This past week, on the CW Seed website, a new animated series debuted which ties into the CW/DC expanded universe featuring The Flash and Green Arrow. This new show is called Vixen and follows Mari McCabe as she returns home to Detroit.
The first episode runs about four minutes long and starts off with Vixen taking on both Flash and Arrow. Vixen, thanks to the Tantu Totem, has the ability to channel the powers of any creature in the animal kingdom. She can have the strength and agility of a lion or even blend into her surroundings like a chameleon. From there, the episode cuts back to three days prior, where Mari finds herself in jail and is bailed out by her father.
First thing's first, the main reason to watch this is that it's a really great character that is not only highly underrated but been shoved under the rug. Vixen has been a part of the JLA, Suicide Squad, and most recently, Justice League International. She's been a part of important story lines, and if we're going to get really into it, she's one of DC's best and most badass female characters. Sorry Supergirl, but Vixen is a whole lot awesomer. She's always been a more confident character and her powers always intrigued me a bit more. We get a brief taste of what she's about in the first episode.
Secondly, this show expands the DC/CW-verse, which is growing quickly, with Arrow, The Flash, and the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow, so this show could bring in characters from any of those shows, while building on its own world. On top of that, because this is an animated series, Vixen can do bigger things that the other CW shows may not be able to do, week after week.
There is a downside to the first episode though. The runtime is under 3 minutes and they try to pack way too much into that three minutes. Vixen feels more like a trailer for the show than the actual show. Just as you start to get into the actual episode and something really cool happens within the origin story for her, the episode ends. That's a big letdown, and knowing that these shows will all be relatively short is a bummer.
However, the show is free and because it's shorter, it's easier to get a quick watch in rather than having to spend 30 minutes in front of your computer, phone, or tablet. Regardless, the first episode shows a lot of promise, featuring one of my favorite DC heroes, and I look forward to seeing how this all plays out and whether or not Vixen will show up in any of the other CW shows.
Here's the trailer for episode 2, which hits the CW Seed site on 9/1/15.
New episodes of Vixencome to the site on Tuesdays.
Log in to comment