Up High, Down Low! - DC Characters

We return to our recurring series called Up High Down Low, where we take a topic, and come up with a best/worst ranking list!  For this episode, we rank our favorite 3 and our least favorite 3 DC Characters, setting ourselves up to be judged forever. 

Why is the Harley Quinn animated show a must-watch and what makes Terry McGinnis's Batman Beyond so amazing? Heath Ledger's iconic Joker just had to make an appearance on our lists, but which other villains do we love, and which ones missed the mark? Learn why these characters fall short compared to their more iconic counterparts, and how certain movies have negatively impacted the DC universe.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment Wait for it Gaming, wait for it Anime Plus Ultra. Mr Eric Almighty and Phil Vafilippino. Yeah, they've got you covered And all you gotta do is Wait for it. Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Wait for it podcast. I am your co-host, phil Smith, aka Phil Vafilippino, and joining me, as always, is your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty. And Eric, we are here.

Speaker 1: 0:47

It's a little bit of a delayed episode. We had some issues As far as weather. For those of you that are located here in Florida, you know, things can get really really crazy really really quickly, and that's what happened last night. There was a pretty bad storm coming through on Eric's side of town. Then, as we were about to start, it came. It got to my side of town, so we just decided to delay the episode a little bit And, um, lo and behold, here it is. So, eric, returning to what probably is my favorite new series that we do here on the podcast, which is up high, down low, because, as I say each and every single week, everybody loves a good list. So, eric, super excited to talk about this topic we have here today, because it's going to be a really big summer, actually next week coming up here for DC, with the flash coming out, and what better time to talk about DC than the present?

Speaker 2: 1:36

Yeah, and you know, between that and then me feeling like absolute dog shit, that's good enough reason as any to just delay it a couple of days. Make sure you guys get the best possible product, and that's what we're going to deliver to you guys today with DC characters. So we've dipped into the Marvel universe. Now we're going on the opposite side, which is something we typically like to do with these series Have a little bit of fun. So join us for that, because I think this will be a good one.

Speaker 1: 2:04

Yeah, you know we've been so Marvel centric on the podcast and you know, honestly, for good reason. The Marvel projects for the most part I would say probably like what 6040 have been good And if you've listened to us for a while, you know that we've been very critical of DC projects, aside from a few which we're going to be talking about today And you know the ones that we really dislike are certainly going to rise to the top here for this episode. So super excited to discuss it. Want to welcome in any brand new listeners that are checking out the podcast. Maybe you're retroactively coming back from to this episode after Bold Mat Surrey. So if you met us there, thank you so much for checking us out. Or if you maybe again, you just came across us and gave us a listen. We really really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 2:44

Stick around to the very end of the episode. We'll let you know. You can find all the rest of our content as well as a way to support the show a little bit more. And for all of you returning listeners, welcome back. This is a, I guess, a future message, or this is a message for those of you that we are going to see at Bold Mat Surrey next weekend. So super excited to get back to the Prime Osborne Convention Center and hang out with you guys. But, Eric, for those of them, for those of the listeners that need a little bit of a refresher, or, if they're brand new, let them know how Up, High, Down, Low works, And then let's get into our lists. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:14

So Up High, down Low is the series where we take a topic and come up with a best, slash, worst ranking list For this episode. we rank our favorite three and our least favorite three DC characters setting ourselves up to be judged forever on the internet. And, phil, this includes DC heroes and villains. Right, if not? I did not prepare well.

Speaker 1: 3:35

No, i've got a good mix of both heroes and villains on mine. Wait, no, i don't. I just I look to find this. Never mind, i do not have a good mix of heroes and villains. Maybe you do, but mine is mine, is? it's interesting, you guys will see. You know which way I went as far as these lists go. But, eric, we always start on the positive side of things with Up High. And let's go ahead and jump into my number three here this afternoon, and this is a show and a character that I have highlighted here on the podcast in the past, and it's a show that continues to put out really, really great content. As far as episodes on HBO Max And Eric, i'm sure you will not be surprised that this character ended up on my list at number three, which is Kaylee Cuoco's Harley Quinn. The Harley Quinn animated show is fantastic. It took everything in me not to put Kyte Man here.

Speaker 2: 4:27

No, I know I was holding my breath. literally, I was like he is not about to do this. We are not about to do this.

