Supergirl Is jonn jonzz getting the shaft here?

[Kelly]

Usually when you are testing for nerve damage, it is a sensory type of testing, not necessarily an X-ray of the entire arm, shoulder, etc...

Now are there things that they should have done immediately upon his return, like FULL BODY SCAN, ETC....oh yes, but it was very obvious that people were going off of Alex's lead on this, even Jonn was following Alex's lead and it was and IS very obvious that Alex's head is not in the game, only her heart. IMO, that was why something like that got past them. They were following Alex's lead and Alex only saw that her dad was back and that was all that mattered. Dumb? yes.... Surprising? no....

 

[KidFlash6969]

Don't get me wrong I love David Harewood as J'onn, but prior to the CW shows, Martian Manhunter was easily as popular a character as Green Arrow or Flash.

He should have his own show, not be a barely used supporting character if you ask me.

They don't even call him J'onn half the time... Martian Manhunter has always been one of my top 3 favorite characters, its been 2 seasons and we haven't seen him eat an oreo once!

 

[KidFlash6969]

Since it's been established that he's been on earth for years, I would like to see the Legends of Tomorrow take a younger version on J'onn out of the time line and recruit him for the team!

Maybe they recruit J'onn from the 1940s where he's working as a humphrey bogart style detective? A lot of people forget that Martian Manhunter comics started as Detective Noir comics where the detective happened to secretely be a martian

That way David Harewood could stay on Supergirl and they could have a different actor play J'onn's human form since this would be before Hank Henshaw would have even been born

 

[metaphysician]

However Supergirl might be misusing J'onn, I guarantee LoT would abuse him ten times worse.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Yes.

 

[Osiris-Rex]

The alternative is to not have the character be on at all. Martian Manhunter was intentionally left out of the Justice League movie because David Goyer thinks the character is goofy.
He wasn't exactly a major player in Smallville either. Just be thankful for what you are getting and don't be greedy about it.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Nah. Could be said for SG. Be thankful she has a show so don't complain if they don't do her justice.

 

[Kelly]

I think in the context of this show, how he has evolved through this show, and the fact that the show is called Supergirl I think he is being used just fine.

If you are viewing him on the show solely in the context of his solo comic book then yeah I can see that some may see him as under used, but this show is in its own universe and therefore they are constructing Supergirl's world in that universe. To compare him to anything else he has done is just not reality in the context of a Supergirl series.

 

[Optimus Prime]

However Supergirl might be misusing J'onn, I guarantee LoT would abuse him ten times worse.

Having a shape shifter on that team would be extremely valuable for the type of missions they do & the mere fact that he is a shape shifter they can easily say when he was younger he had another look & they can keep original J'onn on Supergirl at the same time

 

[Flemm]

I think his portrayal on Supergirl is pretty strong, tbh. He's a supporting character, sure, but he's a very important one, and the character has had some really good material focused on him, notably the various subplots having to do with the white martians.

His experiences are a counterpoint to the main character's experiences. They are both alien refugees, but J'onn's experiences on earth go back further and have basically been a bit more bleak overall.

In modern comics he has mostly been a supporting character in the JLA a lot of the time. He's very important there, often portrayed as a defacto leader, or as the glue that holds the team together. It's an important role, but he's not usually the centerpiece of the story in the comics either.

He has a leadership role on the show, albeit not the JLA, but there are some similarities.

A character can be quite popular and still work well as a supporting or complementary character.

If somebody wants to produce a show focused on Martian Manhunter, then great, I would obviously watch that hypothetical show, but I don't think he's being wasted currently.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

While I do think they could definitely use more of him in his actual martian form(scrapping all the Guardian BS in favor of more SG and MM screentime would be great) I don't think he's been wasted, he's had his own character arcs and played a very important role on numerous occasions, not bad for being a supporting character. I'm very happy that MM is even getting acknowledged considering the way he's been getting treated in other media the last several years, which is more or less getting completely ignored.

 

[metaphysician]

Having a shape shifter on that team would be extremely valuable for the type of missions they do & the mere fact that he is a shape shifter they can easily say when he was younger he had another look & they can keep original J'onn on Supergirl at the same time

None of which matters a whit to the core problem: the writers for Legends of Tomorrow are terrible, and are especially terrible at handling team members with actual superpowers. Thus, however sensical or useful his presence might be on a hypothetical spherical frictionless time travel adventure show, Legends of Tomorrow is not that show. And on that show? J'onn would take it to the chin, and make you wish he could get shuffled back to a dignified offscreen limbo.

 

[smallville fan]

The CW can't sustain the effects that go into making Martian Manhunter work on the small screen. I will admit that this is a step up from Smallville though.

So no, it's not that Martian Manhunter is wasted, it's how cheap the CW is in terms of production value.

 

[KidFlash6969]

I think his portrayal on Supergirl is pretty strong, tbh. He's a supporting character, sure, but he's a very important one, and the character has had some really good material focused on him, notably the various subplots having to do with the white martians.

