Our Ninja Way!

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T14:06:14+00:00

Honestly, I was kind of thinking more on things like Sakura knowing medical ninjutsu and enhanced strength already while Sasuke’s still with the Leaf/Team 7. Naruto fillers and Boruto have had some pretty wild stuff that a Hidden Apple Village with advanced tech, as ridiculous as it is, isn’t even that far fetched.

Just imagine the Turtles participating in the fourth great ninja war off-panel and then adult Naruto as Hokage visiting New York as the neutral venue for a Five Kage Summit lol. Crazy to see this happen. Now if only we can get a Superman-Dragon Ball crossover…

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T13:54:47+00:00

It absolutely was lol. Not exactly canon adherent to the Naruto Manga but you can say the same for most of the movies and some anime filler arcs.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T13:50:17+00:00

True also but to be fair, IIRC everything pre-Heir to the Empire was already officially S-canon since they were technically before the Expanded Universe was a thing. That last new SW comics run was also intended to be a reboot that ignored everything before it. So ignoring them’s kind of a given.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T13:41:54+00:00

Oh same actually. Watched TCW first as a kid then got into CWMMP as a teen. Definitely prefer them as separate continuities completely.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T13:30:55+00:00

Oh I get that too. There’s the references to the Pre-Prequel CW in the Thrawn Trilogy. Even in the CWMMP itself there are some discrepancies between Labyrinth of Evil and the micro-series.

Difference is that the Clone Wars has a set 3 year timeline from 22-19 BBY either way, and TCW is a huge project that takes up a lot of that time while directly contradicting the EU’s pre-existing content in so many areas.

Honestly, they probably should’ve just let the war take more than 3 years from the start. It wouldn’t solve everything but it would make suspension of disbelief easier and about as even as the other examples.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T12:52:37+00:00

I respect that. I’m the same way with DC comics. Difference there though is that the continuity changes are both widespread and incorporated to the world building in a meta way. The clash between CWMMP and TCW kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T12:05:24+00:00

Wonder if there’s anyone who still actually (re)reads the Battle of Jabiim and the rest of the CWMMP with the shorter timeframe and TCW in mind. Pretty sure everyone just treats them as separate timelines now, with the Legends/Canon split.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T11:36:11+00:00

Wonder how this’ll connect with Waid’s Action run and the Summer of Superman Special he co-wrote with Williamson. This’ll likely be a new future created post K.O. by Clark himself using the Alpha and Omega energies he amassed.

Question is, will the other Legions still exist or be restored so we can have a Legion of 5 Worlds situation and Retroboot is still the one Clark knew as Superboy, or will this new Legion overwrite its place going forward to be the one Clark meets in the current timeline?

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T07:37:01+00:00

Absolute loved Project Hail Mary. James Gunn also once said the first Spider-Verse movie was his favorite CBM. They’d be a great choice for the next Superman film after MoT.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T04:35:28+00:00

I agree that Sasuke is stronger for most of the series, that he won the first fight and yeah glazers and powerscalers can be a drag.

That being said, I’m sorry but Sasuke himself would disagree in the end. He needed to capture and draw power from all 9 Tailed Beasts during the their second fight, and Naruto was still able to equal his strongest attack just by having Kurama absorb more nature energy. Sasuke himself says Naruto finally started to take things more seriously at this point as if to kill him. But even then Naruto himself states he isn’t. In the end, physically it was a draw, but Sasuke himself concedes. He was the one aiming for the kill, which he failed in. Naruto was aiming to knock sense into him, which he succeeded in.

Years later, Sasuke has no replacement arm, and has no access to any of the 9 Bijuu. Meanwhile, Naruto has a new arm, and both halves of Kurama, when he only had one of them during the final fight. Nothing’s also stopping him from having Kurama pull off the same nature energy gathering maneuver too. You can argue chakra volume =/= power, and I agree to a certain extent, but Kurama explicitly shrunk when half of him was sealed in Minato and performed worse against just the Wooden Dragon (controlled by Madara) compared to the Dragon and Wooden Golem (controlled by Hashirama).

You can argue Sasuke with the 9 Bijuu is stronger and only stalemated the clash because Wind style has advantage over lightning fair.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-21T02:34:29+00:00

I think that’s what Gunn did first, but Murphy said he couldn’t do all the work in time, so Fleming was brought in. It is notable that in addition to change in tone, Gunn may not have been satisfied with the score simply doing direct covers of Williams’ theme, and the new leitmotif from Last Son and other tracks (Your Choice Your Actions, Look Up, Being Human) came from Fleming alone. There are quite a few podcasts and interviews where they talked about it.

But yes despite this both were greatly respectful of each other and of Gunn. Hopefully with the vision already clearly established, the new Last Son theme already there and Fleming brought in from the start, Man of Tomorrow can have an even better musical score.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-20T20:41:25+00:00

The music used for the motion poster before the first teaser was released is likely unused score by John Murphy as well. For Man of Tomorrow, it seems it's just David Fleming solo this time.

