Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 20, "Nothing Personal" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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“Nothing Personal,” the antepenultimate episode in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1, is loaded with Easter eggs, references, and cameos, and at the same time manages to fill in a ton of puzzle pieces for the season’s remaining mysteries.  All the pieces are starting to come together for an exciting season finale two episodes from now!

Reminder:  Retro-Reviews contain potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2.

Ant-Man's MCU Future

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Ant-Man gave us a lot of information.  I mean, a lot.  It wasn’t nearly as much as Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it was still a lot to take in.  Most of it was connected to the story at hand, but like all Marvel movies, Ant-Man also gave us a few clues about what could be coming down the pipe in Ant-Man’s future appearances as well as in the MCU in general.

This week I’m going to go through some of what Ant-Man gave us in terms of the MCU, as well as possibilities for an Ant-Man sequel.

Warning:  this post will contain spoilers for Ant-Man!  If you haven’t seen the movie yet, what’s wrong with you?  Go to www.fandango.com right now, find a show time, see the movie, and then come straight back here!  (In the interest of full disclosure, I’m not getting anything from Fandango… though if they wanted to send me free tickets, I would not complain!)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 19, "The Only Light in the Darkness" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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The next episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “The Only Light in the Darkness” (1x19), sees Coulson going off on a mission to save a woman from a crazed psychopathic “monster,” even as the monster within the team reveals himself.  Consequently, the conclusion of this episode may be the most personal yet for Skye and Coulson as they are forced to examine themselves and their relationships.

Remember, Retro-Reviews contain potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2.

Time to Start Recruiting Secret Warriors! Part 4

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If you’ve been following my series of articles looking at potential recruits for Skye’s Secret Warriors on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3, you know that there are a TON of options out there!  My first article looked at 10 different characters who have either appeared or been mentioned on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  The second article did the same with the 7 members of the Secret Warriors team in the comics (8 if you include Skye/Daisy/Quake).  In the third article I went through 7 of the NuHumans from the comics (again, 8 if you include Skye/Daisy/Quake)—people who discovered latent Inhuman ancestry after Black Bolt detonated the Terrigen Bomb.

Of the 24 characters I examined, not all of them are going to become Secret Warriors.  In fact, there may only be one character from that list who actually joins the Secret Warriors—Skye/Daisy/Quake.  But that’s not nearly as much fun to write!

Here are the 8 characters (out of the 24) that I think could become the Secret Warriors team on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  I won’t include a ton of background on each one; if you want to learn more I encourage you to look at the previous articles where I go into more detail.

Netflix and the Hero-Population Density of the MCU

Marvel and Netflix just released another promo image for Daredevil season 2 (will they release Jessica Jones season 1 already???), and it is teasing the appearance of another super villain/hero who made his first (non-powered) appearance last season.

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In case you're not familiar with the character to which this refers, here's the nickel summary:  in the comics, Gladiator is the hero/villain name of Melvin Potter, who creates a suit for himself incorporating circular saw blades.

Yes, Melvin Potter is potentially going to create his own suit (perhaps inspired by Daredevil).  Whether he will be fighting crime or committing it, however, remains to be seen.  In the comics he began his career by deciding to become a super criminal and fought Daredevil regularly for a while before deciding to reform, undergoing therapy, marrying, and becoming a sometimes-hero.  However, we may not see this entire story play out on Daredevil the way it happened in the comics.

Weekly MCU Review for 7/25

Another week, and more MCU news!  Ant-Man premiered last weekend, Civil War news is coming out, and Jurassic World has beaten The Avengers at the box office.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up (*ducks*) on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 18, "Providence" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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After the huge action and intrigue of “Turn, Turn, Turn” (1x17), “Providence” slows things down somewhat by focusing more on the characters’ reactions to everything that happened with the Hydra uprising, Fury’s death, and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.  After how big the last episode was, I was a bit caught off-guard by how intimate this episode is, but it really works as an opportunity to slow down and reflect on what’s happened.

