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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
How many times have I said the Fo X-men movies never cared enough about characters outside of the main four? Well, I'll say it again.
Edited by AyyItsMidnight on Nov 9th 2020 at 12:30:51 PM
Self-serious autistic trans gal who loves rock/metal and animation with all her heart. (she/her)The problem with speedsters in a lot of superhero stories is that writers tend to be pretty quick (no pun intended) to give them all kinds of "required secondary powers" which themselves can be pretty impressive.
For example, they tend to give the superhero super-traction, the ability to ignore momentum, amazing reflexes, the ability think as fast as they can run, etc. Essentially, there's a tendency to combine it with the ability to stop time, among other things.
To use an example of how averting this creates a more "balanced" superhero: Early Sonic games. Sonic can move fast, but getting up to that speed is rather difficult, and moving that fast is potentially dangerous.
Now, admittedly, some of these are genuinely required powers for a speedster, such as invulnerability and reflexes. What I'd probably go with, personally, is the speedster has some of these secondary powers, but only while moving fast, and even then have them lack the ability to necessarily completely ignore momentum and traction.
For example, if the superhero is standing still, and you shoot them, they couldn't dodge it and would get shot. However, if the speedster is already moving towards you at a super-fast speeds, their mind would be moving fast enough to see the bullet and possibly dodge it, or even just take it because their speed-sensitive invulnerability has kicked in. Similarly, if they got hit by a truck while standing still, that'd hurt them. But if they were running super-fast into a truck, that'd destroy the truck and they'd be unharmed.
Admittedly, this concept is probably a little too Sonic-esque (as it's essentially a human cannonball that builds up speed to smash through enemies), but I think it's a good example of what sort of limits one can put on speedsters to make them non-broken.
Leviticus 19:34A superpower like super speed requires consistent writing and direction. Fox Quicksilver was written basically around those set pieces, and in DOFP he just disappears after he does his job. MCU Quicksilver is a little more consistent because he has to be compared to all the other characters he is fighting, but in turn his feats are less impressive (he repeatedly attacks Captain America in super speed, who reacts annoyed and inconvenienced rather than hurt or winded). Specifically it seems that his powers are something he has to activate, he doesn't naturally interact with the world waiting what feels like a hour for someone to complete a sentence.
The most basic superspeed weakness that gets handwaved away is stamina. Writers usually go on the logic that the guy with superspeed also has infinite stamina and can keep up ungodly levels of speed indefinitely. If speedsters just got tired after a while it'd solve a lot of issues.
"All you Fascists bound to lose."Kid Flash in Teen Titans the animation had that issue
He could also zoom around for most of the episode before getting tired though and he was pretty broken as far as speedsters went
The getting tired was mostly to let the plot progress instead of an on going limitation since he doesn’t show up enough for it to factor in much at all
Forever liveblogging the Avengers![]()
Oh yeah he actually did get steadily exhausted throughout the episode.
It was interesting progression since he starts out the episode as effectively a juggernaut but the constantly combat slowly whittles him down to the point he had to smash walls instead of just passing through them.
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."I'd certainly be interested in seeing a character who is not superhumanly fast in a film (say around 10 times faster than a normal human). It would not be too overpowered and allow some scenes possibly cooler than having a blur and a sound effect or the character running around a world in slow motion. And such a character would not need to trip on a stone to be thwarted.
Regarding Flash, I remember an episode of Justice League where he had to stop in the middle of a fight to gorge himself on food. Ironically, that was the episode where he was bodyswapped with Lex Luthor (maybe Flash is better at managing his reserves?).
Edited by C105 on Nov 9th 2020 at 10:34:45 AM
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.Entertainment Weekly has a huge Wandavision article, revealing a lot about production and the like.
The first episode was literally filmed in front of a live studio audience.
So... kind of fitting that this is my first post, given my avatar.
A Doctor Doom series is apparently being considered for Disney+. https://twitter.com/TheComixKid/status/1326320307515187200
Personally, I'm a bit doubtful, but there was a recent report about Marvel Studios finally starting work on the Fantastic Four, and given how much shit is in Doom's backstory a tv show would make sense.
Edited by EmeraldEmperor on Nov 11th 2020 at 6:33:48 AM
Ugh, I was afraid this might happen. Did they have to make him the protagonist of a series?
As if he didn't have enough of a Draco in Leather Pants issue.
Edited by M84 on Nov 11th 2020 at 11:11:34 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised![]()
Most likely scenario is that the series is an origin story, so we're bound to see him commit at least a few horrific atrocities as he rises to power.
Doom as an outright protagonist would be pretty stupid, I agree. The Villain Protagonist and/or Big Bad Slippage route would probably be the best way to go.
Edited by EmeraldEmperor on Nov 11th 2020 at 7:27:52 AM

Also - and I'm a huge fan of The Flash so this is a bit measured - but you can do more in live action with slower superspeed than with hyperfast super speed. It's a power that can contribute more to a scene, allows the characters to fit in with everyone around them better, and has clearer weaknesses that allow it to still be challenged.
It's like how Iron Man doesn't have an atom bomb or anything because that wouldn't be fun.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Nov 9th 2020 at 12:17:41 PM