DC Comics Developing Legion of Super-Heroes TV Show for HBO Max

[Superlad93]

It's being developed as an adult-animated series. Will this Jon be the Invincible of the DCAU? Hmm....

There's probably an excellent chance that they've got this on their minds, yeah.

Since apparently Bendis suggested Legion, my guess is that they were shopping around as asking for ways to get a Son of Superman animated show off the ground without it *just* being Invincible, thus Bendis likely raised his hand with this idea.

And it's pretty brilliant, honestly. Effectively turning the Invincible show into an ensemble, and also making the setting something totally new to this era of superhero TV. You effectively mix Invincible, X-Men, and Harry Potter into one show.

I mostly can't wait to get more New Krypton and Mon-El and Jon's dynamic.

[Superlad93]

My biggest question right now is what does this art style look like? It's an "adult-animated series" so my guess is that it's not going to look like My Adventures With Superman. And I doubt they'll be reusing the Young Justice style. Maybe they just full on try and emulate Invincible?

It would be absolutely HILARIOUS if this show makes Rogol Zaar super popular with non comic book fans lol I mean, clearly Bendis and the crew will be trimming down his story form his run and abridging it or full on changing it in places, but if Zaar does make it in and he's fleshed out in ways that Bendis didn't get the chance to, it would be funny if he got super popular.

Also, guess Jay's days as Jon's boyfriend are numbered, right? I mean, regardless of who Jon dates in the 31st century it's not going to be him. It'll be Saturn Girl or even Lightning Lad. Regardless, this is going to dictate what the general audience views on Jon's love life, and thus it'll likely reverberate back onto the comics and either that character will date Jon, or character similar to them will.

[Vordan]

And I guess Harley Quinn.

Btw the 2000's LoSH show is probably the most underrated comic book show ever.

I own the Complete Series Blu-Ray! That and The Batman were both solid shows that didn’t get as much attention as they deserved because of the DCAU overshadowing them.

I was hyped until I read it likely will be Jon.

This is the Superman franchise going forward: a character under DC's trademark/control. Feels like modern-day MLB where teams manipulate rookies' service time.

Clark is still getting MAWS and really if anyone is to blame for decoupling the Legion from Clark it’s Byrne. I’ll take a Super being connected to the Legion whether it’s Kal, Kara, Kon, or Jon.

[Frontier]

And great that they'll adapt at least the look of the Bendis Legion. At least the character won't look like some old guy's vision of the future in the 50's now.

I mean, they've been constantly redesigned by people who I assume weren't from the 50's and even Sook still took cues from their OG designs so I don't think that's a fair critique.

I'd rather the Legion look more like they do in YJ than Sook's designs myself.

It's being developed as an adult-animated series. Will this Jon be the Invincible of the DCAU? Hmm....

I wonder if it'll have a similar vibe.

Personally I would’ve preferred the Retroboot and gone with Clark but I always said that Bendis Legion was likely going to be the Legion they went with. After all he already did the racebending for him .

It's just weird to me that his run barely started before it ended and didn't do that well commercially yet they're basing a cartoon off of it. I mean, I guess it goes to show that Bendis really did get himself a good deal with DC in the long-run.

If the “more adult” means more explicit sex and not just peoples limbs getting torn off then I’m all for it. The soap opera aspect will serve the team well I believe, and the team of the future having more LGBT members will probably widen their appeal.

I'm fine with sex although I'd rather not see the Legion sleeping around instead of building up the classic romances, but I'm not really expecting that from something based on Bendis' take.

Look at the other animated media: they’ve never adapted stories panel for panel (unless you’re Batman) and I don’t expect them to do that here either. They’ll use Bendis as the base but I fully expect them to blaze their own trail if this gets beyond Season 1.

Yeah, and they don't even have much source material to base it off of.

S&L and this have Jon as a teen, the DTV is likely going to be the only Jon adaption with him as a kid. On the whole the trend is very much towards having Jon as an adult/teenager, not a little 10 year old.

I think there are different variations of "teen" we're talking about here, of course neither of which is really "adult Jon" in my opinion. I think his media depictions haven't quite solidified into skewing one way or another.

