Tag Archives: Deathstroke

Batman: Arkham Origins – Who are the 8 Mystery Assassins?

May 22, 2013 Stephen Sanchez Leave a comment

So I don’t know if it’s bothering anyone else besides me, but I’m really, really, really, really, really, really wondering who the remaining assassins in Batman: Arkham Origins are! We’ve already had it confirmed in the recent trailer that two of them are Deathstroke and Deadshot, so that leaves six more foes for Batman that Black Mask has hired. So I guess it’s time to make a list of who I think should be included in this plethora of killers. Now it’s unclear as to whether or not some of the villains not typically specializing in assassin work have been hired by Black Mask because there are definitely villains appearing who don’t necessarily go for that type of thing, for example Penguin and the Joker. My list will be a mix of villains who are primarily assassins but also some villains we have already seen in the other two Arkham games:

1.) Firefly

So there isn’t much to Garfield Lynns, AKA Firefly. But what else do you need from an assassin than the ability to fly, a fireproof gun and a torch gun? Sounds like a match made in heaven to me… err hell maybe? Lynns was hinted at in Arkham Asylum and it would be great to see him HEATING up the city in Origins. That was a terrible play on words by the way.

2.) Caine

David Caine is one of the world’s premiere assassins, being hired to kill an abundance of rich and powerful people. Not to mention he actually trained young Bruce Wayne in the ways of the assassin, though Bats never utilizes the knowledge to kill. It would be a pretty juicy tidbit to see someone who Bruce trained with trying to kill him, whether Caine knows that it is Bruce or not.

3.) Lady Shiva

Shiva is the top assassin in Ra’s Al’Ghul’s League of Assassins which didn’t figure prominently into the series until the second installment. Ra’s may have let the Black Mask hire Shiva in an effort to test the “detective” until such a time when Ra’s chooses to confront him. Not to mention Shiva is the mother of Cassandra Cain who was Batgirl for a time, and in the comics Cassandra was also the daughter of none other than David Caine. Perhaps this could figure into the next Arkham game that is a sequel to Arkham City?

4.) Calendar Man

If Julian Day wasn’t born to figure prominently into this game, then I don’t know who is. The game takes place on Christmas Eve of all nights and that is perfect for this calendar obsessed sicko to take a shot at the Batman. We’ve seen hints of him in Arkham Asylum and in the flesh in Arkham City. Maybe we can see what landed him in his much deserved cell during this installment of the Arkham series.

5.) Bane

It was stated recently that Origins would have a toned down version of Bane in it. I could definitely see him as someone hired to come in and take down Batman, ala the Animated Series episode titled after the Venom induced breaker of the Batman. I could see him as being juiced to the point of having the frame of The Dark Knight Rises Bane, because if they want him toned down then they can’t have his overgrown, Titan fueled appearance from the other two games.

6.) Killer Croc

Waylon Jones is shown most times in the comics these days as a simple muscle for hire type of guy. His predatory instincts make him a very good choice for an assassin and based on all of the animosity he shows Batman in the other two Arkham games it would be interesting to see them interacting before Croc was imprisoned. It would also be fun to have an actual boss fight with Croc given that his appearance in the first game just had you running away from him and the second game only had a short cameo.

I have also listed a couple runner ups that I don’t expect to see, but wouldn’t mind if they filled the spots…

Clayface

I really can’t get enough Clayface. The boss fight in Arkham City against him was probably the best part of the game for me. I think Clayface having the ability to shapeshift into almost any weapon would definitely make him a very potent killer to take down Bats. The guy is basically a living weapon, just made of clay. And since this is dealing with Batman in his younger years, he could be having a showdown with a Clayface just beginning to utilize his new powers.

Maxie Zeus

Ok this guy is pretty ridiculous any way that you look at it, but I really liked his portrayal in the 1990’s Batman the Animated Series. While that is still a bit too cheesy, I think that in the Arkham Batman universe that he could really be turned into a legitimate threat. Maybe he could cool down the Greek mythology a tad bit and be an assassin who’s main weapon is that awesome lightning bolt scepter he uses. Like I said, it sounds terrible, but I think Maxie is scheduled for an appearance sometime, given that his night club Olympus was spotted in Arkham City.