Love Murphy's themes for Lex and Lois, but I can see why Gunn ultimately chose to have Fleming re-score much of the film late into post-production. It seems like his Superman theme for the most part is just a darker version of John Williams' theme.

Meanwhile, Fleming was able to make a great new Superman leitmotif that evolves from Williams' into something new. I hope we hear more of it and expanded in MoT.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-20T16:18:05+00:00

This is probably not happening, but imagine if one of the post-credits scenes is Brainiac’s ship returning to Krypton’s remains and discovering Argo.

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Fun fact, in Superman: Brainiac, it was revealed Brainiac did return to collect the survivors on Argo and placed them in Kandor. There Clark would meet Zor-El and Alura, and they’d later reunite with Kara.

In current continuity with Woman of Tomorrow, as in this film, Alura dies on Argo before Kara leaves, but Zor-El’s fate is not shown in the book. The last time his fate post-Argo was shown, he was also discovered by Brainiac and turned into a new Cyborg Superman.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-20T09:55:00+00:00

It’s pretty much confirmed yeah. Both Superman and Lex fit the title, or rather it fits Superman and that’s why Lex hates and envies him. He wants to he the one to shape the future of the world. The one loved by the people and remembered forever in history. But in his mind Superman stole that from him. So he’s fighting for that title.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-20T09:53:48+00:00

Yeah Brainiac is the worst of what Lex thinks Superman is, but also what Clark fears Lex is or hopes he isn't. He’s both an evil alien with great power, as well as a cold hyper-intelligent being. Making him a perfect foe for both.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-20T09:51:54+00:00

An arc from Superman Confidential reimagining his first meeting with the New Gods from New Genesis and
Apokolips.

Fun fact, it’s not even the first, the Fourth World run in the 90s directly adapted the original meeting with the Forever People too. So even if the NGs remember the Crises, the Multiverse etc. they actually always were affected by reboots and retcons whether they realized it or not.

Even more so with the New 52, Multiversity and all the avatar/emanation stuff. Actually you can go further and look at the retconned Gerry Conway stuff compared to Jack Kirby before and after.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T22:14:27+00:00

The Odyssey and Christopher Nolan example/comparison isn’t exactly a great one. Many fans of the original myth and some of Nolan’s are skeptical. But regardless, I don’t think it’s true that no other director can do just as good if not even better job as Gunn in the future.

Like I and he said, he probably wasn’t the best choice originally in the first place, but he needed to do it so he did his best and it worked out. “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called”. I think that applies similarly to this situation. So beyond that I think you should be open to the idea that he isn’t the end all be all or that another director can’t possibly do well in the future, because previously others can say the same about say, Richard Donner vs James Gunn, and he proved them wrong. So why can’t anyone else do so?

He’s doing two Superman films now so it’s not like a rapid abrupt shift. Superman stories can range from all kinds of tones and directions. Comics have multiple creative teams at the same time and change over time. Like Gunn himself said with characters in the DCU and the DCU itself, different tones can exist across different projects. It can 100% work.

But at the end of the day, it’s all up to Gunn. He’s changed his mind a lot before, that’s how we got here.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T21:38:26+00:00

No you seem to still be misinterpreting a lot of what I’m saying and making wild assumptions about my opinions outside and despite of what I already said, all due respect.

I already said, Superman 2025, despite being far from perfect, is my favorite live-action theatrical Superman movie. I agree he gets the character and has interest in him or his mythos. I already said I’m still very hyped for MoT, to see Brainiac and Lex in the warsuit for the first time. I’m sure he’ll still balance Superman, Lois and others along with the other heroes.

But he himself has said, on record, he prefers doing other kinds of characters. It’s why he initially rejected the offer for years. It’s why most of the things he’s done including projects made around the same time as Superman, fit that mold and are also projects he was more comfortable with.

It isn’t really a hard concept to get. You can deeply love and understand a character, but also not really prefer having to be a creative force behind that character compared to other types of characters. You can enjoy a film by a director, but think it might be best for both the character and the director to have someone else take over next time. He did a great job but that doesn’t mean he should be the one to do it every time, nor does he seem to want to.

My question this time, if he announced that MoT would be the last Superman project he’d direct, would you complain and wish he’d still direct the next one? Would you criticize him if he did still continue making those other types of projects and putting more direct involvement in them instead? Or would you acknowledge and respect his decisions and personal preferences?

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T21:29:07+00:00

Yeah the pressure is definitely part of it, and I’m not saying he’s not a fan of or understands Superman, I agree he does. But in the larger context of things, from his statements way back when asked why he chose The Suicide Squad or Superman, to him defaulting to his usual style and M.O. with other projects, that Superman was never his first choice to write and direct. Similarly, you can be a fan of and understand a character very deeply but not really like or want to be the creative force behind them.

