Post by Keith on May 23, 2007 22:44:03 GMT -8
Over the last few years, there's been a trend in the theme of superheroes since it's turned into a major money maker. Ever since 2002 with the debut of the Spiderman movie, studios have been buying up film rights to various franchises such as Daredevil, X-Men, Incredible Hulk, Ghost Rider, Hellboy, Superman, Batman, etc. Some paid off and some didn't pay off. That aside, the theme itself has been gaining popularity and momentum.
From there, they made movies that revolved around the lives of superheroes in general. One example is the Disney-Pixar film known as "The Incredibles." Incredibles is a very good movie in my opinion. Had a very good plotline with superheroes not allowed to use their superpowers anymore. In revolved around one family where two of the superheroes got married and had three children and the first two children developed powers and had to cope with them which was a pretty fresh approach with the direction of superhero genre. It was a more action, sci-fi, and comedic oriented movie.
A few years back there was a live action movie with Kurt Russell known as "Sky High." Kind of like the same basis and plotline as Incredibles. Revolve around Will Stronghold the son of legendary superheroes. But the basis of Sky High revolves around a school in the sky known as Sky High. It was a secret school for superheroes and sidekicks. Sky High went into an interesting direction as life around Sky High was just like normal life at high school but add in superpowers. They all had their cliques. It also went in depth on what it was like to be a sidekick who was pretty much unappreciated and forgotten.
Incredibles and Sky High were very fresh directions when it came to superheroes. I was wondering what direction this genre would go next. And then around August, I saw the preview for the now hit TV series on NBC called "Heroes." It was a pretty fresh and original approach to the superhero genre. What caught my attention were the two characters Claire Bennet a high school cheerleader with an indestructible body and Hiro Nakamura a comic and anime fanatic with the powers to bend time and space.
It was definitely a fresh approach and it's now one of my favorite shows. Though it's off the air at the moment, it should come back on April 22nd. Heroes went in the direction of the most realistic approach: people developing superpowers at the same time having to conceal them due to today's political climate. Also, Heroes introduced a wide variety of people with superpowers whether they were young, old, short, fat, thin, etc.
Heroes made me think of this comic book series by Wildstorm Comics called "The Authority." I haven't read any issues of The Authority yet. But a friend of mine explained the basis. It was very realistic at the same time caused a bit of controversy. One of the heroes was an IV drug user. Like the show Heroes, once a person dies in The Authority, that person stays dead. If you're fans of The Authority, then Heroes is definitely a TV show to look out for.
With the characters, Tim Kring the creator of Heroes did a pretty good job with the characters:
Niki Sanders - A webcam stripper who has a split personality. Her other personality is the personality of her deceased twin sister Jessica. Whenever Jessica takes over the body, Niki is endowed with superhuman strength. Niki is pretty much a very conflicted character due to trying to keep Jessica from emerging. She is intentionally good but when Jessica takes over, Niki can commit the most heinous and brutal murders. The concept of Niki/Jessica was a fresh approach at an original character. In my view, that gains a lot of originality points. What really scored points with me is when Niki is control, she's normal. When Jessica takes over, it gets very murderous. Her subplot is taking up assassination jobs for Mr. Lindermann under the persona of Jessica.
D.L. Hawkings - The husband of Niki Sanders. For a brutal murder that Niki committed while Jessica had taken over, D.L. was arrested and charged for those crimes. In prison, he developed the power of phasing meaning he can go through solid objects. He can make himself tangible and intangible at will. Though phasing is not original but how D.L. used his powers somewhat gained points with me.
Mikah Sanders - The genius son of Niki Sanders and D.L. Hawkings. His powers weren't revealed until almost halfway into the first season. What made Mikah an original character was that he's a multiracial child due to Niki being White and D.L. being African-American. How Mikah got the gift of genius intellect is still unknown. When his powers were revealed, they were completely different from the powers of Niki/Jessica and D.L. Mikah revealed to be a technopath who can communicate with computers and other forms of technology by touch of hand.
