Unpopular Opinion: Enough of the Al Ghuls!

General Discussion Movies & TV
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Right, so this may or may not be an unpopular opinion. If you disagree, I thoroughly encourage polite discussion, no matter how impassioned :wink:

If I had to name one particular ‘group’ of Batman villains who are the most over-exposed in DC media outside of comics, it would be the Al Ghuls (Damian not included).

Batman Begins. The Dark Knight Rises. Arrow. Gotham. Four different DC live-action productions off the top of my head that have relied on the city-destroying antics of an immortal dude, his daughters and a clandestine organization of ninjas as a means of challenging our respective heroes.

While I understand why they keep coming back to these characters (a testament to the work of Dennis O’Neil, Neal Adams, Julius Schwartz, and numerous other creators), I think we’re getting to a point with them where it’s starting to fell rather ‘been there, done that’ with them.

As much as I enjoyed the creative chaos of the final season of Fox’s GOTHAM, you couldn’t help but shake of the feeling of Deja Vu when, once more, we had to end on a showdown with an Al Ghul daughter (and Bane) while the city was falling apart.

That was, of course, after we had Ra’s trying his hand at destroying an entire city with his League of Assassins/Shadows. Twice. With two different heroes (Batman and green archer Batman) stopping him his tracks.

Much like how there is a thirst among fans for Films and TV shows of other characters not named Batman or Superman, I think we’re more than ready to see the plethora of other Batman villains (and villains in general) get a shot at menacing our heroes on screen.

I love the smart, cunning Al Ghuls and their ninja clans as much as the next person, but right now, at least on Film and TV, that well is truly and utterly spent.

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Canceling plans for al Ghuls Family Reunion mini series proposal

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@msgtv :laughing::laughing:

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While I love those Characters I would be ok with them taking a break from the front lines and allowing other Villains to shine Darkly!
Good suggestion @bcbranman.

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I like the Al Ghuls, but I agree they need to get away from recycling the “dad tried to wipe out the city but failed, so his daughter teams up with Bane to avenge him” plot.

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Set Talia aside for sure. Ra’s is the “Doctor Doom” of DC. He fits in just about anywhere. I think the big problem is if you want a big goon squad to fight, ninjas are the easy answer and using them means less time with backstory on who they are and why there are so many of them.

I hope Batwoman uses the BTAS approach and works the crime boss/Thorne or some such angle go a while.

I think Arrow got stuck on Ra’s & the league because they didn’t have a “big villain” and organization to go up against.

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DeSade is correct. Al Ghuls and the League of Shadows works so well for both film or even better long television seasons it’s hard to resist using them. But, I would put a moratorium on their use for a while.

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@Beagle Dude, that was exactly what I was thinking even when writing this up. I’d even appreciate it if they did something entirely different with just the daughters (I know Arrow kinda did, but some of it landed well and some of it didn’t…most of the time).