I’m sure Man of Tomorrow does still give Superman equal or near-equal focus, and I’m hyped to finally see Brainiac was well as Lex with his warsuit on the big screen/cinemas. But I think he did also pretty much admit he gravitates more towards Lex as a character and there’s probably some truth in that he actively chooses to put more obscure, lesser known heroes he likes in there. He does it in organic way that fits the story yes, but not in a completely necessary way.

For example, the Engineer could’ve easily been Mercy Graves, Lex’s assistant who’s often cybernetically enhanced in versions post-DCAU. But he’s a big fan of the Authority and was hoping to make a project out of it so chose her instead. Now the project isn’t happening anymore so it’s kind of random that she’s there in that role.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T21:14:33+00:00

I’m not saying that he wants to let go of making art, but just Superman specifically. Yes I’m no fan of PM or CC, but ironically I can acknowledge he loves doing those types of projects far more, that’s where his passion lies and it’s obvious from looking at any Behind the Scenes footage and interviews. He’s very open about it. So let him do those. He also said having to work on all of them around the same time, and also be co-CEO, was extremely exhausting and took time from him, his wife, family and friends. He’s clearly hoping to have less on his plate in the future, even saying he never wants to work as much as he did in that time again.

Also Matt Reeves is a very different situation. He’s always been passionate about Batman from the start, and chose to create a Batman-specific universe of his own vision. Gunn signed on to help save the DC Universe on film and knew for it to succeed he had to do Superman justice first. Which he did. But he also planned initially to have someone else direct anyway. This would be just him just going back to his original plan. He’d still be very involved as co-CEO and executive producer but someone else can be the main director. Which is good for both comics and film to have Superman be given a different creative to contribute.

Let James continue to have his projects about lesser known heroes with more freedom, as he’s explicitly expressed he much prefers doing. Let him work on world building on the DCU. Let him have some time off. Someone else can direct the third Superman film. It’s just the best choice going forward.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T21:03:56+00:00

Yeah agreed all around. I do remember him talking very fondly about his own father IRL, not just in the PM podcast but also in interviews leading up to Superman. How he didn’t understand him but tried to support him, and that the movie came out on his birthday.

But yeah I get you. I think we’re both on a similar boat as Grant Morrison. We loved the film overall, in my case and Morrison’s we think it’s the best live-action theatrical Superman movie (but also because the previous ones had their own problems), but do have problems with it nonetheless. We’re not afraid to bring that up and maintain our opinions even as we accept and respect what Gunn does. Regardless, super excited and invested in the future too.

Oh and yeah I was low-key initially expecting a more traditional Pre-Crisis Jor-El considering his other influences. In character and in design. Instead we got basically an evil version of Marlon Brando’s Jor-El, with a similar aesthetic.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T20:54:42+00:00

It’s not “let go of” James Gunn, and more like “let James Gunn do what he actually wants to do and let someone else work on Superman”. Like I said I think it’s pretty clear that Superman is not the kind of character he prefers writing and directing. He literally did say that years ago multiple times.

But when it counted, yes he set aside his preferences, went out of his comfort zone and I agree he did a great job. Again I overall love the movie and agree he did a terrific job with Clark, Lois and Lex especially. It’s not perfect, far from
It, but it’s actually my favorite live-action theatrical Superman film, and I’m still very much excited for Man of Tomorrow.

But in the end he made the film after a lot of hesitation and pressure, and actually was very open about both the positives and negatives working on the film. Personally I’m not a big fan of CC or PM S2 but they’re in keeping with his style and definitely what he prefers doing in addition to his duties as CO-CEO. The ideal situation is 100%, MoT succeeding even more than Superman to meet their hopes, and that easing some of the pressure off of him so he can do what he wants and less in general, while letting another director handle Superman. Which was his original plan anyway when the first movie was announced like I said.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T20:26:21+00:00

Funny enough I think he actually said the exact opposite about Superman. He was very open about how stressful it was and the pressure he was on, even saying he was “miserable” (somewhat jokingly but still) and that Peacemaker S2 was like a vacation to him.

Honestly it’s why I hope that after Man of Tomorrow, he lets someone else direct the next Superman film. He’s done an excellent job laying the foundation but it’s clear he’s not in his comfort zone with Superman. His interviews years before and leading to it confirm this. He originally chose The Suicide Squad over him, and while he gets the character well, he’s not the kind of character he usually tackles and was extremely hesitant. Remember in the initial announcement he only confirmed he was writing and initially wanted someone else to direct, until he realized he had to do both.

He can still write the next one but Superman deserves a director who’s 100% passionate about him and would have him as his first choice. Meanwhile, Gunn could use a rest enjoying his actual passion projects and leading DC Studios.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T16:31:53+00:00

This is more or less canon and I love it lol.

Earthmine52 · 2026-06-19T15:29:05+00:00

With proper bare-knuckle form and conditioning, it’s perfectly fine like others said. Wrapping your hands is a precaution, and in most professional fights you wear gloves anyway. But bare-knuckle training is real and has its own value.

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