Remainder:  There will be spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2, along with Captain America: The Winter Soldier

What's Up with [Spoiler]?

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Warning:  This post contains some spoilers for Ant-Man.  If you have not yet seen the movie, click away from here to www.fandango.com, find the next show time at your local movie theater, get in your car, go to the theater and watch Ant-Man (remember, it’s the one with the ants), then come home, read my spoiler review, and finally return here to read this article.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 17, "Turn, Turn, Turn" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Wow.  I’m pretty sure that’s the only possible response after watching “Turn, Turn, Turn” (1x17) the first time.

This episode aired only four days after the Marvel Cinematic Universe was turned upside down by the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  In that movie Captain America discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra, which was attempting to launch a trio of helicarriers capable of taking out anyone deemed a threat to Hydra.  However, Cap, Black Widow, Falcon, Hill, and Fury took control of the helicarriers and forced them to destroy each other (and if you haven’t seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier yet, I kind of just spoiled the ending… but it’s your own fault for still having not seen it when it’s been out over a year!).  And all of this is happening more or less concurrently with the events of “Turn, Turn, Turn.”

Reminder:  Potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2 ahead (along with a few more Captain America: The Winter Soldier spoilers).  You've been warned.

Time to Start Recruiting Secret Warriors! Part 3

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Thus far I’ve written two articles looking forward to the Secret Warriors on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  The first looked at characters who have appeared on the show already.  The second looked at the members of the comic book Secret Warriors team.  This time, I will be looking at some of the “NuHumans”—descendants of the Inhumans who lived among regular humans and discovered their Inhuman ancestry after the Terrigen Bomb was detonated.  Why would I look at these characters in particular?  Because that’s exactly what’s happening on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. following the season 2 finale.

The first criterion I am looking for—superpowers—is met by all the NuHumans.  So instead of that criterion, I will instead look at the ability to be anonymous, along with the back story and powers:  can they be translated to TV?

The ranking scale I am using is 1-5, with “1” meaning “no way in hell” and “5” meaning “already confirmed to be on the team.”

An Open Letter to Marvel Studios

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Dear Marvel Studios,

Well, it finally happened:  You had a film turn in a poor domestic opening weekend.  It wasn’t quite as bad as The Incredible Hulk in 2008, but it was a little under where Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger both landed in 2011.  I’d imagine that this has at least a few of the higher-ups, both at Marvel Studios yourself and at Disney, very nervous.

But it really shouldn’t.  After all, this was going to be a risky venture from the get-go—I mean, come on:  “Ant-Man”???  Just saying the name felt weird a few years ago when you announced that Edgar Wright’s long-in-development Ant-Man movie was going to be taking place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from such a wild concept at the time (though I warmed to it as I did further research).

Looking Ahead to Jessica Jones Season 1

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Now that I’m finished with my reviews of Daredevil season 1 and thoughts for Daredevil season 2, it’s time to start looking ahead to the next Marvel Netflix series to premiere:  Jessica Jones.  There is still no definite release date for Jessica Jones season 1, but the best guess I’ve been able to find is either IMDb, which sets the release date as “December 2015,” or a couple other places which suggested September (I think).  Is one of those correct?  I don’t know, but I hope it will be some time this year.  My hope is that after a year or 2 of releasing 2 Netflix seasons per year, Marvel will be ready in either 2016 or 2017 to start releasing 3 per year.  This would give us The Defenders season 1 in 2017, and the possibility of several more Netflix series, culminating with The Defenders season 2 in 2019, to coincide with Avengers: Infinity War Part 2.

But enough of my speculation; here’s what I want to see in Jessica Jones season 1!

Ant-Man SPOILER REVIEW (SPOILERS!!!)

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www.twitter.com/AntMan

Warning:  This is about twice as long as my usual articles, but I don't want to break it up.  There are a couple things that I didn't talk about in here, though, which will make their way into other articles in the next couple weeks.

If you couldn’t tell from my non-spoiler review of Ant-Man, I absolutely loved this movie.  I thought it had everything it needed to have, the pacing and build were excellent, the payoff at the end was spectacular, and all the characters were really good.  I have a couple of quibbles, but nothing major.  But let’s get into the review.

