Screen Rant Best of 2018

SCREEN RANT BEST OF 2018

2018 was my second year as a Features writer for Screen Rant and this was the year I finally felt like I came into my own, especially in the latter half. Writing about Marvel, DC, and all the nerdy things I like - and being paid for it - is a privilege I'm very lucky to have. And while Marvel, DC, and Star Wars pay the bills, this year I was fortunate to diversify my subject matter and write about a lot of the other movies and television shows that interest me, which was particularly satisfying and something I plan to do even more of in 2019.

I wrote 255 Features in 2018 for a total of 471 since I began in January 2017 - for a guy who liked to review a few movies a month tops on this very blog, this is an output that staggers and surprises me. But I'm very proud of my growing body of work and I think I've improved immensely as a writer. I thank my very British editors Alex Leadbeater and Hannah Shaw-Williams for honing my skills the way Superman can crush a piece of coal and find a diamond inside. Or at least a very shiny cubic zirconia. 

Below is my selection of the Screen Rant Features I'm proudest of for a variety of reasons; mainly because I feel like with these, I brought the goods to a fun smorgasbord of nerdy subjects. I would call this my favorite and best work in 2018. Thanks to everyone who has read my Features and I hope they were worth the click. Onward to 2019 and year three - the best is yet to come!

BLACK MIRROR: BANDERSNATCH: ALL 5 ENDINGS EXPLAINED
(AND HOW TO GET THEM)

BUMBLEBEE IS A REMAKE OF THE ORIGINAL TRANSFORMERS (BUT MUCH BETTER)

EVERY TRANSFORMERS MOVIE RANKED, INCLUDING BUMBLEBEE

TRANSFORMERS COMPLETE MOVIE TIMELINE: FROM 4.5 BILLION B.C. TO 2018

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW MIDSEASON FINALE EXPLAINED AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

THE GIFTED SEASON 2 FALL FINALE EXPLAINED:
THE MUTANT UPRISING HAS BEGUN

 

THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL ENDING EXPLAINED: WHOSE SIDE IS CHARLIE ON?

THE GIFTED HAS NO PROFESSOR X - AND THAT'S A GOOD THING

ALL 8 ROCKY AND CREED MOVIES RANKED: FROM 1976 TO 2018

THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS: ALL 6 ENDINGS EXPLAINED

THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB TRIED TO TURN LISBETH SALANDER INTO JAMES BOND (AND FAILED)

RANKING ALL THE LISBETH SALANDER FILMS:
FROM DRAGON TATTOO TO SPIDER'S WEB

THE GIFTED: THE MUTANT UNDERGROUND ARE THE X-MEN'S WORST OPTION

 

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE: EVERY EPISODE RANKED

DAREDEVIL SEASON 3 FIXED SEASON 2'S BIGGEST MISTAKES

HOW THE ARROWVERSE CAN MAKE SMALLVILLE CANON

REMOVING ZACK SNYDER'S MOVIES FROM CANON SOLVES THE DCEU'S PROBLEMS

JACK RYAN'S ENDING AND SEASON 2 SET UP EXPLAINED

RANKING ALL THE VERY DIFFERENT JACK RYAN MOVIES

THE MCU KEEPS AVOIDING NEW YORK CITY - AND THAT'S A GOOD THING

 

THE AVENGERS WOULD HAVE WON INFINITY WAR WITH JUST ONE DIFFERENT DECISION

TOM CRUISE'S MOST EXTREME MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE STUNTS
(AND HOW HE DID THEM)

GLOW SEASON 3 WILL DELIVER THE GLOW FANS KNOW

 SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME WILL DELIVER ON AN ANDREW GARFIELD PROMISE

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR WAS WORTH THE 10 YEAR WAIT

DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW IS NOW THE BEST ARROWERSE SHOW

ALICIA VIKANDER IS A BETTER LARA CROFT THAN ANGELINA JOLIE

BLACK PANTHER: WAS KILLMONGER THE RIGHTFUL KING OF WAKANDA?

 

IS STAR TREK: DISCOVERY ANY GOOD? YES, IT'S INCREDIBLE

MARVEL'S AGENTS OF SHIELD'S FITZSIMMONS IS THE BEST LOVE STORY IN THE MCU

Smallville: Season 11 #19 - "Detective"

ROLL CALL:

SUPERMAN! LOIS LANE! THE BATMAN! THE PRANKSTER! MR. FREEZE! JOE CHILL! THE TOYMAN!

