My Adventures With Superman’s kaiju villain mashes Parasite and Dr. Ivo

The process of adapting a comic-book superhero to a cartoon is complex, especially when translating the many antagonists that a character may have amassed through the years. You can start by choosing the best-known characters and then work your way down. Choose the least-served cartoons and offer your own take on them? Do you open with your most inspired ideas and hope that audiences latch on, regardless of whether you’re working with the A list or the Z list?

This creative team is behind My Adventures With Superman seems to have taken that third option, and it’s been a real success. The villains of a hero are only as bad as the heroes themselves. MAWS has put an exciting spin on Superman’s rogues through a surprising technique of mix and match, combining classic foes like the Parasite and Professor Ivo until they’re more than the sum of their evil parts.

Taking two villains and mashing them together isn’t necessarily new in superhero cartoons. All modern DC cartoons inevitably sit in the shadow of the DC Animated Universe, a beloved collection of series that began with 1992’s seminal Batman: The Animated Series and concluded with 2004’s Justice League Unlimited. Although the DCAU didn’t invent comic book superheroes, it set the standard for this exercise.

You can stand out by using the following tips. BatmanFirefly, a heat-obsessed character, was made into the radioactive Doctor Phosphorus after he suffered a terrible accident. His explosive temper is now amplified. The Spectacular Spider-ManMontana’s outfit, which was inspired by the lackey of old, the Shocker, allowed him to kill two birds with one stone. Montana was saved from having to use his original abilities (in his 1963 debut, his powers were “has a lasso” and “Yep. That’s it. Just the lasso”) and Shocker was given Montana’s Southern drawl and hard-nosed personality. Instead of being a fill-in for Electro, Shocker was now an actual character with a serious threat.

My Adventures With Superman It takes its time to get this right, focusing on the characters first. The series is geared towards a story arc where mysterious, high-tech weapons are being used by flamboyant, violent criminals. Livewire is introduced as a gangster instead of a shock-jock radio host. This fits with Deathstroke who makes his first appearance in a more modest role before revealing the full Task Force X badassery. The first incarnation of Intergang has none of the most famous members from the comics — instead it’s assembled from people a little deeper in the DC encyclopedia (perfect for a rookie Superman, though.)

Warner Bros. Cartoons

In episode four, however, the biggest combination has been revealed. Anthony Ivo (think Lex Luthor if he wasn’t allowed out in public) is reimagined as the sneering CEO of a tech company, the kind of capitalist snob who feeds on those that idolize him. Thanks to an amazing new armor set, Anthony Ivo becomes Parasite, the evil villain who physically drains energy from people and objects. It’s a neat evolution, tweaking characters and mixing them based on the overlaps in their respective metaphors.

It also serves to upset the expectations of a familiar audience, as it did with Firefly or Montana in previous years. Staying perfectly “true to the comics” might seem like a noble goal, but it’s ultimately a hollow one. Even series like “The Amazing Spider-Man” are considered to be incredible distillations of the character and his world. Batman: The Animated SeriesThey took liberties. Check out Mister Freeze or Harley Quinn to see how a person’s own vision can alter pop culture.

You can also read about it here My Adventures With Superman knows when characters don’t need tweaks at all to fit in this Superman’s story. Taking a note from Grant Morrison’s fantastic Doom Patrol run, episode 6 showcases Monsieur Mallah and the Brain as loving partners, fitting with the episode’s theme of companionship among outsiders. And when we meet Mister Mxyzptlk in episode 7, he’s very much the impish trickster that fans adore.

Warner Bros. Cartoons

The classic Superman concepts buttress MAWS’ new take on Superman. Mxyzptlk takes advantage of Superman’s kindness and demonstrates that the Man of Steel can turn against mankind in a time of weakness. At the same time, Lois and Jimmy find themselves partnered with the League of Lois Lanes, a multiverse group that, even though it operates with the best intentions, maintains a deep suspicion of Superman’s deadly potential.

These revelations have set the tone for the season’s endgame episodes, in which the foreground action is all about Ivo/Parasite and Intergang. Classic and reinvented villain plotlines merge in a way that’s far more interesting than a standard character team-up. It makes the question “What would happen if Superman went bad?” more than a simple, empty hypothetical — it’s also about what Clark’s best friends do with the question. It offers the viewer a real issue to chew on, even when they already know that our adorable himbo Clark wouldn’t harm a fly.

By mixing villains with their associated themes. My Adventures With Superman Has been able create a show which feels revitalizing on a regular basis. It’s not just a story about a search for mysterious weaponry, or about Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and their cute will-they-won’t-they-oh-they-did relationship. If you also like to see a consistently thoughtful approach to some of DC Comics’ iconic villains, MAWSYou’re covered.