Speaker 1: 4:36

It was so close It was at like the eleventh hour that I decided no, let me not do that. I went with the main character, although I could have also gone with some of the other characters Ivy is really really great on there as well, king Shark really really fantastic And but I did go with the main title character, harley Quinn. Eric, Again, this is a show that's like right up your alley. It's animated, it's only like 25 minutes long. I just need you to please take the plunge into Harley Quinn. It is so good. I know you're not using your HBO. Sorry, i know you're not using your max subscription enough. You need to watch Harley Quinn.

Speaker 2: 5:10

No, i'm going to get to that, if I'm going to possibly get to it. But if Tik Tok gives me the Harley Quinn algorithm, then I'm pretty much watching it. So one of those two things is bound to happen. This podcast is going to end soon. Why I'm watching Ted Lasso Stop it.

Speaker 1: 5:26

Stop, stop, stop. Get to your number three, please.

Speaker 2: 5:30

OK, so my number three is it's actually really interesting. This is a personal choice of mine And again, listen, if you're like a huge comic book person like, this is probably not the ranking list for you. There are way more qualified people like over at the short box podcast. Plug for them. They are the comic book comic book podcast You should be checking out. We are just two goofs talking about our favorite characters in mine. When I was younger, i adored this series. I already like the character, this character being the most iconic character arguably in DC, and that's Batman. However, the version of Batman I'm selecting is Terry McGinnis's Batman Beyond And I used to love that series. I love the twist in the turns. I love the older Bruce Wayne with the new Batman. All of it worked for me when I was that age and this will make sense with my number one pick. That also had a similar impact, but That may be on my number three probably surprising, but I know a lot of people love that series. I am one of them.

Speaker 1: 6:39

Love that pick very, very much. It was another definitely in consideration for me and again I kind of spoiled a little bit. My list is very villain centric. If you again, if you listen to us for a while, you know that we really love our villains here at the way for podcast, but yes, that may be on Fantastic. I really really love that pick and I'm glad that they made it. I'm glad that he made it on one of our lists, so really really solid there.

Speaker 1: 7:04

Number two let's get into my number two here, eric, and honestly I'm sure that this character is on your list and I think maybe you'll be a little surprised that it's, but also also maybe happy, because maybe we don't have matching lists and I honestly don't think you can make one of these. Whether it's top three, top five, top ten, whatever it is, you can't make a list when you're talking about DC characters and not discuss Heath Ledger as the Joker. It's just impossible to make one of these And if you think otherwise, you're wrong. I'm sorry, i just want to point that out right there, but it is a performance and I don't know what the exact amount of screen time is, eric, with this character, but I know it's not very much.

Speaker 1: 7:44

Heath Ledger left this legacy and a performance that is still trying to like be lived up to till today, and walking Phoenix did an excellent job. I think we can all agree upon that. But this performance from Heath Ledger is something that stands the test of time and will just continue to do so, not only in film, but also cosplay, which we talk about artwork. You know it's just going to be something that's going to be around forever, and it impacted people that are not only comic book fans, but people are just fans of film as well.

Speaker 2: 8:14

Yeah, no, you'll be surprised to know the Joker is actually an honorable mention. I tried my best to not put the Joker in my top three and really what that came down to is there's so many iterations of the character. I don't want to say it's watered down a bit, but especially if you're just trying to talk about one, there are so many good ones. Heath Ledger obviously a personal favorite as well. That's a very good pick. I mean, most people are going to have the Joker or Batman or Superman, like these big, big characters. I have a big character saved for number one. Number two also may be surprising, and again a personal Eric pick.

Speaker 2: 8:51

This is a character I've always thought is the coolest, like the badass villain that you want to see. Some people don't know if he's a Batman villain or a Teen Titans villain, but either way, whenever he shows up he's awesome. Deathstroke is my number two and I absolutely. I would say that's probably my favorite villain in DC that's not named the Joker. So any iteration, especially on the green arrow series on the CW, which very much after the season Deathstroke appeared, kind of took a tumble downwards. One of the best seasons, one of the best live action iterations and the animated iterations are really good too. So that is my choice Deathstroke at two really great Pick.

Speaker 1: 9:34

Did you get in play Batman Origins Did you? I don't believe you did. I did not play origins, no, okay, yeah, because the Deathstroke boss fight is really, really good in that game. I think as time has gone on the Batman, that Batman Origins game, has gotten a little bit of a kind of a cult following and it is a very good game, so I think you would enjoy it. You know we need to do the Batman games as a game room episode sometime in the future. For sure Were you bummed that we never got the Joe Manginello Deathstroke. Were you intrigued by that?