Contrary to popular belief, Superman has weaknesses. Kryptonite, obviously. Magic. Lack of yellow sun radiation or exposure to red sun radiation. If you have any or all of those items, you can beat Superman. Theoretically, you can even kill him. But even with such, one needs to exploit what is perhaps Superman's greatest weakness: Overconfidence.

In Stryker's Island prison, Winslow Schlott, the Toyman, is paid a visit by Lois Lane. How does a Toyman get so lucky? Lois, probably the sexiest woman in Metropolis, decides to go to a maximum security federal penitentiary wearing a skintight, sexy dress. How does a Toyman get so lucky? Lois is here for answers about Oswald Loomis, the Prankster, and how Toyman ties into this whole mess with the Intergang weapons using Lexcorp microtech. She came to the right cell, the cell of the Toyman of Exposition. Toyman reminds her of the last couple of times they tangled on television, and how he used to work for Lex when Lex was dead, a clone trying to regrow himself, and not actually a castmember of the television show but they found ways to fudge around it. Toyman also reminds her and everyone that he knows the Blur... pardon, Superman... is her beau Clark Kent, and they have an arrangement. Schlott is no fan of Oswald Loomis, "the Salieri to his Mozart", and hey, I finally have something in common with the Toyman. Well, two things: we've also both seen Amadeus. (I prefer the theatrical cut to the longer director's cut.)

So, Toyman's theory is that Prankster has been trying to visit him in Stryker's to gain his approval. Toyman and Prankster were both R&D science nerds for Oliver Queen before Toyman jumped ship to work for Luthorcorp. I don't suppose he had to go very far after Queen Industries and Luthorcorp merged so that Queen did his business out of the Luthorcorp building. Toyman also believes that Prankster is "copycatting" him, which means he's using meteor rocks in whatever evil toys, er, pranks he's making. Actually, for a "prankster", The Prankster isn't doing a lot of pranking. He is doing a lot of shooting with guns.

Back at the Suicide Slum not-so-safe-anymore-house of Joe Chill, it's time for action! And some jokes. And cold puns. But mostly action! The Batman and Superman are being shot at by The Prankster and Mr. Freeze. Hey, Mr. Freeze coming to kill Joe Chill, that's pretty cool. (I'm so sorry. Won't do that again.) Superman is fast enough to move Chill out of the way of the bullets and freeze ray headed their way, while the Batman has plenty of things in his utility belt to make the walls and ceiling of the room explode. This buys Superman and Batman time to quip.

Superman and Batman also have time to explain to each other that Mr. Freeze isn't normally a hitman and his freeze technology seems to have been given an upgrade by Prankster. Prankster also utilizes this time to helpfully explain to the World's Finest Team that he's now acting as a hitman to impress his Intergang bosses so they see him "as a worthy investment". Because, you know, he's the Prankster. I'd question why we hired the Prankster too, if I were Intergang. Okay, so, exposition is out of the way, back to fighting. Superman orders Batman to get the man who murdered his mommy and daddy to safety lest he be murdered.

Beautiful. Batman skedaddles to keep safe the very man whose greed and gunshots stole all sense from his life. Meanwhile, defying all rhyme or reason, it's the Prankster, not Mr. Freeze, who delivers a terrible cold pun about Mr. Freeze being in this for the "cold, hard cash" as Superman fights them off. Superman appreciates the pun even less than the freeze ray aimed at him. The Prankster fires off three of the meteor rock bullets Toyman alluded to in prison and they zip past the Man of Steel after Joe Chill. These bullets act a lot like Darkseid's Omega Effect beams.

The Batman, probably secretly fuming about keeping Joe Chill from eating three Kryptonite powered bullets in the chest, uses even more fancy exploding things from his utility belt at the bullets, but the bullets keep on coming. So Batman pulls the same trick he once used on Vickie Vale in his 1989 movie and has Chill attach a Batline to his belt that zips him upwards while the Batman tries another doohickey from his belt and takes the brunt of the bullets exploding.