So there you have my list! What are some of your picks for Arkham Origins? I know there are more out there! Doodlebug? KGBeast? Cheshire? Sound off below in the comments section!

GAMING

Batman: Arkham Origins – Actual Trailer Debuts

May 20, 2013 Stephen Sanchez Leave a comment

After a quick 47 second teaser the other day showing us a glimpse of the Bats vs Deathstroke, we now have a full trailer showcasing not only a longer fight, but a couple more bat-villains, including another one of the assassins that is hired to give Batman a dirt nap. For those of you not familiar with the story of Arkham Origins, it looks like the Black Mask will be our main villain, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see more of the rogue’s gallery including some of the veterans from the last two games. The story is set over the course of one night on Christmas Eve with presumably the top player in the Gotham underworld, Black Mask having had enough of the newly emerged vigilante known as Batman. To take down the bat, Black Mask hires eight of the deadliest assassins available to take out the Dark Knight, including the already revealed Deathstroke and Deadshot. Who the remaining assassins are is anyone’s guess, but I’m sure plenty of you out there have your ideas…

Aside from Black Mask, Deathstroke and Deadshot, there has been a screenshot of the Penguin showing up. It has also been confirmed that the Joker will be in the game showcasing his first encounter with Batman. To me the most interesting part of Origins is the prequel angle. We are going to see a younger and possibly inexperienced Batman fighting many of his enemies for the first time. Not to mention it’s not the first time that he’s met a lot of the villains, but his allies as well. From the sounds of things Jim Gordon will not be the commissioner in this game and the police will possibly have it out for the caped crusader. Does this also mean no Robin? No Nightwing? No Oracle support!? Say it ain’t so! But the game’s full content hasn’t been fully revealed so there’s no telling who may still pop up. Maybe his first encounter with Selina Kyle aka Catwoman to the ignorant.

Aside from all of the new story content, the developers from the game have stated that there is a more open world in Origins, if you can imagine Gotham being any bigger than it was in Arkham City. For now, plenty of fans of the Arkham series remain skeptical of the newest installment due to the game being released in October of this year, and not yet showcasing any actual gameplay. Also the new developer Montreal taking the reins from Rocksteady who did the last two Arkham games. I counted myself amongst the skeptics and I won’t be fully convinced until I actually play the game, but others who have played the game over at IGN have pretty positive things to say about the gameplay.

It sounds like Montreal didn’t mess too much with a good thing in terms of the combat system which is a relief, but they did make some minor tweaks. They’ve made Gotham much bigger this time around, the southern island being called New Gotham, so I can’t imagine anyone complaining about the map being bigger. There will still be boat loads of side quests and bonus content and as much as I enjoyed the detective mode in the first two games, it sounds like Montreal even took it a step further. According to Ars Technica, Batman’s suit in this game will have high powered sensors in it linked up to the Bat Computer and give you the ability to recreate a holographic reenactment of a crime scene that you can pause, rewind and play as you roam about the crime scene. Sounds awesome to me.

It's Anarky... great. — It’s Anarky… great.

Like I said, it’s still unfortunately too early to know until we all get our hands on the final product, but after reading IGN’s experience with the game along with a couple other sources I think the Arkham legacy may be safe in the hands of new developer Montreal. I can’t wait until October 25th and I feel very fortunate these games are always released around my birthday. So until more and more villains and characters are revealed, sound off below and give us some of your predictions.

Arrow, 1:14 – “The Odyssey” and News of a Renewal?

February 16, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

If you are a Diggle, Felicity, and island fan than The Odyssey was for you! I am that person and I was in heaven.

This week picked right where we left off last week, with Arrow telling Moira about how she had failed Starling City. If that wasn’t shocking enough, Moira, after pleading in the name of Oliver and Thea, goes off and shoots Oliver! Granted she didn’t know it was Oliver but still, she shot her own kid. Of course Ollie gets out of there and the camera pans to the pool of blood he left. I’ve watched enough crime shows to know this was a problem.

