TV’s Not-So-Super Superheroes

In recent years Marvel superhero movies have dominated the big screen and it wasn’t so long ago that Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies had fanboys and critics swooning in unison... uniswooning if you will. This thirst for costume-clad crime-fighters shows no signs of abating with Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron sequel slated for next year and Warner Bros.’ DC Comics-inspired behemoth, Batman v Superman to follow in 2016.

There have been several attempts to transfer the larger than life adventures of superheroes to the small screen over the years too; the classic camp Batman series of the 60s, Lynda-Carter-in-hot-pants in the 70s (or Wonder Woman as more well-rounded human beings may refer to it), Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno’s iconic turn as the two sides of The Incredible Hulk and who could forget (no matter how hard we try) The New Adventures of Superman in the 90s.

The latest series to bring the world of comic book characters to TV are Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Gotham. However, this time there is a difference; the significant and deliberate omission of the superheroes that make this genre so popular.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. follows a team of specialist operatives working for the agency headed up by Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and lead by Phil Coulson – a familiar character from most of the Marvel movies. The plot of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been intricately intertwined with the events of the Marvel movies – most notably with the recent Captain America: The Winter Soldier. While this is admirable for continuity and on a ‘universe-creating’ level you can’t help but feel that the show has suffered as a result.

While the early first series episodes dealt mostly with the team responding to small threats and ‘villain-of-week’ plotlines, now, in series two, the ‘big bad’ is Hydra; a sprawling evil empire created by the Red Skull set on world domination. And you just can’t help but think – “where are Iron Man, Captain America, Thor et al while this is going on? Hell, I’d even take Hawkeye at this point, and he’s rubbish”.

However, despite being somewhat hamstrung by its lack of superheroes, the show remains watchable in a throwaway, eye-candy kind of way. Much of this is down to the cast, who deliver series creator Joss Whedon’s trademark quipy dialogue with conviction not to mention being undeniably easy on the eye. And frankly, as a fan of the Marvel movies, the series remains watchable because you’re just waiting for it to get good, to pull a rabbit (or superhero) out of the hat and blow us nerds away. Still waiting though.

Gotham on the other hand is a very different take on the world of comic books. Based in the world of Batman, Gotham is set right at the start of Bruce Wayne’s story – immediately after his parents are murdered. The show centres on James Gordon, an idealistic ‘Boy Scout’ detective who, as we all know, will go on to become Gary Oldman... sorry, Commissioner Gordon.

While a pre-pubescent Bruce Wayne wrestles with his parents’ murder, the series introduces us to other young incarnations of familiar faces from the Batman universe, namely a whole raft of future super-villains. And while these burgeoning bad guys and gals hone their evil ways, Detective James Gordon goes about his business, taking on the mob and police corruption on the mean streets of Gotham.

And y’know what? Despite the odd patchy episode and poorly realised character (Gordon’s girlfriend, I’m looking at you), it kind of works. The production design is spot on, gloomily setting an over-arching grimy and sinister tone while being just bright enough to steer clear of the utterly humourless nature of Nolan’s Batman realisation.

A nice balance of dark themes with comic book camp is usually struck – one episode features a killer who ties victims to a weather balloon before setting them off into the sky, which was very reminiscent of the gleefully dark humour of Tim Burton’s Batman movie.

However, it’s the performances of the cast that really sells the show. Ben McKenzie (still best known for The O.C.) holds the whole thing together as James Gordon and is convincingly heroic and earnest while Donal Logue (who you might remember from the very first Marvel Studios-licensed movie, Blade) offers a more world-weary take on law enforcement. Both are excellent and are ably supported by relative new-comer Robin Lord Taylor as the young Penguin, who is most prominent of the super-villains-in-waiting in the series so far, and Jada Pinket Smith as a character not from the comics, Fish Mooney. I’m looking forward to the episode where Fish gets fed to the Pengiun. It’s gonna happen people.

In this age of blockbusting superhero feature films being released several times a year it’s very difficult for TV shows, with TV budgets, to compete and that is very apparent in the case of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which feels small-scale and somewhat lacklustre even though, in TV terms at least, it is quite a spectacle. This is where Gotham succeeds though – it was no doubt something of a risk to plunge into the Batman universe while omitting the Dark Knight himself, not to mention taking a ‘Muppet Babies’ approach to casting. But it’s paid off, while Marvel currently rules the cinema box office, it’s DC who currently hold the upper hand on the small screen.

You can catch Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fridays at 8pm on Channel 4 and Gotham can be found on Channel 5 on Mondays at 9pm. And for fans of retro superhero fun, the classic The Incredible Hulk is currently scheduled on Horror Channel and the very same channel will be showing Lynda Carter in all her star-spangled-hot-pants glory as Wonder Woman in the New Year.