Mr. Terrific Appreciation 2021- A man with an aptitude for aptitudes

[Jabare]

People have been saying a young Denzel would be the ideal Mr Terrific for years, but that ship has sailed. Shoot a Young Denzel would be ideal for many roles.

Nate Parker is more a director producer these days. At present it’s very unlikely DC would pursue him, for reasons previously mentioned

[Customizer]

Nah man, Isaiah is the perfect John Stewart.

The perfect Michael Holt is Nate Parker. He has that rectangular skull



If only he wasn't an accused rapist.

Wow.

I didn't realize this was still following him despite being acquitted ( to be fair i don't follow Nate Parker news at all).

Parents... teach and protect your sons with all you have. The very accusation can ruin you in the west.

[Jabare]

Not to keep sidetracking this, since people seem unaware, but Nate was not found guilty in a court of law, but he was found guilty in the court of public opinion. The woman at the heart of this committed suicide in 2012. News outlets revisiting that allegation and the current zeitgeist effectively tanked the film Birth of a Nation that was poised to do rather well. He's effectively blacklisted now for reasons that should be readily apparent for anyone familiar with Hollywood.

He's a talented actor, once uniquely positioned to compete for parts we've seen his contemporaries land in recent years. Despite collaborating with high-profile stars like Denzel and Chadwick, Nate Parker couldn't get out from under the allegation after it went mainstream, even if it was from 1999. He doesn't have the stardom or connects Cassey Affleck does, among other factors.

Nate is focusing his efforts on social justice subject matters, mainly through directing and producing. I believe his last Film American Skin saw a limited release. In Hollywood, one must continually evolve and reinvent oneself. Who is to say where he will be in the future but for now, Parker is canceled.

Here’s a controversial take I’m interested in getting other people's opinions on: I think Holt would be better off without the dead wife. I don’t really think the fridging adds anything to his character, and if I got the chance to make a rebooted version of Holt, I would simply erase his wife entirely. For me I think Holt could easily work as a character who went off and achieved every possible academic (his PhDs) and physical (Olympic Gold Medals) award humanely possible, and found himself unfulfilled. Then superheroes start to emerge and Holt sees a new challenge for himself: becoming the greatest hero ever. Basically how RDJ looked at action movie protagonists and said “I could do that” and then went on to be the heart of the largest film franchise ever, Holt decided to do that same thing but as a superhero. He should start off egotistical as hell, but talented enough to back it all up.

Well, I don't think your RDJ analogy works for numerous reasons. As for Michael Holt's wife, I'm indifferent. I love his core character right now. Meaning: his look, his modus operandi, and his capabilities.

Until we got the alternate reality version of Paula in the Terrifics, I don't know if I had an image of her in my head. That's to say her death isn't a fridging. It is part of his origin like Uncle Ben's murder, Bruce Wayne's parents' murders, Krypton exploding, etc. It's not the most original one, but it works. It's something readers can emphasize with.

I don't mind his wife's death going away, but what are you replacing it with? He's an Olympic-level athlete and a super genius. I don't love the idea of him becoming a superhero for the thrill or challenge because he was bored. That's a little too egotistical; he isn't Ironman. I prefer Michael's current reasoning for being a superhero. He believes in Fair Play and helping people. He lives in a world where being a Superhero is just more effective and practical, so why wouldn't he do it. If you're a genius in DC, you're either a superhero, super villain, or very adjacent to them in some way.

Eric Wallace, the writer for the short-lived Mr. Terrific book, was trying to craft a story where Michael was such a genius it got him into trouble in his personal life. He always thinks with his head and not his heart. I don't know if I like that idea, but it's an engaging premise.

So again, I don't mind DC removing the death of his wife; however, you've got to replace it with something that works better than an ego trip. The motivation that you're suggesting would be a significant change and lessen his character a little bit in my eyes. If you take that little nugget out, replace it with something that serves Mr. Terrific just as well or better.