Speaker 2: 10:06

I was more than intrigued. I was ready. I was ready and very disappointed to see it's probably never going to happen. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:14

That guy's a huge nerd. For those of you guys that don't know, he may not look it, but he is one of us. I love that guy, so hopefully he gets the opportunity to really bring that character to light sometime in the future. But, eric, as always, you know, our up high usually goes relatively quickly. So let's get to my number one, which I definitely think is going to be a out of pot or like a unexpected selection. Not for you I think you'll understand why I picked this character, but for maybe, again, people that are hardcore DC fans, again, this This is not. We are not the comic book nerds like Eric. I want to reiterate that again. I picked my number one up high character because of the impact it had on me, how much I enjoyed this character, how much I enjoy the performance by the actor that portrayed them and Eric I don't know if this is a surprise or not My number one is peacemaker.

Speaker 1: 11:04

John Cena was fantastic in this role. He was hilarious throughout the entire thing And obviously I'm a huge John Cena fan. But I have a little bit of an affinity for the Suicide Squad film. I liked it definitely way more than you did, and then John Cena kind of carried that over into a character that I think we're all a little concerned or like confused as to why they got their own show. And then we saw it and we're like, ok, this is awesome. I don't know where that character stands. I'm sure John would love to reprise it at any point, but now, with James Gunn so busy doing other things, i am a little worried. It's going to be a long time or we may not ever see the character again. But I did see enough of it to make such an impact that I just go back and watch that show in pieces all the time because his performance was so great.

Speaker 2: 11:50

I mean number one, though that was surprising. I did not see that coming. That is, that is an interesting, interesting number one. My number one, very straightforward He's got a huge movie coming up and we will be reviewing it on our TikTok. That is the flash And that is my number one character.

Speaker 2: 12:10

I not only love the CW series at first as a theme there with those CW TV shows They're really good initially And then they go downhill. Before it goes downhill, though really really great That that version of Barry Allen But I also like the other characters, like Wally West And there's so many other iterations that you can point to. Each one is interesting And it all comes down to really it's. It's very, very much I don't want to say necessarily DC's Spider-Man, but there are some similarities there. You know, for the aunt May you know how important that is an uncle Ben You've got this parent relationship with the flash that is so important for flashpoint And then you've got a rogue gallery of villains that I think are really interesting. I love the flash every time. You know that character comes, comes up, shows up, especially in the animated series. He was one of my personal favorites. So the flash number one, probably my safest pick out of the three I've done.

Speaker 1: 13:07

Yeah, a character safe. I don't know if you're safe around Ezra Miller, but that's a you know a story for Oh yes, i wanted to clarify this.

Speaker 2: 13:13

Ezra Miller's, the flash, specifically, is not to do.

Speaker 1: 13:20

Oh man, the man kidnapped people walking around Hollywood. It's, it's wild. Glad we could clear that up. Wanted to make sure we got that out there, but, yeah, no again. The flash, i think, is a certainly an iconic character, one of my favorite characters to play as an injustice. I could have easily put some injustice characters on here. Honestly, superman the injustice, superman also very much in contention for one of my up high picks. But, eric, any other comments or concerns questions before we move into the fun part, which is always down low.

Speaker 2: 13:52

Yeah, no, i'm excited for this one. I think it's going to be really interesting to see where we went with this. I definitely went a little bit down the rabbit hole for some of these characters, so really curious where we end up. And it sounds like you didn't have a lot of heroes. I also do not.

Speaker 1: 14:06

So, yeah, i didn't really have to go that far down the rabbit hole. These were all pretty surface level, so mine is going to be pretty simple. Well, eric, i'll go ahead and start us off again for the down low portion of this episode, and this is a film that, for some reason, dc fans defend.

Speaker 1: 14:27

Eric, you and I saw this in theaters and just had an absolutely terrible time, and this character was one of the reasons why we had a terrible time, and that is Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, and I think Jesse Eisenberg is a very, very skilled actor And I think in certain roles he has excelled. But for this version of Lex Luthor and listen, i don't need a necessarily a physically intimidating Lex Luthor, but I wanted Lex Luthor that, I feel like, is either a step ahead Or just incredibly intelligent. Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor came off more as just kind of Insane, kind of like rambling, as opposed to being like a really really threatening villain, and it really bummed me out, obviously, amongst other things that really bummed me out about that movie, but I was taken back to his performance while putting this list together and it was truly a an awful time.

Speaker 2: 15:19

Yeah, not bad. I mean it's kind of tough because, like, if you're going a specific version, yeah, that version definitely. But like Lex Luthor is a character would have been an argument for you know the top for me Obviously not that version of no of the character, but um, yeah, no I.