In a very heads up play, Oliver finds his way into Felicity’s car, instructing her to the Arrowcave instead of the hospital. Finally! It’s about time that Felicity is told the truth, although I will miss the incredibly stupid cover stories Oliver came up with. The rest of the episode was basically Diggle and Felicity trying to keep Oliver alive. Another reason to keep Diggle around? Apparently he can dig (hehe) bullets out of bodies. He may not be so great with fritzy defibrillators, but that’s why Felicity “I’ve been fixing computers since I was 7” Smoak is there. They made a pretty good team and Oliver lives to see another day. However, I do have to call bullshit on Diggle’s proclamation that Oliver’s injury was a “Zone II wound” as a simple Google search classifies Zone II as part of the neck and that was clearly a shoulder shot. Come on Diggle, get it right man.

The majority of the episode was flashbacks to the island. Last week we met Slade Wilson and learned that the guy in the mask back at Fyers’ camp was obviously not Deathstroke, because Slade Wilson is Deathstroke and there he is helping Oliver escape. Come to find out this week that not only is the masked man not Deathstroke, but rather that’s Billy (William) Wintergreen. I don’t know why I didn’t even think of him last week, but I didn’t so I was surprised when Slade said his name.

Now I know that Arrow hasn’t really been all that concerned with canon, but this whole thing with Deathstroke is really convoluted. Wilson and Wintergreen were friends. At times they took on a mentor/student role. Wintergreen was Wilson’s best man when he got married. In the end Deathstroke/Wilson does end up killing Wintergreen, but that’s only because his son, well the spirit of his son, has taken over his body. It wasn’t actually Deathstroke himself, rather his son, Jericho. Wilson even mentioned his son to Oliver when he said that Wintergreen was his son’s godfather. So the idea that Wilson killed Wintergreen himself is a little bit of an annoyance, but then again the show is set in Starling City and Oliver Queen’s mother is a major character so really this is just another in a long list of taken liberties.

Obviously the focus of the island was the attempted escape by Wilson and Oliver. Before they could do that though, Oliver needed to become a somewhat trained soldier-like individual. Hence the training montage with him and Wilson. Of course Oliver, being from a very privileged and not very hands-on background, doesn’t do so hot with that. The best part of the episode came when after watching Oliver struggle to start a fire for hours, Wilson pulls out a lighter. Of course this is a family show so Oliver didn’t take all that newly learned hand to hand combat skills and beat the crap out of Wilson, instead he just laughed it off. It’s official, Oliver is a better person than I.

So far on the island we’ve seen Oliver grow a little from the elitist douchebag to a somewhat more humble man, but this episode really brought his selfishness to the spotlight. He’s made it no secret that up until now he’s thought pretty much only of Oliver, so you’d think that when Wilson is telling him that you have to live for yourself, he’d be on board. However, instead of ditching Yao Fei to grab his assured seat on the plane out, Oliver heads out to try to get Fei to go with them. One has to wonder why instead of running through the jungle he didn’t just take one of the dozen Jeeps sitting there, but hey he went back and that’s all that matters. Of course Fyers was waiting for him and had Wintergreen attempt to execute him which ends up with Wintergreen’s death but the real revelation in all this is…

SHADO!!!!!

I fear we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to poetic license on storylines, because I have a feeling there is no way we are going to see the comic’s version of Shado and Oliver’s relationship, but still it should be fun to see what happens. I can not tell you how happy I am that they had her as part of the island because as I said here, I was really quite concerned that she was just going to be some throwaway paralegal or something. I’ll admit that I have zero idea as to how they are going to continue the island story, but at least we don’t have to wonder (for now) how it is that Slade Wilson and Oliver Queen ended up on a plane together with there being no mention of Wilson being rescued.

After all the island excitement, we returned to the Arrowcave and what the what?!?! Oliver has the same tattoo as Shado! The intrigue, it is strong.

Of course we couldn’t go an entire episode without Thea so she made an appearance, thankfully it was short. Annoying, but short. Oliver declares his mother off-limits to the Arrowcrew, and we finish up another visit to Starling City.

This was a great episode. Probably my favorite so far of the season as I love the island. It’s not that I don’t enjoy modern-day Starling City but I’ve really liked how they have told the island story so far and this episode was no different. Had there not been the wide injustices done to the Wintergreen/Wilson story, it might have been a 4.5 but going to have to stick with four out of five.