Meanwhile, Superman thinks he has Prankster and Freeze well in hand. Which brings us back to what I said earlier about overconfidence. Superman has too much of it. When Prankster rearms his hand cannon and fires three more bullets at the Man of Steel, Superman assumes Heat Vision will solve the problem. But not this glowing, green, alien, radioactive problem.

Uh oh. Is this the end for the Man of Steel? Yes, of course it is. Cancel the rest of this series, Superman died in a room in Suicide Slum in issue 19 of Smallville: Season 11. Alas, there will be no tomorrow for the Man of Tomorrow. Also, cancel the next Batman movie, because Mr. Freeze has just gotten revenge for the terrible Batman and Robin movie, as Freeze finds the Batman recovering from surviving the explosion and blasts him with his freeze ray. And Freeze still didn't use a cold pun!

If I had to guess how Superman and Batman would finally bite it in their first Smallville team up adventure together, I'd never in a million years have guessed "spanked by Mr. Freeze and the Prankster in Suicide Slum."  But they're dead now. They must be. It'll be up to Green Arrow and Nightwing to avenge their deaths next week, I guess...

Smallville: Season 11 #18 - "Detective"

ROLL CALL:

SUPERMAN! THE BATMAN! LEX LUTHOR! THE GREEN ARROW! TESS MERCER! OTIS! JOE CHILL! THE PRANKSTER! MR. FREEZE!

What's better than Superman and Batman beating the bejeezus out of each other? Superman and Batman teaming up. Buddy buddy. Real friendly-like. This week we really get the World's Finest team. It's like all the old covers from the 1940s without Superman and Batman riding bombs, plugging war bonds, and all the blatantly racist overtones. Therefore, it's so much better.

With the Batsignal high over the skies of Metropolis, the Batman arrives on the rooftop source of the signal to find Superman waiting for him. Superman knows enough about the Batman that this is the specific way to call a meeting with him. Superman also knows Batman and Nightwing located Joe Chill's safehouse in Suicide Slum.

You know what's great about this? In recent times, the traditional way to depict Batman and Superman seems to be that Batman's the brains and Superman's the flying muscle. But this is Smallville. This is Superman's show and Batman's the guest star. So we get to see that Batman is good, yes. Batman's great even. But he's not better than Superman. Superman's also smart and he's in charge here. Metropolis is Superman's town and this is Superman's show. Batman reluctantly accepts his role here. It's awesome.

Superman doesn't want this, frankly, crazy vigilante tearing through Suicide Slum hell bent on revenge for Joe Chill killing his mommy and daddy. He's got a point. Batman's not just a guy in a bat costume; he's got an arsenal of military style vehicles and weaponry. Batman can and will blow stuff up if he feels like it. Superman proposes "a joint investigation mutually beneficial to both of us." They make sure Joe Chill is safe from Intergang and then find out who's manufacturing the weapons he's peddling. Batman agrees and we get This Moment. If this were old school WWF, we'd call this the Megapower Handshake.

Meanwhile, at Lexcorp, Lex Luthor is enjoying video of the WrestleMania showdown between Superman and Batman. If Lex had a Batman T-shirt, he'd be wearing it right now. Lex keeps pausing and rewinding Batman, powered by red sun energy, laying the smackdown on Superman's candy ass. Lex also thinks he has one of those Blade Runner televisions that allow you enhance and move around corners inside the frame. He's bummed when Otis reminds him his TV can't do that. Maybe Lex should invent one? Otis liked the other match better, the one between Nightwing and Green Arrow, probably because he enjoys women's wrestling. Sort of like how saying "Beetlejuice" three times conjures up Beetlejuice, cuing up a Green Arrow fight on television makes the real Green Arrow appear. Oliver Queen bursts into Lex's office to accuse Lex of harassing him with those coded emails. When Oliver leaves, and he really just came to yell at Lex and skedaddle (billionaires have such time on their hands, you know, not running their companies), Lex notices the time stamps are all from the dead of night. Looks like Otis isn't getting any sleep tonight either.