Matt Parkman - Former LAPD officer that was suspended from his job. He has the powers of telepathy. Though telepathy is nothing new in the realm of superheroes, Matt Parkman was also a fresh approach. He's an average looking police officer who had failed the detective's exam twice and was confined to be a regular uniformed officer. It was revealed that Matt is dyslexic contributing to him failing the exams. In a nutshell, he's a dyslexic with telepathic powers. His subplot revolved around in the beginning was to use his powers to help the FBI track down the serial killer known as Sylar to meeting up with Mr. Bennet.
Isaac Mendez - A comic book artist who paints canvasses in comic book format. When you put all of his pieces together, it's like reading one gigantic comic book. Isaac possesses the ability of precognition meaning he can see the future. However, in the beginning Isaac had to take drugs like heroin to get into that trance. Though there is possible controversy, I personally found this to be pretty fresh. He represents that there are times that you must pay a cost in order to use those abilities. Meaning, Isaac would have to shoot up in order to tap into those powers. And heroin is detrimental to the body.
Hiro Nakamura - Hiro has a mild mannered job working in a cubicle. With Hiro, it put forth more focus on Asian actors. He first discovered his powers was going home on the subway where he ended up in NYC right before the city got totaled by an explosion coming from an unknown source. A good portion of the first season of Heroes revolves around Hiro and Ando(Hiro's friend and coworker). First season revolved around them traveling across the country trying to meet up with some of the other characters which ultimately lead to Hiro obtaining a special samurai katana enabling him to control his power at the same time amplifying it at the same time which turns into his subplot for the first season. And Hiro happens to be a fan of Marvel Comics.
Nathan Petrelli - Nathan was a pretty fresh approach. When Nathan's powers were awoken, he wanted to contain that immediately. Nathan is a prosecutor in NYC with the power of self-propelled flight. He is currently running for a seat in the United States Senate. While keeping his powers secret, Nathan has to deal with his younger brother who's dealing with his powers, and two scandals: his illegitimate daughter Claire Bennet and the one night stand with Niki/Jessica with Jessica in control. In a sense, he is a mesh of Captain America and Bill Clinton. His subplot is basically dealing with the scandals and keeping them under control.
Peter Petrelli - Peter is the younger brother of Nathan Petrelli who is a former hospice nurse. It seemed that he possessed the same power of self-propelled flight as his older brother Nathan. But that wasn't the case as it seemed that Peter was a power mimic. Then it was revealed that he had the ability to absorb the powers of other. Peter is in a sense similar to Rogue of the X-Men but without having to touch people. The second half of the first season focuses on Peter trying to control his power and summoning up his other powers at will. It was revealed that Peter happens to be the cause of the explosion that devastates New York. His subplot is controlling his power and making sure that he doesn't explode.
Claire Bennet - She is the illegitimate daughter of Nathan Petrelli. Her powers awoken when she rescued someone from a fire in which parts of her uniform got burned. However, she didn't possess any burns. Claire's revealed to have the power of spontaneous regeneration. In a sense, she's like Wolverine but without the claws nor the Adamantium. It turned out that her adopted father is working for a shadow organization using a company called Primatech Paper as a front. Her subplot is one of the biggest subplots in the season. Claire's subplot revolved around trying to find out her origins and where she had originally came from.
Mohinder Suresh - Mohinder is one of the most pivotal characters in Heroes. He is the son of a foremost geneticist Chandra Suresh who had a book published on genetics. Mohinder happened to be one of the most realistic characters in Heroes. His original subplot evolved into a much bigger subplot. At first, he was out to investigate the death of his father who was murdered by a man named Sylar. From investigating his father's death, Mohinder's plotline was to track down all the people on the list that possess superpowers and possibly help them control their powers. One example is Mohinder trying to make a cure for Peter's condition.