Not only was it a great episode this week, but there was good news as well. Arrow has been renewed for a second season! It comes as a surprise to no one, given how strong the ratings have been, but it’s always nice to have that renewal become official. Not only that, but apparently the powers that be have seen the fan’s reactions to our favorite IT girl because it was announced that Felicity Smoak will be bumped up to a main character next season. No doubt there are ‘Felicity and Oliver’ shippers who are just beside themselves with this news.

That’s all I have, until next week Arrow fans!

Arrow: 1.12 – “Vertigo”

February 4, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

So late this week! I apologize, I was too busy trying to get the Yao Fei fan club back together. That’s right, “Vertigo” has restored my faith in humanity! Yao Fei has redeemed himself in my eyes, as well as Ollie’s but more on that later. Let’s discuss the rest of the episode first.

As we learned last week, there is a new drug in Starling City and it’s a fantastic little trip called “vertigo”. Thea was enjoying it a bit too much as she found herself driving her car into a telephone pole. Of course the driver of the other car involved ended up dying so now Thea has been brought up on vehicular homicide charges. I can not be the only person that was hoping she’d go away to prison never to be heard from again. Especially with this episode! Oh my god they took teenage petulance way too far. You are looking to go to prison probably for a very long time if not the rest of your life and the only thing you’re worried about is if your mom was schtupping her son’s best friend’s father while her husband was missing? Seriously Thea? Just go off to jail and make everyone happier.

Of course Oliver just had to get involved in the case. He wouldn’t be Oliver if he didn’t. So he goes off to the police and meets and old flame, McKenna Hall (played by Janina Gavankar aka Shiva from ‘The League’) who is now a detective. Her name is very frustrating because how cool would it be to have Shiera (Sanders) Hall aka, Hawkgirl, on the show? That would be rather kickass. Of course it would be difficult given their “no meta superpowers” stance but still, it would be cool.

No shocker here, the police aren’t really too keen on having Oliver help them out. Also not a surprise, Oliver goes after him anyway. This episode fully illustrates how frustrating the writer’s decision to have the villains be one and done. Seth Gabel (Fringe) did an awesome job as ‘The Count’. I would love to see more of him. Obviously the way they left the episode certainly left the door open for his return but I’ve been saying that about Deadshot in the pilot so what do I know? Back to Gabel though – I loved him as Vertigo. He was sufficiently unhinged and just a bit manic to make it work. His first scene where he gave the guy the option to shoot himself or suffer the effects of ‘vertigo’? Deliciously evil.

Another part of this episode I really liked? The call back to the third episode, “Lone Gunman”, when Diggle get’s shot with Deadshot’s poisoned bullet and Ollie takes him back to the Arrowcave to make him Yao Fei’s tea. This time Ollie gets a pretty substantial dose of ‘vertigo’ and Diggle is the one helping him back to the lair and fixing up a nice cuppa. Although Count Vertigo is gone, it looks like we’ll see his effect on at least the next episode as Oliver appears to be feeling a little off as this episode ends.

Of course, it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Felicity and she has been great in these last few episodes. The back and forth between she, Oliver, and Diggle have been something to look forward to each week. Of course really it’s the exchange between Felicity and Oliver and then the “you’ve got to be shitting me” reaction of Diggle. He has perfected that “wtf is happening right now?” look. Best look though? When Oliver “killed” the guy during the meet-up with Bratva. Hands down. Poor Diggle looked like Ollie had just punched him in the junk.

I damn near squealed with delight when we found out where Oliver learned the “kill a man but not really” trick. I’d like to say that I truly believed in my heart of hearts that Yao Fei was a good guy all along, but I had my doubts. I apologize Yao Fei, I should have known that you could never betray Oliver like that. I’m still not sure what your end game is but I’m happy to see that you at least have Oliver’s best interests at heart. I imagine it won’t be the last time we see you and your fellow ass-kicker, Deathstroke. I’ll be waiting with bated breath.

Thing I’m most looking forward to? Now that Felicity has given Oliver the book of names, surely he’s going to bring her onto Team Arrow. Right? (SPOILER) It only makes sense for how much longer can he keep up the ridiculous cover stories when he shows up asking her to Google things for him? We’ll just have to keep watching!

This episode wasn’t as good as last week, but was still pretty strong and the return of Yao Fei… going to go with a 3.5 out of five.