At the charmingly named Suicide Slum, Superman and Batman are on a stakeout. Batman is irritated by Superman's penchant for conversation but Superman seems to really be enjoying having a partner in crime. Er, fighting. Superman's also a nice guy who's very considerate; even though he knew Batman was based in the Leviathan freighter, he didn't want to draw attention to it and compromise Batman's security because he knows Lex Luthor is watching all his movements. (You know, if anyone can figure out how to get this radiation off of Superman...) Superman and Batman then decide to play whose X-ray Vision is better and Batman wins - his night vision goggles spot some extra snipers Superman missed when he bathed the building with X-rays. Batman then plays the old "disappear while the other guy is talking" trick he plays on Jim Gordon every night. Superman should have said, "So that's what that feels like." Batman easily and stealthily penetrates the safehouse and finds Joe Chill's room, though technically Superman beats him there with Superspeed. I don't know what Batman or anyone else was expecting when we all got to meet Joe Chill, but it wasn't an old man in a wheelchair and respirator. He's like Hyman Roth from Godfather II.

Back at Lexcorp, Otis is on the case of Mr. Luthor and the Mysterious Emails. But come on, we knew what was going on before we saw it happen, didn't we? Lex rises from his peaceful slumber and sleepwalks to his office, speaking gibberish and caressing Otis' face. Then she starts sending out the emails. That's right, she, because when Lex is asleep, it's Tess Mercer in charge.

At the safehouse, Chill, a life long criminal, isn't exactly repentant about killing Batman's parents, whoever they were. Batman can't be specific and Chill has killed a lot of people for lots of reasons. This isn't good enough for Batman, who loses it, until Superman literally slaps him down. These grim avengers of the night and their unresolved childhood traumas, honestly! Superman, the good cop here, calmly explains to Joe Chill that they're really here to find out where they can find a man named Loomis, who they believe is manufacturing the weapons Chill fenced for Intergang. But hey, they don't have to look very far because Loomis is already there! Batman and Superman spring into action with Heat Vision and Batarangs, but a burst of cold takes out both. Loomis isn't alone. He has help from Batman's arch nemesis, the cool, cruel Mr. Freeze! I hope Bryan Q. Miller brushed up on his cold puns. We'll see when Smallville returns after their regularly-scheduled break.

Smallville: Season 11 #17 - "Detective"

ROLL CALL:

SUPERMAN! LOIS LANE! CHLOE SULLIVAN-QUEEN! THE GREEN ARROW! THE BATMAN! NIGHTWING! BRUNO MANHEIM!
With DC Universe Shout Outs To:
THE WONDER TWINS! THE TOYMAN! THE PRANKSTER!

This week's Smallville eases us down from the adrenaline-fueled fanboy geekout of last issue's Superman vs. Batman super fight, the best physical encounter between the World's Finest heroes since "The Dark Knight Returns". Solid character work via writer Bryan Q. Miller and artists Jamal Ingle and Marc Deering take the place of action and violence, unless you count plummeting a man from the sky so he'll talk violence. Which apparently Lois Lane does, but more on that in a bit.

Suffice to say, the current "Detective" arc is a Smallville high; Miller, Ingle and Deering are doing truly stellar work depicting Superman as the Clark Kent we know and love from the show fully evolved (and having fun) as the Man of Steel while also playing with the wonderful toys of Batman and Nightwing and yet making it all still feel like Smallville. Would that we could actually see this on television. Nevertheless, for my money, Smallville is the best, most Superman-y version of Superman currently published by DC Comics - better than The New 52's current version, or Earth 2, or Earth One. To me, this is Smallville and this is Superman. And their Batman is surprisingly great too!

Picking up moments from Superman whisking Bruno Manheim up, up and away last week, the Green Arrow is racing for his green Arrowcycle trying to catch up with Batman and Nightwing. The Caped Crusaders are getting away via the Batwing. The fact that Batman has "a stealth hovercraft" leaves Green Arrow feeling hopelessly outclassed in the rich man's gadgets department, as he laments to his wife Chloe Sullivan at Watchtower. This does beg the question why Green Arrow chose to take a motorcycle as his transport to an island prison and how he got on or off that island, but whatever.

In the skies above Metropolis, Batman is feeling awesome. He didn't get to interrogate Bruno Manheim about the whereabouts of Joe Chill like he wanted to, and he got his ass handed to him by Superman, but as he takes of his cowl (he wears a weird padded head dress and he paints his jaw black - gross), the Batman is all smiles. And it's creeping Nightwing out. Why's Batman so damn happy?