The Weekly MCU Review for July 18

Another week, and more MCU news!  Comic-Con is over, Ant-Man just came out, and so much more.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up (*ducks*) on your Marvel news!

Ant-Man NON-SPOILER REVIEW

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Quick Summary:  Ant-Man is pretty awesome.  I had really high expectations, and it definitely did not disappoint.  The humor is all there, especially in the scenes with Scott’s crew.  It has a very different feel from the typical Marvel movie, which I think can be attributed to when it is coming out (in comparison to the rest of the MCU) as well as the character being introduced.  Because Ant-Man is the first “origin story” since The Avengers, things are different by necessity:  An established hero in an established universe.  Additionally, Ant-Man himself is such a different character from what we’ve gotten before now that things are different in introducing him.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 16, "End of the Beginning" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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After last episode took a brief detour as the team helped out Sif the Bounty Hunter, “End of the Beginning” (1x16) sees the series start going full-throttle toward the dramatic conclusion, starting with this episode, which serves as a major lead-in to Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  This one is easily the most exciting episode to-date as new alliances are being forged, guest characters from all over S.H.I.E.L.D.’s involvement in the MCU stop by, and the team is torn apart by the betrayal of one of their own.  I remember watching this episode when it first aired last year and being insanely pumped to watch Winter Soldier and then come back for “Turn, Turn, Turn.”  And it’s the same this time around, too (even though this time the movie that comes between the two episodes is Ant-Man!).

Reminder:  Retro-Reviews include spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2.

Ant-Man Expectations!

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This weekend is the U.S. premiere of Ant-Man, the movie about Earth’s Mite-iest Hero (sorry couldn’t resist using that line again!).  What do we expect from tonight's episode? 

What has happened so far in the MCU?

For a full summary check out my “Ant-Man TL;DW” post from last week.  Here’s the short, short version:

In the wake of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the world is starting to question the benefits of superheroes who operate without accountability.  One person who is questioning heroes is Hank Pym, who used to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. as a costumed agent under the codename “Ant-Man.”  Oh, and there’s a new Avengers team because 2/3 of the original team retired in one form or another at the end of Age of Ultron.  The new team consists of Captain America, Black Widow, Vision, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, and Falcon.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 15, "Yes Men" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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“Yes Men” is probably one of my favorite “tie-in” episodes with a Marvel movie—at least in terms of pure fun value.  It diverges from the main storyline which has just started picking up steam, but I actually like that they will occasionally diverge; it seems realistic for an international peacekeeping agency to be called on to juggle a number of different threats simultaneously.  The episode gives us a little insight into a few of the characters, but it blows the doors wide open on the possibilities for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the wider Marvel Universe.

Note:  All "Retro-Reviews" contain spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1-2.

How Many other Characters Have Used Pym Particles?

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Ant-Man is going to introduce us to the concept of size-altering later this week.  Over the course of the movie, we are going to see at least 3 characters (potentially 4 depending on how much involvement the original Wasp has in flashbacks) use Pym Particles to shrink down and fight.  However, Scott Lang, Hank Pym, and Darren Cross are not the only characters in Marvel history to make use of size alteration—actually Darren Cross never did use Pym Particles in the comics... but that’s okay.  There are a lot of characters who have used this ability in the comics, many of whom succeeded to one of Hank Pym’s various hero identities.  However, there are also several who created their own hero identity, some of whom had other powers which could be enhanced by the use of Pym Particles.

Could we see any of these characters enter the Marvel Universe through Ant-Man or one of its sequels?  One has already been in a few movies, and we’re already guaranteed to see another one in Ant-Man!

(Note 1:  Just about everything here comes from either Wikipedia or Marvel Wiki.  Feel free to look it up there.  Or if you don’t want to get sucked into a wormhole and reemerge next month, keep reading here!)

(Note 2:  There will be spoilers for the comics ahead.)

