Where Would King Have Gone?

[DisneyBoy]

King Faraday that is...

I really liked having Scott Patterson lend his voice to a character, and the creative team seemed to enjoy including him. Ultimately, where would you have liked to see King in the DCAU? As a villain? Perpetual supporting player? Love interest?

[Alex Weitzman]

King Faraday that is...

I really liked having Scott Patterson lend his voice to a character, and the creative team seemed to enjoy including him. Ultimately, where would you have liked to see King in the DCAU? As a villain? Perpetual supporting player? Love interest?

I think he definitely had some worth as a Diana supporting character, and maybe even a love interest. There were some nice sparks between them in To Another Shore.

One question I'd like to have answered is whether King is the first government liaison to the League. We're first introduced to the concept when Waller mentions it in Epilogue, but that flashback takes place outside of the essential timeline of the present, so there's no guarantee that Waller was liaison before King or after King. King announces himself in I Am Legion as the "new" government liaison, but that can be taken either way: "new" as in the new appointee to the established post, or "new" as in the man in the newly-established position. (And even if King isn't first, that doesn't technically mean that Waller preceded him; there could have been any number of unnamed predecessors.) So, ultimately, if we presume that King does indeed predate Waller in the role, one wonders if King's tenure - given the relative lack of age on the characters in Waller's Epilogue flashback - was unfortunately short. And why? Promotion, demotion, departure, death?

Of course, this kind of the-story-goes-on speculation can be done with any DCAU character. King's just a good example.

[Wolf Boy2]

Waller couldn't have been first. "I am Legion" is only a few months after "Divided we Fall." And her dialogue in "Patriot Act" indicates that although her loyalties are changing, she has not yet become a direct liason to the JLU.

"Epilogue" displays the early days of her as the liason. Notice that Batman is still kind of bitter against her ("Waller, I should've recognized your hand in this").

BTW, did anyone else notice that King Faraday's name sounds like the phrase "king for a day"?:anime:

[DisneyBoy]

And her dialogue in "Patriot Act" indicates that although her loyalties are changing, she has not yet become a direct liason to the JLU.

Exactly. Didn't notice the "king for a day" thing though until you pointed it out. Good point!

I also picked up on sparks there between him and Diana, especially since she's clearly fond of the men in uniform (whether it's a Bat cowl, or pilot's gear). Still, something about King makes me nervous...I got the sense he was eventually going to develop into a villain, but wikipedia said otherwise, which surprised me.

[Ed Liu]

I got the sense he was eventually going to develop into a villain, but wikipedia said otherwise, which surprised me.

He wasn't a villain when he was a DC Comics character, as far as I know. The closest I think he came was in Darwyn Cooke's DC: The New Frontier, where he was a government agent keeping tabs on superheroes and was J'onn J'onzz's jailer (or at least was one of the people involved in keeping him a prisoner for a while). Came through to the side of the angels in the end, and was easily the most sympathetic character of that particular crowd.

Of course, the comics were never a sure-fire way to predict where a character would go on the show.

-- Ed

[Alex Weitzman]

Still, something about King makes me nervous...I got the sense he was eventually going to develop into a villain, but wikipedia said otherwise, which surprised me.

I think the elements of King's portrayal that gave you this notion was that King, in all three appearances (Double Date, Legion, and Shore), was never one to mince words. He was abrupt with Arrow and Canary when they crossed the line with Mandragora, despite his line-crossing with them. In Legion, he's tough on both the cops who whine about the capes who're cleaning up their messes and on the League about their tendency to be secretive with their findings. In Shore, he's all no-guff military attitude.

But in all of these, especially Shore, we also see the element to his portrayal that made me trust him so much, which is a somewhat self-aware sense of humor. He has the style of a guy who's tough because that's what the job demands, and fits in his own little human touches where he can. Chewing gum on the balcony, tongue-in-cheekly gesturing with his fingers that his men will shoot at Diana if she yells again, and of course, his announcement to Devil Ray's sub. I understand why you might have distrusted King; after all, we had just barely finished a government/League conflict in the previous season. Personally, I found his brusqueness refreshing and more earning of my trust. Compare that to the usual honeyed poison served up by Luthor or later-era Hamilton.

[DisneyBoy]

Alex, Alex, Alex.

You're on the money yet again.

*shakes hand*

Well done.

:evil: