The Flash: Eight/Peacemaker: One/Superman and Lois: Three/Titans: Three (all 2022/DC Comics/Warner Complete Season Blu-ray Sets)

Picture: B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Episodes: C/B+/C+/C+

Now for the latest batch of DC Comics on TV....

Fans bid a fond farewell to Grant Gustin, the TV Flash, in this his eighth and final season and the last remnants of the CW Arrowverse as well. (GOOD RIDDENS!) Featuring an epic five episode event entitled Armageddon, this season is packed with action and if nothing else shows off some interesting aspects of the Flash franchise and possibilities for the future. Gustin is still a pretty charming Barry Allen after eight seasons and certainly is a better casting choice than the loathsome self destructive Ezra Miller from the big screen films.

The Flash stars Grant Gustin (Arrow, Glee), Candice Patton (The Game), Danielle Panabaker (Sky High, Friday the 13th), Danielle Nicolet (Central Intelligence), Kayla Compton (Making Moves), Brandon McKnight (The Shape of Water) and Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order). Based on the characters from DC, The Flash is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Supergirl, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Riverdale), Eric Wallace (Teen Wolf, Z Nation, Eureka), Sarah Schechter (Batwoman, Riverdale, Black Lightning, Supergirl) and Jonathan Butler & Gabriel Garza (Bella and the Bulldogs), and Sam Chalsen (Sleepy Hollow).

20 Episodes include the five part Armageddon series, Impulsive Excessive Disorder, Lockdown, The Fire Next Time, Phantoms, Reckless, Resurrection, Death Rises, Death Falls, Funeral for a friend, Into the Still Force, The Curious Case of Bartholomew Allen, Keep it Dark, The Man in the Yellow Tie, and Negative: Parts One and Two.

The Flash is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless soundmix. This commercial free presentation is a definitely leap from the original network broadcast.

Special Features:

Deleted Scenes

Gag Reel

Featurette: The DC Heroes: Path to Glory

and Featurette: The Flash: Standing the Test of Time

Hollywood wonder boy James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy and DC Comics' second Suicide Squad film) helms the adult themed and fantastic superhero comedy HBO MAX comedy series, Peacemaker: The Complete First Season (2022), which is a spin-off of the character seen in Suicide Squad (2021) and played by John Cena. In my opinion, this is probably the best super hero series out there at the moment as it's pretty funny as well as full of really cool superhero moments and humor and keeps you wanting to see the next episode. This series to be feels like one that came out of creativity and passion for the character and not so much geared towards making a buck, and I think that shows. Mr. Gunn has a lot of passion for superhero characters and has a good knack for humanizing them and showing them as real people and not just otherworldly vigilantes.

Not for the kiddies, this superhero show is definitely R-rated and crafts the tale of Peacemaker (Cena) who is thought to be dead after his fight with Bloodsport (Idris Elba) in the 2021 Suicide Squad. As he deals with his supervillain Dad (Robert Patrick), he soon becomes entangled with an alien threat that only he, and his trusty pet Eagly, can help solve along with a team of other wild characters including Adebayo, Harcourt, John Economos, Vigilante, and Murn to name a few.

Episodes include A Whole New Whirled, Best Friends or Never, Better Goff Dead, The Choad Less Traveled, Monkey Dory, Murn After Reading, Stop Dragon My Heart Around, and It's Cow or Never (which features a cameo from The Justice League.)

The series also stars Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, Chukwudi Iwuji, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick. James Gunn wrote all eight episodes of Peacemaker and directed five, including the first. Gunn, Peter Safran and Matt Miller serve as executive producers on the series. This is the first series that Gunn has helmed and he and producer Peter Safran are now the head honchos at DC Entertainment. This project basically solidified that they can deliver fan approved material.

Peacemaker is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) soundmix. The show looks and sounds as cinematic as a movie and has a substantial budget and production design team behind it, like all of Gunn's work. This is top notch! Too bad its not on 4K UHD!

Special Features are plentiful including:

Making the World Safe for Violence: Peacemaker's Team

Bad Daddy Issues: Peacemakers Search for Inner Peace

Gag Reel

Peacemaker: Under the Helmet

Project Butterfly Team Members Featurettes

On Set with Steve Agee

Dramatic Comic Book Readings with Chukwudi Iwuji

Unlocking the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area

Peacemaker and Vigilante: BFFs

So, What Do You Really Think of Peacemaker?

Danielle Brooks Explains the DC Universe

Keep the Tweets

Dance for Peace

and How to Properly Give a F*ck

Other DC television projects have hit the market as well. All of these shows are going to be revamped and reconstructed under the new leadership of Warner Bros./Discovery and so these will be funny to look back on a decade from now to see the growth. One big mistake all of these DC shows made was that they didn't really connect to each or seem to even exist in the same fictional world, this is now planned to be remedied under James Gunn's leadership where movies, games, and shows will all inter-connect, which this reviewer feels strengthens the brand as a whole and makes it feel more unified as opposed to these all mediocre television series that all have interesting moments and aspects to them, but none of which are very memorable.