My biggest question right now is what does this art style look like? It's an "adult-animated series" so my guess is that it's not going to look like My Adventures With Superman. And I doubt they'll be reusing the Young Justice style. Maybe they just full on try and emulate Invincible?

I could see it looking like YJ if not like a direct copy of the aesthetic/art style since it would fit an adult animated series about teenagers/young adults and that Invincible vibe. I'm not sure what Phil Bourassa is doing these days (I don't think he's part of the current season of YJ).

It would be absolutely HILARIOUS if this show makes Rogol Zaar super popular with non comic book fans lol I mean, clearly Bendis and the crew will be trimming down his story form his run and abridging it or full on changing it in places, but if Zaar does make it in and he's fleshed out in ways that Bendis didn't get the chance to, it would be funny if he got super popular.

Assuming they get far enough to the Fatal Five they could just make him Persuader. Probably would completely revamp him (which wouldn't be the first time a cartoon did better by a Bendis story/character than Bendis actually did).

Also, guess Jay's days as Jon's boyfriend are numbered, right? I mean, regardless of who Jon dates in the 31st century it's not going to be him. It'll be Saturn Girl or even Lightning Lad. Regardless, this is going to dictate what the general audience views on Jon's love life, and thus it'll likely reverberate back onto the comics and either that character will date Jon, or character similar to them will.

Well, this and SM&L.

I assume they'll probably have the JonxSaturn Girl relationship happen again. I worry about Lightning Lad, but when you mention it would be kind of hilarious if he chooses Garth over her .

[DochaDocha]

Clark is still getting MAWS and really if anyone is to blame for decoupling the Legion from Clark it’s Byrne. I’ll take a Super being connected to the Legion whether it’s Kal, Kara, Kon, or Jon.

I hear you. One of the bummers of Justice League vs. the Fatal Five is its lack of Super connection. Something is better than nothing, but I'm admittedly greedy.

[Frontier]

I hear you. One of the bummers of Justice League vs. the Fatal Five is its lack of Super connection. Something is better than nothing, but I'm admittedly greedy.

Although we did get some science smarts from Superman, which was nice .

[Vordan]

There's probably an excellent chance that they've got this on their minds, yeah.

Since apparently Bendis suggested Legion, my guess is that they were shopping around as asking for ways to get a Son of Superman animated show off the ground without it *just* being Invincible, thus Bendis likely raised his hand with this idea.

And it's pretty brilliant, honestly. Effectively turning the Invincible show into an ensemble, and also making the setting something totally new to this era of superhero TV. You effectively mix Invincible, X-Men, and Harry Potter into one show.

I mostly can't wait to get more New Krypton and Mon-El and Jon's dynamic.

Apparently they just asked Bendis what he wanted to do after accepting his Cover pitch and he’s the one who suggested LoSH. Don’t think they were planning on doing anything with Jon before Bendis pitched them the idea of using his run.

My biggest question right now is what does this art style look like? It's an "adult-animated series" so my guess is that it's not going to look like My Adventures With Superman. And I doubt they'll be reusing the Young Justice style. Maybe they just full on try and emulate Invincible?

Maybe they’ll try emulating Sook’s animated style? All depends on how much money this is going to get to be made. Would love to see them attempt to emulate Sook anyway.

It would be absolutely HILARIOUS if this show makes Rogol Zaar super popular with non comic book fans lol I mean, clearly Bendis and the crew will be trimming down his story form his run and abridging it or full on changing it in places, but if Zaar does make it in and he's fleshed out in ways that Bendis didn't get the chance to, it would be funny if he got super popular.

Like Frontier said I could see them merging Zaar and Persuader together. Rogal has some interesting ideas, bringing on some new writers to take a stab at him might help him succeed as a character.

Also, guess Jay's days as Jon's boyfriend are numbered, right? I mean, regardless of who Jon dates in the 31st century it's not going to be him. It'll be Saturn Girl or even Lightning Lad. Regardless, this is going to dictate what the general audience views on Jon's love life, and thus it'll likely reverberate back onto the comics and either that character will date Jon, or character similar to them will.

