AoS-Less Tuesday Discussion: Marvel/DC Crossover

There aren't that many Marvel/DC Crossover pics
out thereImage Courtesy www.in2eastafrica.net

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. entered its winter hiatus following the winter finale, “Maveth” (3x10).  There are going to be five total weeks without any new Marvel TV—Agent Carter will begin on January 19—so I am going to post a new discussion thread every week with a different concept for us to explore and debate.

First, here are the previous discussions:

If you could be Inhuman, what power would you want?  Mostly MCU Reviews Reddit

Pitch a new hero for the MCU Mostly MCU Reviews Reddit

Background for this week’s discussion prompt:  You are watching The Flash on the CW and it ends with a portal opening and sucking a DCTVU character into it just before the final credits roll.  You then switch channels to ABC to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the episode begins with a portal opening.

“That’s odd,” you think.  You stare for a moment before it hits you:  this is exactly the same special effect you just saw on The Flash.  An MCU TV character then gets sucked into the portal, and you realize that the DCTVU and MCU are crossing over on the small-screen.

Here’s the prompt:  Pitch a confrontation on neutral ground between 1 or more characters from these two universes which will occur on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  The characters can be heroes, villains, or a mix.  They can be from any show set in this time period (not Agent Carter… though I suppose you could cross AC with Legends of Tomorrow), or even characters who haven’t been announced but fit into one of those shows (theme-wise and budget-wise).  Also note that The Flash is only relevant insofar as it airs immediately before Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  You don’t need to offer a plot for the fight.  The special effects must remain consistent with a TV budget, though it can be on the higher end; this would be a major cro$$over after all!

Jessica Jones Season 1, Episode 6, "AKA You're A Winner!" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Jessica Jones takes a decidedly emotional turn in episode 6, “AKA You’re a Winner!” when one of the major plot questions from previous episodes gets resolved (answering the question of “Why doesn’t Luke Cage appear in all the episodes?” very decidedly!).  In addition to this emotional moment, we also learn more about Kilgrave and his diabolical “plan” with regards to Jessica.  I remember being a little confused—not to mention weirded out—by Kilgrave in this episode, but as the series continues his actions begin to make far more sense.

Weekly "MCU" Review for 12/26

Happy Boxing Day or St. Stephen’s Day!  Another week, and more MCU Star Wars news!  Not a lot of MCU news to report, but I think the Star Wars news more than makes up for it!  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel Star Wars news!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens SPOILER Review

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If you read my non-spoiler review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, then you already know that I am a huge Star Wars fan—well before I was a Marvel fan.  You also know that I really enjoyed just about everything about this movie.  Simply put, The Force Awakens is a return to the heights of the Original Trilogy in every way that counts (but perhaps a few that don’t).  In this spoiler review, there really isn’t that much more to say about the movie except to lay out all of those major plot points that I couldn’t talk about in the non-spoiler review!

But I’m sure I’ll find something else to say…

AoS-Less Tuesday Discussion: Pitch A New Hero

Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. entered its winter hiatus following the winter finale, “Maveth” (3x10).  There are going to be five total weeks without any new Marvel TV—Agent Carter will begin on January 19—so I am going to post a new discussion thread every week with a different concept for us to explore and debate.

First, here is last week's discussion:
If you could be Inhuman, what power would you want?  Mostly MCU Reviews Reddit

Here is this week’s discussion prompt:  Pitch a new superhero, either from Marvel Comics or an original character, for the MCU.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Non-Spoiler Review

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So a new movie just came out last weekend, and I thought I would write a review of it since it’s a new follow-up to a hugely-popular geek-loved movie franchise.  I’m talking of course about Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.

Yeah.  Right.

No, instead I am talking about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  This will be a non-spoiler review, but I will publish a spoiler review later this week (hopefully; this is a pretty busy week for me since I’m a pastor!).