San Diego Comic-Con 2015 RECAP

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comic-con.org

If you read my expectations for Comic-Con last week, you may remember that I was actually expecting quite a bit from Marvel Comics and Marvel TV.  However, if you either were at Comic-Con or have been following the press released in the blogosphere (like me), you should know that we didn’t get most of what I was expecting.  But that doesn’t mean that nothing of note happened at Comic-Con (*cough*DC*cough*BvS*cough*Suicide Squad*cough CW*cough)—even on the Marvel side of things.  So without further ado, let’s go through what Marvel shared at Comic-Con.

Note:  if you know of something that I missed from Marvel’s Comic-Con panels, let me know in the comments and I will update the article.

Time to Look Ahead to Daredevil Season 2

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Now that I’ve gone through and reviewed all the episodes of Daredevil, this seems like as good a time as any to look ahead to what I want to see in season 2.  We know a few things already about season 2, which will factor into my choices for season 2.  However, there is still plenty more that has not yet been revealed about Daredevil season 2, starting with a release date!  Hopefully we will find that out soon enough.

But before we find out when we’ll see it, let’s talk about what we want to see!

15 Avengers Who Might Not Show Up in the MCU, Part 2 (Response to ScreenRant)

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Are there any Avengers characters that can be ruled out entirely for inclusion in the MCU?  I’m not talking about the mutants and Fantastic Four—both of those groups are owned by Fox and it would probably take an act of God for any of them to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe!  Instead, I’m talking about the characters who are part of the Marvel canon and are not associated with a property which has had its movie rights sold to another studio.  Can we really count out any characters for making an appearance somewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

This is a question that ScreenRant posed this past week in an article entitled “15 Avengers Who Will Never Be Featured In Marvel Movies.”  The writer, Agustin Guerrero, lists 15 comic book characters whom he does not think will ever appear in the movies.  And while I agree with his reasoning to a point, I think he is overstating his cast with some of these characters.  So I’m going to go through all 15 characters/groups with my take on whether or not they will appear in the MCU.  However, I will expand it to include all media—films, TV, tie-in comics—so that may account for some of our disagreements.  I’ll summarize Guerrero’s history of the character, give his reasoning for excluding the character, and then give my take on whether or not the character can appear.  Where possible, I will give a possible scenario for inclusion.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the first part of this article.

15 Avengers Who Might Not Show Up in the MCU, Part 1 (Response to ScreenRant)

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Are there any Avengers characters that can be ruled out entirely for inclusion in the MCU?  I’m not talking about the mutants and Fantastic Four—both of those groups are owned by Fox and it would probably take an act of God for any of them to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe!  Instead, I’m talking about the characters who are part of the Marvel canon and are not associated with a property which has had its movie rights sold to another studio.  Can we really count out any characters for making an appearance somewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

This is a question that ScreenRant posed this past week in an article entitled “15 Avengers Who Will Never Be Featured In Marvel Movies.”  The writer, Agustin Guerrero, lists 15 comic book characters whom he does not think will ever appear in the movies.  And while I agree with his reasoning to a point, I think he is overstating his case with some of these characters.  So I’m going to go through all 15 characters/groups with my take on whether or not they will appear in the MCU.  However, I will expand it to include all media—films, TV, tie-in comics—so that may account for some of our disagreements.  I’ll summarize Guerrero’s history of the character, give his reasoning for excluding the character, and then give my take on whether or not the character can appear.  Where possible, I will give a possible scenario for inclusion.

Note:  This is very long, so I am breaking it up into 2 parts; the second part will publish tomorrow morning.

Weekly MCU Review for July 11

Another week, and more MCU news!  Ant-Man is just a week away, Comic-Con is in full swing, and there's a lot of rumors swirling for DC, X-Men, etc.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up (*ducks*) on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 14, "T.A.H.I.T.I." RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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At this point, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really starts to pick up steam as it pushes onward toward the impending season finale and the tie-in with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  We finally get to meet our villain for the season, and practically every line of dialogue from him is a nefarious hint at what’s coming—even though at the time it sounds completely innocent.  This is also the first episode to use the “post-credits button” to tease the following week’s episode, something which Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fully embraced in season 2, where just about every episode ended with a teaser for the following one.