Speaker 2: 15:37

I went a little bit of a different route with my picks, so I kind of picked I don't want to say obscure characters. One of them is probably not because he's been in a movie, but these characters are just dumb, like they're just really bad characters And I could have gone more to my heart. An honorable mention is actually Hal Jordan. I I'm not very interested in that version of the Green Lantern. No, he's the white one. Oh, is he How?

Speaker 1: 16:06

dare you, he's the white one. You said that, so you're so terrified? Well, because I knew what you said. John Stewart, yeah, john Stewart, okay, john.

Speaker 2: 16:16

Stewart is the stop. Okay, the other Green Lantern.

Speaker 1: 16:22

So you didn't like that did you know I understand now you to people not going to no.

Speaker 2: 16:27

Anyway, i went a different direction. I picked characters that are just really fucking pointless. And this is actually a flash villain called the fiddler. So the fiddler is a violinist who fights the flash at the speed of sound. Mind you, the flash is clearly faster than the speed of sound. So why is stupid villain? another honorable mention here was like calendar man. So you've got a little. Calendar man is great. Kike man's here too. I'm gonna be honest with you, you son of a bitch, not great. How?

Speaker 1: 17:02

would you know? you haven't even watched the show. You, you can't love him like I do.

Speaker 2: 17:05

That's true. The fiddler, though, my number three pointless villain in a pointless universe, like out of all the universes he could put up, a fight in the flash is probably like the worst matchup. It's the worst one isn't the fiddler?

Speaker 1: 17:20

the main character, the character and demon slayer has the fiddle over her mouth. That's her right.

Speaker 2: 17:26

That's not her name.

Speaker 1: 17:27

Yeah, but I know. But she has over her mouth right a fiddle.

Speaker 2: 17:31

No, you think she just plays the flute the whole time.

Speaker 1: 17:33

Yeah, No demons.

Speaker 2: 17:40

This is for the last. Oh, stop my.

Speaker 1: 17:44

Again, we want very different Directions for our lists. A minor, obviously, very, very specific. I understand why the fiddler is on your list. My number two is The very another very recent. All of these actually are pretty recent and have left just horrible. There's a horrible impacts on my life and there's a lot of reasons I put this person and this character at number two. A lot of them are off-screen But also the movie was terrible. My number two is the rocks black All right, that's a little bit of a stretch he.

Speaker 1: 18:17

He brought this whole thing tumbling down to where we are now, to the point where DC had to essentially restructure of their whole plan and And, yeah, it's a bad movie. We once saw the movie and reviewed it and spent time and money on it and, yeah, it's a terrible portrayal, and all because, you know, he just Refused to be involved in shizam and refuse to accept for the fact that black Adam is. I Mean, i don't know whether or not he is a B tier character, but the Rock certainly wanted him to be an S tier character and he's not really. So yeah, i put number two. The Rock is black Adam.

Speaker 2: 18:56

Okay, a little bit of a stretch. A little bit of a stretch. There's not that bad. Not that bad. This character, though, from the original Suicide Squad movie and from everything I really checked comic wise to get just a very high level synopsis to share about this character. It's a character named after a band I like which is called slipknot, and this character dies fairly quickly and Stupidly in the Suicide Squad movie. Basically and, phil, if you want to just type in slipknot DC to see his outfit from the comics He's just basically a villain Who likes to use rope and has exposed nipples, like that's. Essentially that is the character That we're dealing with here. I'm sure comic book nerds could probably tell me about something cool He did, but all I was able to really quickly find was that he always either dies, is dismembered or injured or captured. Very dumb character. So he lives up to his reputation from the movie.

Speaker 1: 19:56

Yeah, i do remember this character. I think, oh Yeah, because they tried to escape and then obviously Waller blew them up. Blow them up because he was trying to, like, get away. Not a great character again. Maybe somebody can enlighten us on why they are cool.

Speaker 1: 20:14

Honestly, there are so many people we could have chosen from the original Suicide Squad movie and, eric, i'm sure you know who I did pick for number one, so a very, very easy choice. But yeah, don't blame you at all for putting this one. I honestly considered a killer croc from the Suicide Squad, from this version of killer croc as well, really, really bad, left a lot to be desired. But, eric, as you know, as you could probably tell for my little tease there, i also went to the suicide squad, which doesn't surprise me whatsoever that this, this movie, came up on both of our lists And I think this probably wouldn't necessarily be number one if we hadn't seen a version of the character that is cool, right, like we saw it a couple years ago.