We’ve all been guessing Jay isn’t going to be Jon’s one true love, this might just convince DC not to try to make him into that. My guess is Jon’s bisexuality will be first showcased here, he’ll date Irma to start no doubt, then he’ll have a boyfriend at some point. Dunno how that will affect comics Jon.

[Superlad93]

I could see it looking like YJ if not like a direct copy of the aesthetic/art style since it would fit an adult animated series about teenagers/young adults and that Invincible vibe. I'm not sure what Phil Bourassa is doing these days (I don't think he's part of the current season of YJ).

Unless it's set in the world, I seriously doubt it. That aesthetic itself is even a holdover from the now gone Justice League War look. If they do make it look like anything aside from its own thing, then it'll probably be the Man of Tomorrow aesthetic, or something close to it. Again, if they don't go with something totally new to set it apart like they're doing with My Adventures With Superman and The Batman show.

This may end up being the first vanguard of the potential Post-Crisis DCAU if the Crisis movie goes down as rumored. A DCAU that doesn't function within the animated movies, but also the new wave of animated TV shows too. That could then potentially lead to a Jon Kent-Superman animated movie spin off.

Assuming they get far enough to the Fatal Five they could just make him Persuader. Probably would completely revamp him (which wouldn't be the first time a cartoon did better by a Bendis story/character than Bendis actually did).

Well, he is very clearly intended as a revamp of Persuader already. Bendis just didn't get the chance to tell his full story since so many plans changed while he was doing it. But making Persuader turn out to be Jor-El's bastard son who grew up to destroy Krypton then go into seclusion for a thousand years only to find that a New Krypton has shown up and with it his nephew is a strong origin that'll mean more to a viewer than anything any of the Five have ever been.

Well, this and SM&L.

I doubt it given the fact that Jordan's basically taken everything that meaningfully would identify Jon as Jon aside from his name.

[Confuzzled]

We’ve all been guessing Jay isn’t going to be Jon’s one true love, this might just convince DC not to try to make him into that. My guess is Jon’s bisexuality will be first showcased here, he’ll date Irma to start no doubt, then he’ll have a boyfriend at some point. Dunno how that will affect comics Jon.

He could date Shvaughn/Sean Erin who could be more genderfluid and keep phasing between female and male presentations.

Though I don't get why Jay is obviously not Jon's OTL. He's Lois Jr. and has superpowers to take care of himself. At the least, he's Jon's Barbara Gordon.

[Adekis]

Literally giving the Legion of Super-Heroes adaptation to the doofus who made Mon-El a Kryptonian bigamist and made Cosmic Boy a bloody one-percenter!

Disgusting.

[Frontier]

Maybe they’ll try emulating Sook’s animated style? All depends on how much money this is going to get to be made. Would love to see them attempt to emulate Sook anyway.

I guess we'll finally see how well Sook's designs adapt outside his own work.

Unless it's set in the world, I seriously doubt it. That aesthetic itself is even a holdover from the now gone Justice League War look. If they do make it look like anything aside from its own thing, then it'll probably be the Man of Tomorrow aesthetic, or something close to it. Again, if they don't go with something totally new to set it apart like they're doing with My Adventures With Superman and The Batman show.

This may end up being the first vanguard of the potential Post-Crisis DCAU if the Crisis movie goes down as rumored. A DCAU that doesn't function within the animated movies, but also the new wave of animated TV shows too. That could then potentially lead to a Jon Kent-Superman animated movie spin off.

Well, they've used Bourassa's designs or stuff close to it across a few different productions (the DTV's, YJ, the Arrowverse animated works) but it probably depends on the approach and tone they want to go with. I would expect something more in that vein for an adult animated cartoon than something like MAWS.

I also think they're probably just looking at this as a standalone production.

Well, he is very clearly intended as a revamp of Persuader already. Bendis just didn't get the chance to tell his full story since so many plans changed while he was doing it. But making Persuader turn out to be Jor-El's bastard son who grew up to destroy Krypton then go into seclusion for a thousand years only to find that a New Krypton has shown up and with it his nephew is a strong origin that'll mean more to a viewer than anything any of the Five have ever been.