Until next time Arrow fans!

Arrow: A New Deathstroke, and perhaps Shado as well?

December 4, 2012 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Have you ever watched Arrow and thought “there really needs to be more partial nudity on this show” – well this news update is just for you. The powers that be behind Arrow have heard your concerns and have searched the world high and low to find the man (it is network TV after all, no bare boobs here) to best fit the bill.

Continue reading Arrow: A New Deathstroke, and perhaps Shado as well? →

Arrow: 1.05- “Damaged”

November 9, 2012 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Even though ratings for last week were a little lower than they had been, there’s no need for alarm because this week ratings were back up, way up. As a matter of fact they matched the ratings from the premiere! Not only that but over on TVGuide.com, Arrow is #1 in their “popularity contest” of fall shows. I’ve said it before, it’s not going to be long before the CW announces a second season. If they continue to put forth episodes as good as last nights, then I think we are in for at least a couple of years of Arrow. Sounds good to me!

Because there wasn’t a lot of time spent on the bad guy du’jour, it left a lot of time for them to work on advancing character storylines and just the story in general.

Instead of immediately picking back up with Oliver getting arrested, the episode started off back on the island. Yao Fei strengthened his status as my “favorite person ever” when after he let Ollie shoot the bow for the first time he feels the need to tell him “You will die badly.” Seriously, where is the Yao Fei fanclub and how can I become it’s president? Because that shit right there is funny. Edward Fryers makes an appearance as the guy chasing after Yao Fei, who then tortures Ollie to get info. How on earth is this going to lead to Fryers and Oliver becoming friends and the introduction of Shado? How? I do not see it and that makes me sad. I mean, I figured they weren’t going to even touch the “I raped you while you were drugged, oh, and this is your kid” thing, but to not even have her in the show at all? Bummer.

Okay, bone to pick. I can agree to ignore Laurel’s ridiculous multifaceted law career. I suppose in an alternate universe, a legal aid lawyer would have all the time in the world to take on clients that are arrested (with zero evidence I might add) and then brought to court in a matter of hours in between the her time spent on cases involving millionaires and death row residents. However, are we seriously supposed to believe that she did not even go to law school until after her sister died and her mom left? Seriously? That would mean that at best she’s been practicing law for about two years. At best! Well, let’s see; yacht goes down, let’s say that mom stuck around for only a couple of months afterwards before getting fed up with Detective Lance and hitting the road. It was then that Laurel decides to go to law school which I do believe is three years. So we’re looking at three and a half years of the time Oliver is gone. So Laurel has been a lawyer for less than two years and she is already taking on this huge workload. I’m calling bullshit. The least they could have done was said she had already been in law school when Oliver and Sara took off on their fateful three hour tour.

Moving on before I rupture a blood vessel over a TV show.

IT’S DEATHSTROKE!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that was necessary. Deathstroke appeared for the first time ever in live action and that dude is frightening. Were I tied to a pole and that guy came at me with a knife? I’d be telling whoever was asking, every single thing I’d ever known, ever. Without the slightest hesitation.
What you should take away from this is, don’t rely on me to keep a secret under duress. Not going to happen.

Thankfully Oliver (we are led to believe) is not so weak willed and dealt with the torture. For a show that is more entertainment than it is “high quality” there was a great set up in this episode between the interrogation on the island, complete with Deathstroke and his knife, and the interrogation back in Starling City with Detective Lance and his polygraph machine. Just goes to show that even though it isn’t Breaking Bad or Boardwalk Empire or shows of that caliber, they can still have nice moments like that. I hate when people start talking shit about a show like Arrow because it isn’t something that is Emmy worthy. Sometimes entertainment for entertainment’s sake is a welcome escape. Sakes alive this episode is getting my dander up.

Going out on a limb but I have this feeling that Deathstroke isn’t going to lose his eye to a gunshot from his wife, but rather there on the island. Why else would they have shown the mask with the arrow through it? So perhaps Yao Fei attempting to shoot him was a bit of foreshadowing. I’m a little bummed because it would have been cool to get into Deathstroke’s back-story with his wife and sons and everything. Oh well.