Speaker 1: 20:59

But as is, and as the performance has gone, has come and gone, and all the stories we heard about Jared Leto and how he behaved on set, i don't know how anyone can do anything or pick anybody other than the suicide squad's Joker as Jared Leto. And then you know, knowing what we know about him now, even more so as far as like the Orbeez performance and his Weird Island. You know, like between Jared Leto and Ezra Miller, like two people you don't want in the same room together. I could be very terrifying, but I've never disliked something more as far as like a comic book film Than what we saw from Jared Leto as the Joker. And again It's very disappointing, even more so now that we saw a nightmare Joker Which looked really, really cool and we saw him for like Five minutes, if that that might be being generous, to be honest with you. So, yep, number one for me Jared Leto, joker, and on it's not really even close.

Speaker 2: 21:58

Yeah, i guess the only reason I wouldn't put him on the list and I didn't put him on the list is because We did get the nightmare version of that character and that is top-tier Joker like material there. Like I, i Ate it up and I'm the last person who wanted to be like, oh, jared Leto killed it, but no, he, like I, am one of the people that was like flabbergasted and that was at the end of a four hour movie To be blown away by that like quick performance. That, back and forth, made me like Ben Affleck's Batman, even more so. Not a bad pick. Definitely understand why you went there For my number one, phil, and this is a character I don't know a lot about but, just looking at it, my least favorite.

Speaker 2: 22:45

This is a comic book character, a woman, a Wonder Woman villain, phil, if you want to just type in the words egg foo. Egg foo is a DC villain and I think you'll understand why this character is not well received. What are you? what are you thinking as you're getting a first glance at this character?

Speaker 1: 23:11

I'm thinking you know representation.

Speaker 2: 23:15

I was gonna say that it reminded me of you, but I thought that was inappropriate.

Speaker 1: 23:19

Yeah, feels a little racist.

Speaker 2: 23:21

Just a little. But yeah, no that if you just pull up egg foo, very uncomfortable, grabbing, grabbing Wonder Woman with his mustache, Just the way he looks. I Could not imagine that this is a good character. And modoc is one of my least favorite, like Marvel designs, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:44

I was gonna say this does remind me of modoc and for some reason Marvel thought that was a good idea. So who's to say DC won't give this a shot, you know, in live-action?

Speaker 2: 23:54

I'm just saying they got you to cast, let's do it. Okay, again that felt it felt like you know what it, it.

Speaker 1: 24:00

Then you came back to it.

Speaker 2: 24:02

I went a little bit stronger with it. It was racist enough so I had to circle back. I really like you didn't.

Speaker 1: 24:10

You didn't do so. Um, you know this was great because we both went totally different directions with our lists and we did. Thank you for bringing Ed foo egg foo into my life. That feels like I didn't need to know any of that. I only brought characters at the table that you already knew existed, but now I know about these people, so thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 24:30

You're welcome. You need a new profile pic. There you go.

Speaker 1: 24:33

Okay, again you're doubling down on the. We're already, we're already there, we're already there. There's no turning back at this point, i feel like no, when you brought us here, we weren't there.

Speaker 2: 24:46

Get an egg food tattoo tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 24:51

All right folks. Well, hey, what did y'all think of our up high down low lists? What? who would be on your up high down low? Do you disagree? disagree? Are you an egg foo stand? Did we upset you here today? Please let us know. And one of the best ways to let us know is to find us on social media, and all those social media links are in the link tree link of this episode. Also, if you find yourself maybe listening on either Spotify and Apple podcast, something like that, leave us a five star review. It's one of the best ways you can support the show. And, eric, if they're feeling a little generous and they want to support the show a Little bit more, let them know how they can do that.

Speaker 2: 25:27

Yeah. So at the link in our bio, you can go directly to our buzz sprout page and leave a donation, or Instead you could go to our patreon, become a supporter, like briar, and as a patron You'll be able to get exclusive perks like unedited video versions of episodes like this one, merch and early access. So if you're willing and able, we would truly appreciate that. Support, phil. We have so much to look forward to here with bull matzuri and the rest of our lineup this month. Again, make sure to check our social media for all of that information. With all that out of the way, my name is mr Eric almighty. That is my co-host. Phillip Filipino, and please don't forget, we release new episodes on the audio side of our podcast every Monday and Wednesday, with bonus content on our tiktok. All you got to do is wait for it.

Speaker 1: 26:18

So I heard you're looking for a go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it gaming, wait for it anime, mr Eric almighty, and fill the Filipino. Yeah, they've got you covered and all you got to do is Wait for it. This is the wait for it podcast.