Warning:  Retro-Reviews contain spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. through season 2.

Ant-Man TL;DW

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Marvel’s Ant-Man opens in U.S. theaters next Friday, and a lot of people are going to go see it.  And there is the chance that at least some of these will be completely new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  So to help these people out, I decided to write a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” summary of the MCU to date, focusing especially on what is relevant to Ant-Man.  At the end I will offer my three suggestions for movies that you should watch (or rewatch) before going to see Ant-Man, and why those three.  We’ll start from the beginning, with Iron Man.

Note:  There will (obviously) be spoilers.

San Diego Comic-Con 2015 EXPECTATIONS

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Well, San Diego Comic-Con starts tomorrow with a preview tonight.  Unfortunately, Marvel Studios (among others) has elected not to attend this year… I guess they must have learned that I’m not going to be there and planned accordingly!  I can just imagine the Board meeting where it happened:

Kevin Feige:  So, are we agreed?  We’ll bring the whole cast of Ant-Man and show the entire movie in Hall H.  Then we’ll bring out the cast of Captain America: Civil War and let Robert and Chris go a few rounds in an impromptu boxing match, followed by showing the first official trailer to the movie.  And then just for grins we’ll introduce the cast of Avengers: Infinity War!  Hall H will literally explode!

Intern (running in, breathless):  Mr. Feige!  Mr. Feige!  Terrible news:  the MCUReviewer is not going to be at Comic-Con this year.

Feige:  Are you serious?  That’s the whole reason we’ve been going in the first place:  just in case a random blogger who just started a blog this year would be there!

Intern:  Sir…?

Feige:  Well, I guess we’re not going to Comic-Con this year, folks.  Time to pack it in.

Intern:  Seriously?  Because of one random blogger?

Feige:  Are you questioning Feige the Great and Powerful???

Intern:  Umm… don’t you mean something like “The Fantastic Feige,” sir?

Feige:  What?

Intern:  Well, it’s just that “Feige the Great and Powerful” sounds like a Wizard of Oz sequel, but “The Fantastic Feige” sounds like a Marvel property.

Feige:  Didn’t you get the memo?  We are removing the word “fantastic” from our dictionary until the heretics at Fox come to their senses, restore the Fantastic Four rights to their rightful owners, and return to the Universal Church of Truth!

Intern:  Ummm…

Feige:  Silence!

Yeah… because that’s definitely the way it went!  (Attention:  If anyone from Marvel comes across this, it is only intended for humor, not as a reflection of how I think this decision-making process went.  And if this somehow is the way it went… I swear I don’t have a listening device planted in your office behind the poster of the original Avengers team!)

Anyways, Marvel Studios isn’t going to be there, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to get any Marvel news this weekend.  Marvel TV and Marvel Comics will both be there.  So here are my expectations for Comic-Con—at least on the Marvel side of things.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 13, "T.R.A.C.K.S." RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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“T.R.A.C.K.S.”:  the obligatory Joss Whedon train episode.  It’s actually a lot more than just a train heist episode, but that’s where the episode starts.  And this is also when the series starts to connect the episodes together more closely into a single long plot of Coulson’s fight against Ian Quinn and Centipede.  The small vignettes with the members of the team and mystery-like nature of the episode make it pretty fun and a nice change of pace from the rest of the series.

Reminder:  All Retro-Reviews contain potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. seasons 1 and 2.

Time to Start Recruiting Secret Warriors! Part 2

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Last week I wrote an article going through the enhanced people we’ve met so far on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and guessing at how likely they are to be members of the Secret Warriors team in season 3.  That got me thinking:  What about the members of the Secret Warriors in the comic books?  Could any of them appear in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3?  So without further ado, I’m going to go through all the members of the Secret Warriors from the comics based on the same criteria I used last week and see if any of them might appear in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The first two criteria I am looking for—superpowers and anonymity—are both met by all the comic book team members.  So instead of those two criteria, I will instead look at the back story and powers:  can they be translated to the TV?