The banter between Batman and Nightwing is highly amusing. Batman isn't loathe to admit he got a good feeling from Superman. "I think he likes me." Aww, Batman made a Super Friend. More importantly, Superman exceeded Batman's personal evaluations as a good guy who he can trust. Batman doesn't tell Nightwing he totally blabbed away that Joe Chill killed his parents to a Man of Steel he just met and fought.

Speaking of blabbing, Superman flies Manheim into the stratosphere and he's downright loquacious. He's supposed to be interrogating Manheim about the whereabouts of Joe Chill and his connection to Batman and Intergang, but Superman can't help talking about himself. He mentions he was raised to see the goodness of humanity, and he even tells Manheim he has a better half. One who will "read him the riot act" for what he's about to do. Which is this:

And Superman didn't even have to yell "SWEAR TO ME!!" Well, Bruno's not made of stone and hs underpants can only take so much soiling. Manheim gives up the goods: Intergang came to visit him in Stryker's soon after Superman pushed Apokolips away from Earth. Intergang is concerned about "hero expansion", but Bruno's out of the crime business and directed them to a guy who could move weapons for them, that guy being our MacGuffan and Wayne shooter-of-er Joe Chill. Turns out Joe Chill decided to rat out Intergang and is now being held in federal custody. Manheim passed Superman's Super Hearing lie detector test and, being no dummy, Superman knew Batman placed a little Bat tracker listening device on him. The Batman got what he needed and zooms away.

Later, we check in with the Sullivan-Queens as Oliver needs his body and ego massaged after at best, fighting a nineteen year old girl to a draw. Although she could also be twenty. Chloe offering the Wonder Twins as back up doesn't help Oliver's pride much. Chloe has news on the mysterious emails Oliver receive and she's decoded and "he's not gonna like it". But whatever it is can wait a while. Meanwhile, Lois Lane has a blue tooth date with Superman atop the roof of the Daily Planet and they get each other up to speed on things. Lois needles Clark a bit about his "drop 'em from the sky" interrogation techniques but the meat of their talk is about who's manufacturing the weapons if the Toyman is sequestered in Stryker's. Turns out Oswald Loomis, the Prankster, tried to visit Winslow Schlott several times in prison, maybe to discuss which of them has the lamer name and is the real bottom of the Superman villain barrel.

Superman decides he needs to contact Batman as he hovers over a freighter called (wink wink) Leviathan. (Amazing in-joke. Where is Talia al Ghul in the Smallville universe?) Freshly showered and relaxed, Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon plot their next move. Bruce's people in Interpol checked in with their people in the FBI, but all Barbara can talk about is Superman. Then there's this fantastic exchange:

Leviathan's TroubAlert troubalerts Batman to some trouble and he decides it's time to put his working cowl back on, leaving us this week with a close up shot of Batman's eyes mirroring the panel of Superman's eyes last week. Superman is calling, and he's giving the signal.

Now there's something you don't see over Metropolis every day, or ever.

Smallville: Season 11 #16 - "Detective"

 

ROLL CALL:

SUPERMAN! CHLOE SULLIVAN! THE GREEN ARROW! THE BATMAN! NIGHTWING! BRUNO MANHEIM!

Let me be clear: This is the best issue of Smallville: Season 11 yet! I mean, this is the one to buy if you've never bought one. This is worth a dollar. This is worth many dollars, but for just one dollar, it's fanboy heaven. You get your dollar's worth and much, much more. The writing by Bryan Q. Miller is diabolical and the art by Jamal Ingle and Marc Deering is superb. 

So don't read this review first. Buy Smallville: Season 11 #16. Read it. And then come back and read this. Do it.

You're back. How great was that? So great. It all boils down to three words: 

SUPERMAN. VS. BATMAN. 

But before we get to the World's Finest Super Fight, we open at Watchtower, where Chloe Sullivan-Queen gets a disturbing phone call from Dr. Emil Hamilton at STAR Labs. Oliver arrives with coffee from everyone's favorite coffee joint because apparently no one in Metropolis, be they intrepid reporters or billionaire superheroes, seems to own their own coffee maker. Chloe tells Oliver that Emil is close to accessing the black box from the late Earth-2 Chloe's space ship. Meanwhile, Oliver has no lead on whoever it was in the cornfields that killed Chloe-2. Plus Oliver's been getting gibberish emails that he'd like his super hacker wife to get to the bottom of, if she's not too distracted by this "Crisis". Next thing you know, Watchtower's TroubAlert troubalerts them to a prison breakout at Stryker's Island. Oliver leaps into the green, and that gets the preliminaries out of the way. It's time for the main event!