His experiences are a counterpoint to the main character's experiences. They are both alien refugees, but J'onn's experiences on earth go back further and have basically been a bit more bleak overall.

In modern comics he has mostly been a supporting character in the JLA a lot of the time. He's very important there, often portrayed as a defacto leader, or as the glue that holds the team together. It's an important role, but he's not usually the centerpiece of the story in the comics either.

He has a leadership role on the show, albeit not the JLA, but there are some similarities.

A character can be quite popular and still work well as a supporting or complementary character.

If somebody wants to produce a show focused on Martian Manhunter, then great, I would obviously watch that hypothetical show, but I don't think he's being wasted currently.

True. I actually felt very similarly about how the character was used on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited that I do with how he's used in Supergirl.

Apart from one or 2 episodes, he spent almost all of JLU up in the watch tower not doing too much.

There is so much more to Martian Manhunter than we've see adapted so far. I really hope he gets his dues one day, whether its on the CW, in animation, or in the movies

(Edit: I think his portrayal in Justice League New Frontier is amazing)

 

[flickchick85]

Martian Manhunter is my 2nd favorite DC character, and I honestly think the only thing not being done justice for him is his power-set. And that's understandable given obvious budgetary restrictions. His character and backstory (though tweaked to better-suit the themes of this show) have been shown respect by the writers, and I think the way the show has used him in the context of the themes they're exploring (as a fellow refugee of a lost culture like Kara) has been a very nice approach and not a waste at all. So while I'd LOVE to get a Martian Manhunter show where his character and mythology can be explored in-depth, I'm mostly satisfied with what the show has done with him.

The only thing that DOES bother me is when his power-set is ignored NOT for budgetary reasons, but for lazy plot-convenience reasons (like in "Homecoming").

 

[Lead Cenobite]

I do wish he would appear as MM more instead of just morphing into him to fly and then immediately returning to his Henshaw form after landing.

 

[Dark Raven]

I've never seen J'onn drunk on this show or showing up to the DEO with a terrible hangover.

 

[dave_in_TX]

I'm just glad the the Martian Manhunter is in some kind of show. Unless your a DC fan you're likely to have never heard of him.

Dave

 

[vantheman77]

Not really as I'm glad he's in a DCU tv show and not in the movies.

 

[metaphysician]

Not really as I'm glad he's in a DCU tv show and not in the movies.

Also that. If he were in the movies, whatever he gained in SFX budget he'd lose in terrible characterization.

 

[haephestus]

I'm not sure he's being wasted, but his super powers are being under-utilised - probably both for budget reasons and to ensure that Supergirl is the supreme hero.

Personally, I wish they come up with some virus or injury which permanently depowered Martian Manhunter if they can't use his powers to their full effect. Maybe he could be stuck in human form with just his telepathy and maybe super-strength? It's not my preferred outcome, but it would give him an interesting storyline.

 

[metaphysician]

Eh, they just should not write plots that would be trivially resolved by a shapeshifting telepath. The average superhero fan is not *that* unreasonable, it doesn't take airtight writing. Just some basic caution against stupid mistakes.

 

[Kelly]

All they had to do was have Jonn out with a DEO platoon searching for Alex....while Kara and Maggie stayed at the DEO hammering at Rick. Or hell, have a scene at the beginning with Rick injecting some kind of contraption that would block Jonn's mindreading. Or contacts that he places in his eyes to counter the mindreading...any number of things other than ... "well there is something keeping me from reading his mind". That is lazy. They could have had a scene at the end of the prior episode setting that up.

 

[KidFlash6969]

Eh, they just should not write plots that would be trivially resolved by a shapeshifting telepath. The average superhero fan is not *that* unreasonable, it doesn't take airtight writing. Just some basic caution against stupid mistakes.

A few episodes ago there was a big interrogation scene with supergirl, and J'onn was just watching on from the DEO.

He's telepathic and can read minds but supergirl is interrogating criminals for info?

I just feel that if they have the character there they should embrace it full on and not shy away from it. The episode wouldn't have suffered one bit if they had Martian Manhunter doing that scene instead of Kara, she's got plenty to do anyway.

He's a much more beloved character than I think a lot of people realize

 

[Kelly]

A few episodes ago there was a big interrogation scene with supergirl, and J'onn was just watching on from the DEO.

He's telepathic and can read minds but supergirl is interrogating criminals for info?

I just feel that if they have the character there they should embrace it full on and not shy away from it. The episode wouldn't have suffered one bit if they had Martian Manhunter doing that scene instead of Kara, she's got plenty to do anyway.

He's a much more beloved character than I think a lot of people realize

What scene and episode are you talking about...the only one I know of where she was interrogating anyone on her own was when she was interrogating Mon-el in the 3rd episode. They thought at the time that he was Kryptonian so why bother trying. And just a couple of episodes ago Jonn did use his mind reading skills on the bounty hunter, a formidable foe at that....so he is being used. This season Kara is already being shown far less than last season as far as fighting scenes etc...I certainly don't want them taking anymore of that screen time. If they want to give Jonn more, that is perfectly fine with me, move on from the Guardian story line.