I don't need my heroes to go through tragedy. I didn't think Miles Morales's mom needed to die in the Ultimate Universe, and it's something I don't like to see, but it's very effective for a good origin. I don't subscribe to the idea that all the best superhero origins need tragedy. But Michael's got to have something in there to anchor him as a solo character. It'd be different if he were part of an ensemble like the Fantastic Four or the X-men. Reed Richard's origin isn't that special, but he's got four other characters that compliment him. Plus, he has to live with turning Ben into a monster and the fact that he's a terrible husband

Right now, Michael is a tragic character. He married his soul mate, the love of his life. She died in a car accident. It wasn't fair, and Michael refocused and dedicated his life to superheroes as a result. I'm not saying it's the best origin, but it works well. Apologies for the ramble, but if you remove it you've got to fill the void.

[Frontier]

Here’s a controversial take I’m interested in getting other peoples opinions on: I think Holt would be better off without the dead wife. I don’t really think the fridging adds anything to his character, and if I got the chance to make a rebooted version of Holt, I would simply erase his wife entirely. For me I think Holt could easily work as a character who went off and achieved every possible academic (his PhDs) and physical (Olympic Gold Medals) award humanely possible, and found himself unfulfilled. Then superheroes start to emerge and Holt sees a new challenge for himself: becoming the greatest hero ever. Basically how RDJ looked at action movie protagonists and said “I could do that” and then went on to be the heart of the largest film franchise ever, Holt decided to do that same thing but as a superhero. He should start off egotistical as hell, but talented enough to back it all up.

I guess I'm coming at it from reading a lot of comic Terrific but I feel like Paula's death informed so much of the character that he wouldn't be the same without it.

Maybe if it was a Terrific in, like, a group setting like cartoons like JLU or JLA where they don't go that deep into his character, but otherwise I think it's important.

[Vordan]

Totally expected disagreement over it. I guess I’m just not convinced he couldn’t work without a dead loved one, but I also quite liked his interactions with his alternate universe wife in Yang’s Terrifics run, and his wife needs to be dead for that to work.

[lemonpeace]

Totally expected disagreement over it. I guess I’m just not convinced he couldn’t work without a dead loved one, but I also quite liked his interactions with his alternate universe wife in Yang’s Terrifics run, and his wife needs to be dead for that to work.

I think had we not gotten The Terrifics I wouldn't mind doing away with his wife/wife's death (I also agree with Jabare that it would need to be replaced with something that holds equal narrative/character weight in a way that just being bored with everything doesn't quite cut it) but I really enjoyed Ms. Terrific and their dynamic, and would love to see her brought back or do something similar again; which only works with his original wife being dead. on it's own I think Paula's death serves as a pretty solid point of origin for Mr. Terrific but the introduction of alternate Paulas (i.e Ms. Terrific) introduces further narrative potential that could be mined from not just his wife as an element of his origin but also as an actual character that can further inform Michael's characterization. which lends narrative merit to her death that I feel has significant value. now I don't know how much his characterization would change overall without it but I do think his narrative direction would be altered because his wife's death plays into ideas of grief, faith, mortality, and growth, layers of complexity that I feel have become pretty iconic to Mr. Terrific as a character. sure you can find ways to re-establish these themes via different story avenues but would that really be the most efficient way of further building this character?

[lemonpeace]

I am a firm believer that Milestone and the DC universe should forever be separate entities, but I'd be lying if I said a Mr. Terrifc and Hardware crossover wouldn't be an extremely fascinating read.

[Frontier]

I think had we not gotten The Terrifics I wouldn't mind doing away with his wife/wife's death (I also agree with Jabara that it would need to be replaced with something that holds equal narrative/character weight in a way that just being bored with everything doesn't quite cut it) but I really enjoyed Mrs. Terrific and their dynamic, and would love to see her brought back or do something similar again; which only works with his original wife being dead. on it's own I think Paula's death serves as a pretty solid point of origin for Mr. Terrific but the introduction of alternate Paulas (i.e Mrs. Terrific) introduces further narrative potential that could be mined from not just his wife as an element of his origin but also as an actual character that can further inform Michael's characterization. which lends narrative merit to her death that I feel has value. now I don't know how much his characterization would change overall without it but I do think his narrative direction would be altered because his wife's death plays into ideas of grief, faith, mortality, and growth, layers of complexity, in ways that I feel have become pretty iconic to Mr. Terrific. sure you can find ways to re-establish these themes via new avenues but would that really be the most efficient way of further building this character?