I’m choosing to ignore the fact that Oliver once again referred to Thea as Speedy. Why would they do that to me? Why not just have Diggle be Speedy? Come on. At least Thea is getting more tolerable in recent episodes, girlfriend was obnoxious as hell when they first started. However I did enjoy the conversation between Oliver and Thea when she thought that because he brought her an arrowhead that meant he was Arrow. He ruses that it’s a good thing he didn’t get the panda shotglass because then he’d be “Pandaman”. I immediately thought of how awesome it would be if someone made a show based on World of Warcraft. I’d watch that all day long. If anyone was wanting to send me a gift you can go ahead and get me that Chen Stormstout action figure. I’m sure if you put “Amanda Denton, Georgia” the post office will get it to me without a problem. Thank you.

Another thing I’d love to open my mailbox and find one day is John Barrowman. I’m not sure how much it would cost to ship him but I’m pretty sure I’d be willing to pay it. That man is incredible. I’m really enjoying how they aren’t coming right out and telling us who he is. We get that he is obviously a bad guy, what with trying to have Oliver killed and then successfully offing the poor security guy Josiah, but outside of that, not much is known. Now we also know that Moria is working for him and not with him like the first couple of episodes led us to believe. Of course that whole killing people thing makes me want to know what is on that boat even more. Intrigue!

Speaking of the boat, poor Walter. When the show first started I really thought he was going to be a bad guy. Don’t know why, just a feeling I had. Seeing his face when he was walking out was just heartbreaking. Granted I’ve never been in the “my wife is lying to me about why she took millions of dollars to get a warehouse to store the wreckage of the yacht her late husband died on and she won’t tell me why” type of situation so I can’t imagine how difficult it is but I really want him and Moira to just kiss and make up. Now that Moira has gone into Momma Bear overdrive, paper cuts be damned, I’m really enjoying her character. I especially liked her and Walter together. It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts to his leaving. Ooooh, what is she going to tell the kids? Can’t very well come out and tell the truth now can she?

When it comes to telling the truth, I guess I’ll have to admit I thought Oliver was an idiot for coming clean to Diggle so soon. He could surely keep up the ruse for at least another month or so, if for no other reason than to watch Diggle get aggravated each time Ollie ditched him. Thanks to this episode, I can now say that I should not have doubted ol’ Oliver because the man has a plan.

A good plan at that! Having Diggle as a co-Arrow really could help keep the spotlight off of both of them. That spotlight being the previously mentioned Detective Lance. Of course, one has to wonder how long Diggle is going to keep it from his sister-in-law. She is going to blow a gasket, and I would really enjoy watching that.

I didn’t enjoy watching Laurel and Oliver kiss mainly because Laurel irks me but that scene was awesome for one reason and one reason only; Laurel mentions fishnets. If you had listened closely on Wednesday night you could have heard everyone who knows about Black Canary squeal in delight. I was one of those squealing while my husband sat next to me thinking I’d sat on a pinecone or something. Highlight of the episode right there.

Another cool part of that scene was the number of Ollie’s “prison uniform” costume. It’s actually the hex code for green. I love it when they put little things like that into shows. I looked up Ollie’s mugshot number as well but all I can decipher is that perhaps the writers are big fans of Gloria Allred as she was born on July 3rd, 1941. I think that would qualify as one of the most random references ever so it probably wasn’t that.

My last thought on this episode is that isn’t all we’ll see of Kate Spencer. I mean surely they have more in store for her so maybe this was just a “I wonder if anyone will notice if we introduce Kate Spencer on the down low and then we’ll come back to her at a later date as Manhunter and everyone will be like “hey isn’t that the ADA that was prosecuting Oliver back in the fifth episode” and we’ll just sit back and laugh because, yea, it is.” type of situation. That’s what I tell myself so I can sleep well at night at least.

Overall, fantastic episode. Loved it. I personally don’t want to see Laurel and Oliver together but I realize it’s going to happen so I just have to get over it. The scene with Barrowman was awesome and prompted so many more questions than it provided answers and of course DEATHSTROKE!!! was amazing. From start to finish, a strong episode.

The only shirtlessness involved Laurel but we have this to look forward to next week, November 17th, in an episode titled, “Legacies”.

Not only that but we’ll get to see Arrow’s take on the Royal Flush Gang, exciting!

Until next time!

Grizzly Bomb