Gabriel Gray/Sylar - Sylar is the current antagonist of the series. He is the superpowered villain who's intent to track down others with superpowers, kill them, and take their powers. Watching the show, Sylar is one of the most humanistic supervillains I have ever seen. It's unknown how Sylar acquired the powers of others. What is known is that Sylar uses telekinesis very well by cutting the tops of his victims' skulls open and removing a portion of the brain that regulates those powers. It was also revealed that telekinesis is not Sylar's original power. Sylar is similar to Orochimaru the main antagonist of the Japanese anime called Naruto. Orochimaru is out to learn every jutsu there is in the world. Sylar is out to take everybody's powers. His subplot is basically going after people and taking their powers.
The Haitian - This was another fresh character concept. He happened to be an agent for Mr. Bennet. His powers were that of erasing memories and power negation. Haitian wiped out the memories of Mrs. Bennet, Matt Parkman, and Brody Mitchell(the star quarterback that attempted to rape Claire). He happened to negate the power of Eden McCain who has the power of persuasion. But the Haitian is still a mysterious character and I do hope to see more of his history in the next season.
Ted Sprague - With a protagonists and an antagonist, Ted is pretty much the antihero of Heroes. He has the power to generate radiation in his body at will. When Ted gets angry, his powers get amplified. Ted is the most tragic character because he accidentally killed two people because he couldn't control his powers. One doctor was charred to death and his wife died of radiation sickness. He eventually escaped custody from the Department of Homeland Security. His subplot revolves around controlling his powers and going after Mr. Bennet who he blames for his unstable powers.
Hana Gittelman - She was a character in the graphic novels that can be read on the Heroes website. Hana was a pretty interesting character who is an Israeli soldier who has distrust towards the Palestinians because of the death of her family during a bombing. She possesses the combat abilities of a soldier but has a power that I never even thought of. Hana's powers enable her to be a walking wi-fi computer. She can intercept electronic messages such as phone messages, e-mails, text, IMs, etc and can replicate and relay those same messages to any computer. Also she can communicate to various communication devices and not need to have a device of her own.
So far these are the most notable characters in Heroes. Kring did an excellent job with the characters, abilities, and the subplots.
Overall, Heroes has interesting main plotlines and a diversity of subplots that cross paths with each other. Heroes takes the theme of superheroes in a whole new direction. It's definitely a contender for Monday night television. When I thought that the theme of superheroes was going overboard, Heroes is definitely a fresh approach. With a diverse cast of character and array of subplots, Heroes has something for everybody.
www.helium.com/tm/244659/years-theres-trend-theme
From there, they made movies that revolved around the lives of superheroes in general. One example is the Disney-Pixar film known as "The Incredibles." Incredibles is a very good movie in my opinion. Had a very good plotline with superheroes not allowed to use their superpowers anymore. In revolved around one family where two of the superheroes got married and had three children and the first two children developed powers and had to cope with them which was a pretty fresh approach with the direction of superhero genre. It was a more action, sci-fi, and comedic oriented movie.
A few years back there was a live action movie with Kurt Russell known as "Sky High." Kind of like the same basis and plotline as Incredibles. Revolve around Will Stronghold the son of legendary superheroes. But the basis of Sky High revolves around a school in the sky known as Sky High. It was a secret school for superheroes and sidekicks. Sky High went into an interesting direction as life around Sky High was just like normal life at high school but add in superpowers. They all had their cliques. It also went in depth on what it was like to be a sidekick who was pretty much unappreciated and forgotten.
Incredibles and Sky High were very fresh directions when it came to superheroes. I was wondering what direction this genre would go next. And then around August, I saw the preview for the now hit TV series on NBC called "Heroes." It was a pretty fresh and original approach to the superhero genre. What caught my attention were the two characters Claire Bennet a high school cheerleader with an indestructible body and Hiro Nakamura a comic and anime fanatic with the powers to bend time and space.
It was definitely a fresh approach and it's now one of my favorite shows. Though it's off the air at the moment, it should come back on April 22nd. Heroes went in the direction of the most realistic approach: people developing superpowers at the same time having to conceal them due to today's political climate. Also, Heroes introduced a wide variety of people with superpowers whether they were young, old, short, fat, thin, etc.