When the CW's Arrow first aired in 2012, it had some strong momentum behind it with fans and it spawned The Flash series and others, but the CW went way too crazy with way too many shows (Supergirl, Batwoman, Legends of the Tomorrow, and others) and things got a bit muddy and confused.

If nothing else, DC Comics and Warner Bros. must feel (at the time of this article it is 2022) that all of those millions spent were an experiment of sorts. While Zack Snyder has a lot of fans that love him, there are an equal amount of fans that dislike his darker approach to some of the material that he chose (even if his big screen casting was spot on to say the least.)

At this point in the time, the superhero movie genre is feeling a bit stretched and played out since it's boom in the 2000s and so while we once held a bit more awe and wonder how these properties, some of them have gotten pretty safe and stale. Even Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe has its hits and misses, as apposed to the glory pre-Covid days where they had constant hits for the most part.

Let's hope that James Gunn has what it takes to bring some DC characters and stories to life that haven't been seen by the general public before. There is certainly decades of comic book material to pull from.

Superman fans will want to check out the Superman and Lois series in its Second Season with Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch in the leads. The series isn't terrible, but its still hard for a casual Superman fan like myself to compare this is to the bigger budgeted Superman fare that has spoiled me with its bigger imagination and effects, especially Man of Steel, which this reviewer feels was a bit underrated. For what it is, Superman and Lois is fine as an episodical serial for television, and not as dark as the Zack Snyder films. Where Snyder films are Coca-Cola, this is Pepsi. You either prefer one take on Superman or the other.

Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin (Supergirl, Arrow), Elizabeth Tulloch (Supergirl, Grimm), Jordan Elsass (Little Fires Everywhere), Alex Garfin (New Amsterdam), Erik Valdez (Graceland), Inde Navarrette (13 Reasons Why), Wole Parks (All American), Tayler Buck (Tyler Perry's Assisted Living), Sofia Hasmik (All the Bright Places), with Dylan Walsh (Blue Bloods) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage). Based on the DC characters, and Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the series was developed by Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash, Batwoman, Supergirl) and Todd Helbing (The Flash, Black Sails), who executive produce alongside Sarah Schechter (All American, Riverdale), Geoff Johns (Titans, DC's Stargirl, Wonder Woman) and David Madden (Kung Fu, Save the Last Dance).

15 episodes include What Lies Beneath, The Ties that Bind, The Thing in the Mines, The Inverse Method, Girl... You'll Be a Woman Soon, Tried and True, Anti-Hero, Into Oblivion, 30 Days and 30 Nights, Bizarros in a Bizarro World, Truth and Consequences, Lies that Bind, All is Lost, Worlds War Bizarre, and Waiting for Superman.

Superman and Lois is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.20:1 and English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mixes, both of which look and sound great here. No annoying network watermarks or commercials here, which is nice and allows you to enjoy the filmmaking more.

Special Features: Fractured: The Heart of Bizarro and The DC Heroes: Path to Glory.

Lastly, Titans is set in the Batman universe and is now in its Third Season. The HBO MAX series features Jason Todd's journey as Robin to becoming Red Hood and facing off with the Scarecrow and Batgirl as well. While it's better than the CW DC shows and has a bit more violence and grit to it, I feel like Titans is still lacking compared to the Zack Snyder films, and feels kind of like a fan that has a lot of money made something with cosplayers.

The series stars Brenton Thwaites, Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter, and Curran Walters.

13 Episodes include Barbara Gordon, Red Hood, Hank and Dove, Backfire, Lady Vic, 51 percent, Home, Souls, Troubled Water, The Call is Coming From Inside the House, Prodigal, and Purple Rain.

Titans is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.00:1 and lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) soundmixes, both of are of a high standard for the format.

Special Features (per the press release):

TITANS EXPANDED: Sit down with the cast and showrunners of Titans as they cover all the new characters and elements of Season 3.

TITANS: WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS: Step into the world of the Titans as we get a glimpse behind the scenes of how the look, feel, and texture of Season 3 came to life.

Training a Metahuman: A behind the scenes look at training the Titans, the young metahuman heroes, with Stunt Coordinator Larnell Stovall and cast members Brenton Thwaites, Mame-Anna Diop, Ryan Potter, Curran Walters, Damaris Lewis, Joshua Orpin, and Savannah Welch.

Looking the Part: L.J. Shannon, Specialty Costume Designer, reveals her design process and explains how she worked to match the looks and actions from the comic books. This featurette includes executive producer Greg Walker and cast members Brenton Thwaites, Mame-Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter, Curran Walters, Damaris Lewis, and Joshua Orpin.

Inside the Character: Red Hood: A behind-the-scenes look at the new anti-hero character Red Hood as portrayed by Curran Walters.

Inside the Character: Barbara Gordon: A behind-the-scenes look at the character of Barbara Gordan as portrayed by Savannah Welch.

and Welcome to Gotham: A behind-the-scenes exploration of iconic Gotham City with cast members Brenton Thwaites, Mame-Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter, Curran Walters, and executive producer Greg Walker, art director Khanh Quach, director Boris Mojsovski, and producer/director Carol Banker.

- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/