between the two Amazon tribes (though of course there's also a lot of anger).
However, as all of this is going on, Vanessa is starting to feel more and more isolated. She's largely gotten over the whole Donna thing, but Diana spending more and more time means they can't hang out as much. She also suffers a great deal of personal tragedies (add in that she's being bullied) and while she cares for Diana she's also deeply jealous. Sebastian Ballesteros (on Circe's orders) befriends her and seduces her (Which is shown to be VERY creepy and disgusting), slowly turning her against Wonder Woman. The season ends with Vanessa's abduction; Circe is revealed to have made an alliance with Doctor Psycho and Sebastian Ballesteros, and they both break Vanessa down and turn her into the Silver Swan.
Season 5 (January 1990 - June 1990): Circe puts her master plan into action. Circe has spent millennia trying to reassemble the Goddess Hecate and lay waste to Man's world for all the indignities it's inflicted upon her. Now she's on the verge of succeeding. The entire plot is basically Circe trying to carry out her evil plan; as part of her plan to keep Diana from interfering (and to twist the knife in) Circe engineers events for Vanessa to become the Silver Swan. It takes a LOT for them to break through the brainwashing, but they do succeed. For karmic bonus when she does break through she obliterates Sebastian. Circe attempts to put her plan into action and even temporarily succeeds in killing Wonder Woman by reverting her to clay. However, Diana is able to come back and in the final battle Circe is defeated and ultimately destroyed for good.
The heroes win but it's at great cost. Vanessa is taken into custody and put in an asylum for therapy.
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