That sounds a little convoluted for what might be the characters' first introduction (and divorced from the present-day where he'd be more relevant). I think they could probably just portray him as an anti-Kryptonian Supremacist.

Although at the end of the day what matters for the FF is making them look cool and intimidating.

I doubt it given the fact that Jordan's basically taken everything that meaningfully would identify Jon as Jon aside from his name.

But people still acknowledge that version as Jon and he's fairly popular.

He could date Shvaughn/Sean Erin who could be more genderfluid and keep phasing between female and male presentations.

Though I don't get why Jay is obviously not Jon's OTL. He's Lois Jr. and has superpowers to take care of himself. At the least, he's Jon's Barbara Gordon.

So are we just going to make it Jon's thing that he steals other Legionnaire's love interests ?

[Vordan]

He could date Shvaughn/Sean Erin who could be more genderfluid and keep phasing between female and male presentations.

Though I don't get why Jay is obviously not Jon's OTL. He's Lois Jr. and has superpowers to take care of himself. At the least, he's Jon's Barbara Gordon.

Maybe they’ll just turn the Legion into a harem dating show for Jon (I do hope they have him be in multiple relationships with other Legionnaires and explore 31st century sexuality). Jay being Jon’s one true love would be boring as **** for precisely the very reason that Jon falling in love with a “reporter” the same way Clark did is unbelievably lame. I don’t want Jon to copy his dad’s love life. People have been speculating that Jay might turn out to be Jon’s first villain but we’ll see.

[Superlad93]

Don’t think they were planning on doing anything with Jon before Bendis pitched them the idea of using his run.

Given the fact that 5G was in part created to be multimedia adaptable, I'm going to assume that at the very least they were quite open to the idea of seeing what they could do with him.

We’ve all been guessing Jay isn’t going to be Jon’s one true love, this might just convince DC not to try to make him into that. My guess is Jon’s bisexuality will be first showcased here, he’ll date Irma to start no doubt, then he’ll have a boyfriend at some point. Dunno how that will affect comics Jon.

I'm assuming first off we'll be seeing a lot more of Bendis' Legion in the coming years. And that we'll be seeing them crossover or pop in and out of Jon's Superman book. This will likely bond Jon with the Legion as an idea for the foreseeable future. In terms of love interests? They may make his love interest come from the future to stay will him, and that'll be the back and forth bond for the IPs?

[Superlad93]

Well, they've used Bourassa's designs or stuff close to it across a few different productions (the DTV's, YJ, the Arrowverse animated works) but it probably depends on the approach and tone they want to go with. I would expect something more in that vein for an adult animated cartoon than something like MAWS.

What Bendis said on Twitter about the tone https://twitter.com/BRIANMBENDIS/sta...72736788688897

"thanks everyone! for your records, 'animation for adults' doesn't mean porn. I mean, sure it could BUT in this case I promise you it means sci fi with mature themes and content. for example, to me, 5 years later/ the great darkness saga are both in that category."

That sounds a little convoluted for what might be the characters' first introduction (and divorced from the present-day where he'd be more relevant). I think they could probably just portray him as an anti-Kryptonian Supremacist.

Regardless, I'm betting he'll still be half Kryptonian since it'll both explain his strength and work as a mirror for Jon.

[Frontier]

Maybe they’ll just turn the Legion into a harem dating show for Jon (I do hope they have him be in multiple relationships with other Legionnaires and explore 31st century sexuality). Jay being Jon’s one true love would be boring as **** for precisely the very reason that Jon falling in love with a “reporter” the same way Clark did is unbelievably lame. I don’t want Jon to copy his dad’s love life. People have been speculating that Jay might turn out to be Jon’s first villain but we’ll see.

Now I'm imagining Jon as DCAU Batman with the amount of people who want to get into his pants .

What Bendis said on Twitter about the tone https://twitter.com/BRIANMBENDIS/sta...72736788688897

"thanks everyone! for your records, 'animation for adults' doesn't mean porn. I mean, sure it could BUT in this case I promise you it means sci fi with mature themes and content. for example, to me, 5 years later/ the great darkness saga are both in that category.".

I still feel like that would be doable with an all ages cartoon, but hopefully the quality and storytelling warrant it.