Heroes made me think of this comic book series by Wildstorm Comics called "The Authority." I haven't read any issues of The Authority yet. But a friend of mine explained the basis. It was very realistic at the same time caused a bit of controversy. One of the heroes was an IV drug user. Like the show Heroes, once a person dies in The Authority, that person stays dead. If you're fans of The Authority, then Heroes is definitely a TV show to look out for.
With the characters, Tim Kring the creator of Heroes did a pretty good job with the characters:
Niki Sanders - A webcam stripper who has a split personality. Her other personality is the personality of her deceased twin sister Jessica. Whenever Jessica takes over the body, Niki is endowed with superhuman strength. Niki is pretty much a very conflicted character due to trying to keep Jessica from emerging. She is intentionally good but when Jessica takes over, Niki can commit the most heinous and brutal murders. The concept of Niki/Jessica was a fresh approach at an original character. In my view, that gains a lot of originality points. What really scored points with me is when Niki is control, she's normal. When Jessica takes over, it gets very murderous. Her subplot is taking up assassination jobs for Mr. Lindermann under the persona of Jessica.
D.L. Hawkings - The husband of Niki Sanders. For a brutal murder that Niki committed while Jessica had taken over, D.L. was arrested and charged for those crimes. In prison, he developed the power of phasing meaning he can go through solid objects. He can make himself tangible and intangible at will. Though phasing is not original but how D.L. used his powers somewhat gained points with me.
Mikah Sanders - The genius son of Niki Sanders and D.L. Hawkings. His powers weren't revealed until almost halfway into the first season. What made Mikah an original character was that he's a multiracial child due to Niki being White and D.L. being African-American. How Mikah got the gift of genius intellect is still unknown. When his powers were revealed, they were completely different from the powers of Niki/Jessica and D.L. Mikah revealed to be a technopath who can communicate with computers and other forms of technology by touch of hand.
Matt Parkman - Former LAPD officer that was suspended from his job. He has the powers of telepathy. Though telepathy is nothing new in the realm of superheroes, Matt Parkman was also a fresh approach. He's an average looking police officer who had failed the detective's exam twice and was confined to be a regular uniformed officer. It was revealed that Matt is dyslexic contributing to him failing the exams. In a nutshell, he's a dyslexic with telepathic powers. His subplot revolved around in the beginning was to use his powers to help the FBI track down the serial killer known as Sylar to meeting up with Mr. Bennet.
Isaac Mendez - A comic book artist who paints canvasses in comic book format. When you put all of his pieces together, it's like reading one gigantic comic book. Isaac possesses the ability of precognition meaning he can see the future. However, in the beginning Isaac had to take drugs like heroin to get into that trance. Though there is possible controversy, I personally found this to be pretty fresh. He represents that there are times that you must pay a cost in order to use those abilities. Meaning, Isaac would have to shoot up in order to tap into those powers. And heroin is detrimental to the body.
Hiro Nakamura - Hiro has a mild mannered job working in a cubicle. With Hiro, it put forth more focus on Asian actors. He first discovered his powers was going home on the subway where he ended up in NYC right before the city got totaled by an explosion coming from an unknown source. A good portion of the first season of Heroes revolves around Hiro and Ando(Hiro's friend and coworker). First season revolved around them traveling across the country trying to meet up with some of the other characters which ultimately lead to Hiro obtaining a special samurai katana enabling him to control his power at the same time amplifying it at the same time which turns into his subplot for the first season. And Hiro happens to be a fan of Marvel Comics.
Nathan Petrelli - Nathan was a pretty fresh approach. When Nathan's powers were awoken, he wanted to contain that immediately. Nathan is a prosecutor in NYC with the power of self-propelled flight. He is currently running for a seat in the United States Senate. While keeping his powers secret, Nathan has to deal with his younger brother who's dealing with his powers, and two scandals: his illegitimate daughter Claire Bennet and the one night stand with Niki/Jessica with Jessica in control. In a sense, he is a mesh of Captain America and Bill Clinton. His subplot is basically dealing with the scandals and keeping them under control.
