As superheroes continue to dominate pop culture, the more we will see them. Superheroes and properties based off comics have been really doing it big on the big screen, and slowly but surely, they have come to dominate the small screen. Let’s face it, TV shows are very similar to comic books. They give us our origin story in the beginning, and then continue to build on each episode, the same way a comic book builds issue after issue for the various characters. This year, we have had shows like The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Daredevil, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Gotham, Legends of Tomorrow, Luke Cage, and many more.
2016 has had a plethora of great comic book moments on the small screen. Here at PDC, we took a look at the best moments of comic books on TV shows and here they are.
Luke Cage: The Hallway Fight
Luke Cage, has been a very interesting TV show. It seemed to come at the right time as we are in a Black Lives Matter area, and what many watching the evening news saw time after time again was young black men being shot all the time. It’s depressing. It’s almost poetic that a show about a super strong bulletproof black man in a hoodie coming to save the day was just the cathartic thing many needed. Sweet Christmas, does Mike Colter kick ass while he does it. One of the best scenes was when Luke went into Cottonmouth’s hideout to enact some nonlethal street justice after the killing of Pop by one of his goons. Set to Wu-Tang Clan’s “Bring da Ruckus,” Luke Cage does exactly that. Take a look at the two clips below showing Luke cleaning up house.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Ghost Rider’s Origin Story
This season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been fantastic. With the introduction of Robbie Reyes, AKA Ghost Rider, the show veered away from its Inhuman storylines and veered into the supernatural side of Marvel, just in time to coincide with Doctor Strange. The season introduced us a different Ghost Rider that what many comic fans are familiar with. Instead of Johnny Blaze, the stunt motorcyclist who made a deal with the devil to be the Spirit of Vengeance, the show has the newer Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes with his Hell Charger. In the episode, “The Good Samaritan,” we learned Robbie origin story, which featured a cameo from Johnny Blaze giving him his supernatural powers.
Legends of Tomorrow: Heroes vs Dominators Fight
While for some, the CW’s 4 (really 3) night crossover event “Invasion!” was not as great as they expected it to be, that wasn’t the case for me. Each episode remained focused on the individual arcs going on each separate show while still moving the Dominators invasion plotline forward. The final night of Legends of Tomorrow ended with all the heroes teaming up together to take on the Dominators with an awesome “superhero fight” reminiscent of The Avengers in which the team takes on and defeats the alien invaders.
The Walking Dead: Negan Kills Our Heroes
When Negan arrived at the season finale of The Walking Dead, fans knew it was going to be trouble. They had spent a great deal of time hyping the character up and when The Saviors finally caught Rick and the rest of the Alexandrians, we knew it was going to hit the fan. Not only did Jeffrey Freakin Dean Morgan come out as the beloved/hated comic book villain, but he made quite an impression, giving a more than 8-minute monolog to the heroes. However, when we didn’t see who he killed in the season finale, many fans were pissed. We had to wait until the show came back in the fall to see who the unlucky recipient would be…. it was worth the wait! In the aftermath of his “eenie meenie miney mo” we finally found out that he not only killed Abraham, but after Daryl’s sneak attack, he kills Glen. It was shocking, saddening, and terrible. Not since the Red Wedding on Game of Thrones have beloved characters just ripped away from us in a gruesome manner.
NSFW (Duh)
Stranger Things: Eleven vs The Demogorgon
OK, this is a bit of a cheat. Stranger Things isn’t based on a comic book. Heck, it isn’t based off of anything. It’s just an awesome show. Eleven, the mysterious telekinetic child is pretty much a superhero and would fit right in at Xavier’s School For Gifted Students based on her powers and her general badassery. Throughout the series, we continued to unlock the mystery surrounding her, the Upside Down, and the Demogorgon. In the season finale “The Upside Down,” there’s the final face off against the feared monster. As the Demogorgon is stalking down the boys (fearless as they are, they don’t stand a chance) and in her weakened state, she still faces off against the monster and uses all her powers to take on the monster and defeat it sacrificing herself (but we know she’ll be back).
