Monday, August 29, 2016

Lego Red Lantern Supergirl?



Every so often I am floored by the attention and adoration being heaped on Supergirl these days. As someone who suffered decades as a fan of the Maid of Might, I am surprised and thrilled to see that she is seemingly everywhere.

What is even more insane is that we aren't only seeing a TV-like Kara. There is merchandise and comics and now video games of all sorts of incarnations of Kara. One I was not expecting to see again was her Red Lantern form.

But Lego Dimensions on PS4 thought it would be a good idea to bring back the ringed Kara for this game. And I have to say, I am intrigued. Here is a link:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/08/16/supergirl-lands-in-lego-dimensions-on-ps4/

Now I don't play video games so I won't be able to interact with this personally. But the screen shots and scenes look like a ton of fun. And the Red Lantern Supergirl seems to stand in stark contrast to the 'Cheerleader Supergirl' character who was just in the Cosmic Clash Lego movie.

So even within Lego there seems to be versions of Supergirl!


The video for the game includes some cool shots of Supergirl in action.

Here she is using her heat vision (obviously).

I like that we see her teaming up with Wonder Woman on an adventure.

I really wouldn't mind seeing more Diana and Kara working together in the comics!


In a sort of baffling scene, we see Supergirl jump into a car and tool around town.

If you are a teen and you can fly, is driving still a thrill?

It seems whimsical for Supergirl to be in an automobile but there you are.


But that silliness is a nice contrast to her going all Red Lantern on us.

We see her scream at the heavens when the uniform appears. We get a nice scowl. And she uses the ring to do energy blasts.

Now I will again admit that while initially against the idea, Charles Soule and Tony Bedard used Red Daughter as a redemption story. The ring was a way for Kara to hit rock bottom before climbing her way back up to the light. I doubt we'll get such nuance in a Lego game. But I hope there is some explanation of why the ring finds her.

Anyways, as always, I hope that someone who plays the game will let me know what it was like and if there is backstory to this.

But who would ever believe Red Lantern Supergirl would be in a video game?? Amazing times.

6 comments:

Firebird said...

I've played the game and Supergirl was only added as a bonus exclusive character to the game which means that she really isn't apart of the main storyline. The scenes with her and Wonder Woman are mainly of them roaming around in the open world as if you were playing the game with a friend hence why there are scenes of her driving a batmobile as any lego character can drive any vehicle which are used to solve puzzles throughout the lego worlds.

As for the Red Lantern aspect of the character, that was put in for her to differentiate herself from Superman who has all his regular abilities like freeze breath, heat vision, invulnerability, etc. So basically it's just a nice little fun addition to play with since there really isnt any back story as to how she got the red lantern ring in the game. It's all just a nod to fans who are familiar with that part of her story in the comics.

Hope that answers any questions you may have about the game!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing Anj. I agree on the love and attention being heaped on Supergirl these days -- it's
WELL deserved -- but on the other I'm mixed on the idea of a Red Lantern Supergirl, much less a Lego
Red Lantern Supergirl. I heartily agree, the lead up to Supergirl becoming a Red Lantern is a matter
I won't pour more salt into the wound... on the other, there's nothing immediately in the trailer that
seems like this is retreading into that dark place again. In fact, I love watching Supergirl interact
with other (DC) characters in a positive manner.

Maybe I'm reading too much into things... really, it's about having fun and using your imagination.

Regards

Anonymous said...

Wow... I'm speechless.

On the one hand, I don't own a PS4 and I will not buy one (I'm a classic gamer). On the other hand, it's great that Supergirl is FINALLY getting much deserved attention. It was about time that DC treated one of the main characters of one of its two main franchises with respect and care.

And I pray because this sudden popularity means DC will never kill Kara Zor-El again.

I wouldn't read too much into the developers using Red Lantern Supergirl anyway. I think they figured out that RL Supergirl means extra content.

Anj said...

Thanks Firebird for the info!!

Makes more sense now!

Supertorresmo said...

The LEGO Dimensions is different from other LEGO games. The story revolves around the LEGO multiverse to justify the reunion of characters from different franchises. Is requires that you buy a physical character that can be played with inside the game when connecting it with the "portal" that comes with the games.

So there is a backstory for the reunion of all this characters, but no backstory for the character themselves.

What it means for Supergirl is that there is no explanation for her being a red lantern, it is just an tribute to her backstory.
It also means that she is a very powerful character. LEGO games are based in puzzles, and some puzzles require specific powers. This Supergirl can solve a large amount of puzzles because not only she has super speed, flight, super breath and heat vision, but also the lantern powers, being probably the most versatile character.

Sadly it is a limited edition character available only to PS4. It comes with a promotional version of the game, so anyone who already have it would have to buy it again just to have Supergirl.

The explanation for her using a car is that it is a sandbox game. Outside the story you can do whatever you want and solve puzzles, so probably that's what was going on...

Supertorresmo said...

Supergirl was also a character in LEGO Batman 2 and 3, and she was just an unlockable character, with no participation in the story, you could just play with her in sandbox mode.
But she was not a red lantern in these...