Scifi series apprehension

[rheasilvia]

SyFy ordered a pilot based on Frank Miller's comic Ronin, which is about a samurai from feudal Japan time-travelling to a dystopic near-future New York on a mission to slay the demon who killed his lord.

My first thought? "No way, an Asian main character? Surely they're going to whitewash the samurai somehow!" And you'll never guess: turns out

Comments

[azewewish]

Well, if they follow the Ronin comic at all, the original guy is all over it, appearing to Billy in dreams & such. Also, Billy (again, in the comics) is pretty much a paraplegic vegetable. So, I'm not exactly sure how they're going to cast the guy.

Frankly, I'm not sure how they're going to turn the comic into a series to begin with. It's weird, even for a Frank Miller comic. And sort of all over the place, tonally. I mean, it looks great, bc Lynn Varley and Frank are great with visuals, and some of the crazy future NYC stuff is pretty cool, but it's basically about a samurai and a demon battling it out for centuries. Think Sleepy Hollow, but with way more dystopia and less British accents. :D

OH!! I also meant to mention, there's a crazy part that takes up most of the middle of the comic where the ronin is in this crazy underworld being managed by this creepy promoter who stages these gladiator fights. So, I mean, the ronin guy and Billy are two different people, they just...share a consciousness? And memories?

[rheasilvia]

I'm assuming that having the original guy be visibly Japanese in the background is acceptable as long as the main guy is white. Maybe the Japanese guy can do all the sword-fighting and karate chopping and the white guy can do the actual plot.

So, I'm not exactly sure how they're going to cast the guy.

My expectations of network tv are pretty low, so my guess is "conventionally handsome (if maybe slightly quirky-looking) white guy with metal braces around his limbs to simulate prosthetics".

But who knows, maybe they'll surprise me in a good way? I could definitely get behind a series about a samurai and a demon battling it out for centuries!

[azewewish]

Yeah, but most of the plot was either about the ronin guy building his army out of the gladiatorial ranks or about this chick, um, Casey? Cassidy? fighting this evil corporation that the demon has taken over.

Like I said, it's a really weird comic. But I can't see any way for this Billy person to be front & center unless they massively change his character, which would really fuck up the entire plot. (I mean, I can spoil it for you, if you want?)

[rheasilvia]

Sure, go ahead and spoil me! :-) I'm not invested since I suspect the series will only enrage me anyway - and I do rather suspect they will go ahead and change the plot in a massive way.

For one thing, the comic sounds as though it will be very difficult to adapt to TV anyway. And for another, yeah. Really not seeing the Japanese character as the main protagonist. Maybe an ensemble show with Billy and Cassidy taking center stage.

[carta]

While it's nice to see Syfy actually doing, you know, sci-fi type stuff - they're doing it wrong.

[rheasilvia]

To be fair, so far they haven't done anything wrong with these particular series - but yeah. Chances are that they *will* be doing it wrong in at least two of these if the pilots do ever actually air.

[twelve_pastels]

Okay, wait, WHAT? WW3 soldiers in Rome? World War THREE? No. No. I object heartily to this.

[rheasilvia]

Yeah, it sounds like a bad idea all around...

What makes it especially worrisome for you that it's WW3 soldiers? Would it make a difference if it were soldiers from WW1 or WW2?