How shall I describe this? Blow by blow like a boxing announcer? It's awesome! Superman gets knocked around by Batman, whose chest bat emblem is glowing red with energy - never seen that before. The Man of Steel keeps using his flight and speed to charge at the Batman, who feints and sticks Bat bombs on his cape. Thing is, Batman's very expensive toys aren't really hurting Superman. They say you never get to know anyone better than when you fight them, and both Batman and Superman are doing a lot of learning. Like when Superman grabs Batman:

That is awesome. I mean, that's exactly how this fight should go. Batman is brilliant and the pinnacle of humans and has all the best technology, but this is Superman he's fighting. Batman counters with a Bat grapple, which Superman easily catches and uses to slam Batman into a wall. The best part is Superman's taunt: "Whatever you're doing is remarkably inconsistent." But you can't underestimate the Batman, either. To Superman's surprise, the Batman seems to have disappeared, only to taunt him from afar. The red glowing energy in Batman's armor is red sunlight, which "theoretically negates your kind's abilities." How does Batman know about Superman's kind?

Because Batman has been watching Smallville for the last ten seasons too! He has all the Blu-rays. Why, Batman even went on his own personal tour of Smallville locations. The World's Greatest Detective paid attention to Zod emblazoning his symbol all around the world in season 8. He cross-referenced those alien symbols with the blue prints of Zod's solar tower, which Clark Heat Visioned to ashes. Batman also knows about the Indian caves and he personally visited the remains of the Checkmate castle. Batman's got all the lowdown on Superman, but all that intel and preparation can't prepare him enough for fighting the real thing. Superman "apologizes" for not spending nearly enough energy worrying about Batman as Batman has worrying about him, but he regarded "the Batman" as nothing more than a rumor. As ever, though, Batman is tactically a step ahead of Superman, as their fight was just misdirection.

Elsewhere in Stryker's, Bruno Manheim is on the run as Nightwing arrives with her electrified weapons and with the Batwing. Next thing she knows, a green arrow from the Green Arrow smoke bombs her. And we get a second super fight!

Nightwing's annoying. Nightwing's annoying. She just repeats whatever you say. She just repeats whatever you say. Plus Nightwing: "You hit a girl!" As Arrow and 'Wing do the superhero tango, the Batman bids Superman adieu, but makes the Classic Batman Mistake - the same one that blew his secret identity to Selina Kyle in Batman Returns - He repeats stuff he said prior. Superman's Super Memory recalled the exact words when Bruce Wayne left the meeting with Lex Luthor at the Ace of Clubs and instantly deduces the mysterious Batman is...

Whoa. Just like that, Batman gives up the goods. I mean, he basically just told Superman everything about himself. But look at Superman's big baby blues - how can you not trust him?

Those same blue eyes that melt Lois Lane's heart and can see through anything (except lead - shhh! - although Batman probably already figured that out too) take a good hard look at the grown man in the armored bat suit* who's really just a poor little rich boy who lost his mommy and daddy and can't ever get over it, and Superman knows what must be done. Superman can sympathize with Batman. After all, Superman has also lost his mommy and daddy. In fact, Superman lost two daddies, and you don't see him skulking about dressed like Dracula and basing a life of nocturnal misery around it. Blue tights, red cape, red boots, yellow belt = well adjusted. 

Meanwhile, Green Arrow and Nightwing haven't gotten the memo from their respective bosses that they've reached a detente and it's time to stop fighting. Evenly matched, Arrow and Nightwing have spilled arrows and Batarangs all over the place trying to smack each other down. Superman arrives to break up the fracas when Bruno Manheim pleads for sanctuary from the Man of Steel. Which is convenient because that's the guy Superman was looking for. Superman snatches Manheim and takes him up, up, and away for questioning.

You know who I'd hate to be next week? Joe Chill. Well, I'd hate to be Joe Chill any week, but next week seems like it'll be a pretty bad one for him.

* Also, now that we've seen it in action and everything it can do, I gotta say, the Smallville Batsuit has grown on me.