Best of Comic TV 2022: The Characters!

Best Ensembles

Some shows depend on a singular lead, or a dynamic duo to hook the audience in. Maybe this X-Men show that can’t use any popular X-Men is relying on people turning up for Amy Acker or whatsisname from True Blood to lure in viewers who don’t know they should be turning up for Emma Dumont. But some shows are just great performances from top down, all the way to the guest cast. Like, unsurprisingly, these!

Honourable Mentions: Umbrella Academy and Doom Patrol each have stacked casts doing great work, nobody’s questioning that. I’d love to give one last ensemble award to the delightful misfits of Legends of Tomorrow, but there was another show on its last season whose wonderful ensemble was determined to leave it all on the field. Of course it helps that they knew it was their last season.

Bronze: Lucifer

Angels, demons, humans, all divine
Image: Netflix

Ever since the writers struck gold on how to best write for their ensemble in season two, every one of these people has been a delight to watch. Tom Ellis was great as usual; Chloe’s addiction to the strength gained from a divine object was the most interesting arc she’s ever had and Lauren German crushed it; Maze and Eve’s rocky road to the altar was sweet and complex and the perfect use for the show’s second-ever f-bomb; Dan’s desperate need to connect was funny and sad in equal measure; Dr. Linda’s book was a great end-arc that kept her off-balance, a realm Rachel Harris rules in; Amenadiel’s wondering if his son Charlie might eventually sprout wings was always fun; we’ve already talked about Rory and Ella; even the recurring characters were solid, from Ella’s too-nice-to-trust boyfriend to the motorcycle cop who pulled Lucifer over in the very first scene returning for the final season premiere (they needed something for an opening episode callback now that last year’s bronze medalist guest star, Mr. Said-Out-Bitch, was wrapped up).

I love everyone in that photo. I miss them terribly.

Silver: The Boys

Hands up if you have a highlight scene that’s safe for work. Yeah, thought as much.
Image: Prime Video

I honestly wouldn’t have time to list everyone in this show’s arc and why they’re great at it because it would literally involve recapping the entire season. Everyone had something meaty to do (sometimes uncomfortably literally), and while not every category in this post has a Boys cast member, in every category I had to consider a Boys cast member. Can’t say that about most shows on the list.

Everyone’s fantastic is my point. Buuuuuuuut…..

Gold: Peacemaker

Especially but not exclusively the eagle
Image: HBO Max

Every single character on Peacemaker could anchor their own show and that show would be great. I mean White Dragon’s show would be a very tough hang but we would complain it didn’t get enough Emmy love. All of the 11th Street Kids are basically perfect, Chukwudi Iwuji was amazing as their leader and moral center; Annie Chang and Lochlyn Munro hilarious as the cops on Peacemaker’s trail; Nhut Le made you believe that the tiny Judomaster could absolutely body Peacemaker himself; Christopher Heyerdahl was fantastically creepy as Locke and also had some of the funniest post-credit scenes… this was a show without a weak link, in any scene, from leads to guests. Just the absolute best ensemble.

Next page: [Burying the lede joke but it’s lead actors, you know, because they’re last]

Author: danny_g

Danny G, your humble host and blogger, has been working in community theatre since 1996, travelling the globe on and off since 1980, and caring more about nerd stuff than he should since before he can remember. And now he shares all of that with you.

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