Peter Petrelli - Peter is the younger brother of Nathan Petrelli who is a former hospice nurse. It seemed that he possessed the same power of self-propelled flight as his older brother Nathan. But that wasn't the case as it seemed that Peter was a power mimic. Then it was revealed that he had the ability to absorb the powers of other. Peter is in a sense similar to Rogue of the X-Men but without having to touch people. The second half of the first season focuses on Peter trying to control his power and summoning up his other powers at will. It was revealed that Peter happens to be the cause of the explosion that devastates New York. His subplot is controlling his power and making sure that he doesn't explode.
Claire Bennet - She is the illegitimate daughter of Nathan Petrelli. Her powers awoken when she rescued someone from a fire in which parts of her uniform got burned. However, she didn't possess any burns. Claire's revealed to have the power of spontaneous regeneration. In a sense, she's like Wolverine but without the claws nor the Adamantium. It turned out that her adopted father is working for a shadow organization using a company called Primatech Paper as a front. Her subplot is one of the biggest subplots in the season. Claire's subplot revolved around trying to find out her origins and where she had originally came from.
Mohinder Suresh - Mohinder is one of the most pivotal characters in Heroes. He is the son of a foremost geneticist Chandra Suresh who had a book published on genetics. Mohinder happened to be one of the most realistic characters in Heroes. His original subplot evolved into a much bigger subplot. At first, he was out to investigate the death of his father who was murdered by a man named Sylar. From investigating his father's death, Mohinder's plotline was to track down all the people on the list that possess superpowers and possibly help them control their powers. One example is Mohinder trying to make a cure for Peter's condition.
Gabriel Gray/Sylar - Sylar is the current antagonist of the series. He is the superpowered villain who's intent to track down others with superpowers, kill them, and take their powers. Watching the show, Sylar is one of the most humanistic supervillains I have ever seen. It's unknown how Sylar acquired the powers of others. What is known is that Sylar uses telekinesis very well by cutting the tops of his victims' skulls open and removing a portion of the brain that regulates those powers. It was also revealed that telekinesis is not Sylar's original power. Sylar is similar to Orochimaru the main antagonist of the Japanese anime called Naruto. Orochimaru is out to learn every jutsu there is in the world. Sylar is out to take everybody's powers. His subplot is basically going after people and taking their powers.
The Haitian - This was another fresh character concept. He happened to be an agent for Mr. Bennet. His powers were that of erasing memories and power negation. Haitian wiped out the memories of Mrs. Bennet, Matt Parkman, and Brody Mitchell(the star quarterback that attempted to rape Claire). He happened to negate the power of Eden McCain who has the power of persuasion. But the Haitian is still a mysterious character and I do hope to see more of his history in the next season.
Ted Sprague - With a protagonists and an antagonist, Ted is pretty much the antihero of Heroes. He has the power to generate radiation in his body at will. When Ted gets angry, his powers get amplified. Ted is the most tragic character because he accidentally killed two people because he couldn't control his powers. One doctor was charred to death and his wife died of radiation sickness. He eventually escaped custody from the Department of Homeland Security. His subplot revolves around controlling his powers and going after Mr. Bennet who he blames for his unstable powers.
Hana Gittelman - She was a character in the graphic novels that can be read on the Heroes website. Hana was a pretty interesting character who is an Israeli soldier who has distrust towards the Palestinians because of the death of her family during a bombing. She possesses the combat abilities of a soldier but has a power that I never even thought of. Hana's powers enable her to be a walking wi-fi computer. She can intercept electronic messages such as phone messages, e-mails, text, IMs, etc and can replicate and relay those same messages to any computer. Also she can communicate to various communication devices and not need to have a device of her own.
So far these are the most notable characters in Heroes. Kring did an excellent job with the characters, abilities, and the subplots.
Overall, Heroes has interesting main plotlines and a diversity of subplots that cross paths with each other. Heroes takes the theme of superheroes in a whole new direction. It's definitely a contender for Monday night television. When I thought that the theme of superheroes was going overboard, Heroes is definitely a fresh approach. With a diverse cast of character and array of subplots, Heroes has something for everybody.
www.helium.com/tm/244659/years-theres-trend-theme