Arrow Mr. Terrific had a lot of writing issues, but maybe a dead husband would have prevented him from becoming Felicity 2.0.

[lemonpeace]

Yep Doomsday Clock made it definitive that Lex is #1 and Batman is #2. King though has been implying that Holt is actually smarter than both, but he’s keeping that to himself so they underestimate him. Holt is portrayed as smarter than Batman in Strange Adventures at least.

All the more reason to ignore the foolishness that is Doomsday Clock tbh. at least ignore a lot of the specifics given how superfluous most of the story is; it pretty much self destructs it's own continuity by the end anyway.

the idea that Bruce is one of the top 2 never makes any sense beyond people like Morrison and Johns using it for essentially metatextual or intertextual hype. I think what DC needs to do it drop the "3rd smartest man" thing all together, since that's partially what gives weight to the ranked "smartness" idea. it typically does more to paint Mr. Terrific as inferior to whoever the top 2 are (usually Batman and Lex Luthor who are very popular) than it does to paint him as particularely superior or exceptional compared to anyone else. of course, I can appreciate that some writers over the years have played it tongue-in-cheek and given a wink and a nod to the idea that Michael is actually smarter than his title implies, but it'd be better to simply let go of the novelty of that debate entirely. given what we know about intelligence, the whole ranking idea is pretty small brain for a character like Mr. Terrific who's supposed to be intellectual anyway. it's like saying "ya know how humans only use 10% of our brain? well, he's the man that can use 100%!", it undercuts his branding because someone smart like Mr. Terrific would recognize the silliness of using that statement to hype up his intelligence. if they'd lean into him being the worlds greatest polymath or "the man with an aptitude for aptitude", and dropped the #3 angle, it won't matter if a story like Doomsday Clock claims x characters are the #1 and #2 smartest in the world; since most stories overhype their protagonists/key characters. however now, from an intertextual stand point, Mr. Terrific isn't perpetuating the supremacy of other characters and can have more respect being put on his name so to speak.

[lemonpeace]

Arrow Mr. Terrific had a lot of writing issues, but maybe a dead husband would have prevented him from becoming Felicity 2.0.

Given the caliber of writing they were putting into Mr. Terrific on that show, I doubt it. everything of significant depth for Mr. Terrific were used so cavalier, I doubt even something as big as his husband's death would've brought him close to anything resembling a good character. Paula's death plays into his atheism (in part) and overall world view, similar to how his Olympian training plays into his physical prowess, but given how off-handedly Arrow threw out both his atheism and training, and then never even approached fleshing out or really selling those ideas, more likely than not even if Paul died Curtis would still have ended up Felicity jr; just with a pouty grief period.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Arrow Mr. Terrific had a lot of writing issues, but maybe a dead husband would have prevented him from becoming Felicity 2.0.

Doubtful. There's no way the CW would have allowed any character to be as remotely capable as Oliver

[DrNewGod]

I am a firm believer that Milestone and the DC universe should forever be separate entities, but I'd be lying if I said a Mr. Terrifc and Hardware crossover wouldn't be an extremely fascinating read.

Fully agree.

As for the lost spouse, it's not the only thing that could account for Mr. Terrific's characteristics and world view, but it makes for an understandable reason for him holding them.

[lemonpeace]

I dig this cover so much, definitely one of my favorite Mr. Terrific covers. I really need to read Strange Adventures. from what I can tell it's practically a stealth Mr. Terrific book.

[Vordan]

He is definitely the hero of the story going off of the last issue. I really enjoy how King writes him, wish he would do a Mr. Terrific mini that focuses on Holt and his world solely.

[Frontier]

I love me some good Mr. Terrific content, although I kind of hate the stealth protagonist trope...