Disappointing Garbage
These first 3 episodes have been a slog- This show is premiering on Adult Swim but I can't for the life of me understand who the audience is supposed to be (small children?) or why this show exists - It's disappointing because the animation production values are generally seem pretty good but the writing and voice casting are garbage.
Jack Quaid unfortunately doesn't have the gravitas to voice the titular character, they ought to rename this show to My Adventures with Superboy (in my opinion that casting was the single worst decision of the production and one that might be unrecoverable unless recast) Quaid is perhaps too well known for his role in Amazon hit (The Boys) and typecast as too boyish.
That might not be such a deal breaker perhaps if there weren't already so many much better iconic animated performances out there from especially George Newbern (JL/JLU), and Tim Daly (Superman TAS).
As for the writing so far, it reads like a low stakes buddy comedy (more for small children) which is why it's perplexing this is premiering on Adult Swim and HBO, and the early reviews seem unusually high relative to Justice League (which was a great show), especially given how thin these first 3 episodes have been- so where have those rating come from I do not know.
As for the vague origin story (hinted at?) in episodes 2-3 it's a slight departure from the well trodden Fortress of Solitude and Jor-El speaking plainly (which may come together to work better in later episodes) but in my opinion so far it's a needless detour for some sort of vague conspiracy sort of plot.
Instead we're given a young adult Clark Kent/Superman, already graduated, and freshly arrived in Metropolis, who has somehow managed to go his whole Teenage life without a Smallville backstory to discover his powers - it's not a great place to start this story, doesn't make much sense (to anyone who's got any familiarity with these characters), and a man-child Superman who doesn't even have a grasp on his own powers or identity already getting this close to the primary love interest is downright cringey.
Jack Quaid unfortunately doesn't have the gravitas to voice the titular character, they ought to rename this show to My Adventures with Superboy (in my opinion that casting was the single worst decision of the production and one that might be unrecoverable unless recast) Quaid is perhaps too well known for his role in Amazon hit (The Boys) and typecast as too boyish.
That might not be such a deal breaker perhaps if there weren't already so many much better iconic animated performances out there from especially George Newbern (JL/JLU), and Tim Daly (Superman TAS).
As for the writing so far, it reads like a low stakes buddy comedy (more for small children) which is why it's perplexing this is premiering on Adult Swim and HBO, and the early reviews seem unusually high relative to Justice League (which was a great show), especially given how thin these first 3 episodes have been- so where have those rating come from I do not know.
As for the vague origin story (hinted at?) in episodes 2-3 it's a slight departure from the well trodden Fortress of Solitude and Jor-El speaking plainly (which may come together to work better in later episodes) but in my opinion so far it's a needless detour for some sort of vague conspiracy sort of plot.
Instead we're given a young adult Clark Kent/Superman, already graduated, and freshly arrived in Metropolis, who has somehow managed to go his whole Teenage life without a Smallville backstory to discover his powers - it's not a great place to start this story, doesn't make much sense (to anyone who's got any familiarity with these characters), and a man-child Superman who doesn't even have a grasp on his own powers or identity already getting this close to the primary love interest is downright cringey.
- Chris1229
- Jul 18, 2023