The ranking scale I am using is 1-5, with “1” meaning “no way in hell” and “5” meaning “already confirmed to be on the team.”

Daredevil Season 1, Episode 13, "Daredevil" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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At long last, we’ve finally reached the end of Daredevil season 1.  This is the climax of all the action and intrigue and character development we’ve been following.  The anticipation has built to a fever pitch, and the season finale definitely did not disappoint.  This episode gives us the big battle we’ve been waiting for between Daredevil and Kingpin, as well as the iconic suit we’ve been waiting all season to see.  And it also brings most of the character arcs for the season to a satisfying conclusion.

Rumor Has It... Marvel's Having Some Iron Fist Issues

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As you may have noticed in the “Weekly MCU Review” for July 4, rumor has it that Marvel has been having some trouble figuring out exactly how they want to proceed with Iron Fist.  Specifically, they are not sure if they want to bring the mystical elements of the Iron Fist Universe into the very grounded universe which they established in Daredevil.  And if they do bring in those mystical elements, they are unsure as to how.

So, because I am an internet writer (and we all know how knowledgeable those are!), I thought I would help Marvel out with their little mysticism conundrum.  Here are my thoughts on how Marvel should bring the mystical elements into the Netflix corner of the MCU.

Weekly MCU Review for Independence Day

Instead of a ketchup bottle, have a
Happy Independence Day!
(If you're American, that is)

Another week, and more MCU news!  Ant-Man is just a couple weeks away, and they are really revving up the hype machine!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up (*ducks*) on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 12, "Seeds" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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The next episode up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season one is definitely not the strongest story-wise, but it actually does a lot to develop the main characters and their relationships.  “Seeds” introduces us to one of the more interesting plotlines for season two—Donnie Gill—and gives us a very brief tease of his incredible powers.  This time, however, the episode takes the time to develop his character and turn him into a very sympathetic villain.  I wouldn’t say that Donnie Gill is the Loki of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but his character arc does follow Loki’s:  rough childhood, dismissive father, pushed aside… at the end of the day you find yourself just feeling sorry for the guy (but not quite as much as at the end of “Making Friends and Influencing People” (2x03), his episode in season 2).

Note:  Retro-Reviews include potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. through season 2.

Ant-Man's Comic Book History

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Marvel’s Mite-iest Hero makes his movie debut this month!  So in honor of Ant-Man, this is the first article in a series to help the casual moviegoer know a little more about Ant-Man and his place in Marvel Comics.  This first article will offer an overview of the history of Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, along with some idea of how Pym Particles actually work.  Next week will be the TL;DW (“Too Long; Didn’t Watch”) recap of everything that’s happened in the MCU to date along with viewing suggestions (it’s a short list).  The following week I will have 2 articles for you:  an overview of all the various characters in the comics who have made use of Pym Particles as part of their regular suit (leaving out things like Beast taking a group of mutant students on a field trip using Pym Particles—yes, that happened), and then my expectations for the movie.  First up is a brief history of Hank Pym.  Note:  if you want a more detailed overview, you can also check out Wikipedia or Marvel Wiki.  Be warned:  Either site is addicting, so you might get lost!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episode 11, "The Magical Place" RETRO-REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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You know how I said that the midseason finale was when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. really started hitting its stride?  Well, “The Magical Place” (1x11) is when that really starts to pay dividends.  Skye on her own doing what she does best for most of the episode.  Coulson finally learning the answers he’s been seeking all season.  The actors more comfortable with their characters.  We see big, bad S.H.I.E.L.D. bringing all its resources to bear on Centipede, the main villain of the season.  And just when it looks like things are all wrapped up, we get a twist ending that might not have been so much of a twist.  In all, I think this is when S.H.I.E.L.D. started its streak of each episode (for the most part) getting progressively better than the last.

Note:  Retro-Reviews include potential spoilers for all of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. through season 2.