Before I get started, however, I should point out that I grew up in a Star Wars family:  my siblings and I loved watching the original trilogy, and even enjoyed the prequels (though since I’ve grown up I’ve learned to see all those things I didn’t see when I was younger).  We would make up Star Wars stories, read a lot of the Expanded Universe books, and even collected some Star Wars memorabilia.  To say that I’m a Star Wars fan would be an understatement!

Naturally, I was really hyped for this movie and really hoping that it would be good.  So is it?

Simply put:  Yes.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens deserves all the accolades it is getting.  It deserves all the money it is bringing in—and will continue to bring in for the next several months.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an excellent return to form for the Star Wars universe.

Jessica Jones Season 1, Episode 5, "AKA The Sandwich Saved Me" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Before Jessica Jones was released, one of my biggest questions was just how much of Jessica’s aborted superhero career we would see in this series.  That question finds its answer in episode 5, when Jessica performs her first couple heroic acts and is first pushed in the direction of becoming a superhero.  In addition to this exploration of Jessica’s superhero career, the episode also gives us our first glimpse into both Jessica’s attempts to capture Kilgrave and the protections Kilgrave has put in place to prevent that from happening.

Weekly MCU Review for 12/19

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not a lot to talk about on the Marvel front, but there’s some DC news.  Oh, and this little independent film just opened last night.  What’s it called?  That’s right:  Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

AoS Season 3 First Half Discussion

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So instead of a traditional blog post where I do all the talking, I decided to open it up for comments on the first half of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3.  The half-season ended on a pretty wild note, which I will discuss after the jump.  Just be careful of spoilers!

AoS-less Tuesday Discussion: If You Could be Inhuman...

Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/AgentsofSHIELD

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. entered its winter hiatus this week following the winter finale, “Maveth” (3x10).  There are going to be five total weeks without any new Marvel TV—Agent Carter will begin on January 19 and run through March 1, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returning on March 8—so I am going to post a new discussion thread every week with a different concept for us to explore and debate.

First up:  If you could be an Inhuman, what power (or powers) would you want to have?

Jessica Jones Season 1, Episode 4, "AKA 99 Friends" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com

Jessica Jones takes a bit of a detour from the main plot in episode 4, “AKA 99 Friends,” to comment on the conditions in New York City for those with “gifts.”  However, that doesn’t mean that the main plot disappears entirely, as Jessica continues her efforts to protect those she loves and track down Kilgrave before he can hurt anyone else.  All in all, the insight this episode provides into the “New York Superhero Community™”—and even more into the general public’s reaction to it!—is very welcome, particularly as the Superhero Civil War nears.

Weekly MCU Review for 12/12

Another week, and more MCU news!  Trailers, trailers everywhere!  And Agents of S.H.I.EL.D. is going on break.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up (*ducks*) on your Marvel news!

Mostly MCU Reviews

My articles from the week

Only three articles this week:

Jessica Jones season 1, episode 3, “AKA It’s Called Whiskey” review.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3, episode 10, “Maveth” expectations and review.

MCU News

Links to news articles and blog posts about the MCU

The Spider-Man costume for Captain America: Civil War will reportedly require a lot of special effects.

Sony executives this week screened Captain America: Civil War to offer notes and approval of the depiction of Spider-Man.  I just hope their notes don’t make the movie worse (*cough*The Amazing Spider-Man 2*cough*).

Variety is reporting that Marvel is after Cate Blanchett for a role in Thor: Ragnarok.  Galadriel, maybe?

The writing team for Ant-Man and the Wasp has been officially finalized:  Paul Rudd, Adam McKay, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari.

Evidently, though Ant-Man and the Wasp will borrow from the tone of Ant-Man, it will “have an entirely different template.”

According to Anthony Russo, working the Defenders into Avengers: Infinity War would be “complicated.”  In other news, water is wet!  Of course this kind of thing would be complicated; Marvel has been making a living on “complicated” ever since RDJ showed up in the mid-credits scene of someone else’s movie to promote a combined sequel!  He notes that there needs to be a compelling reason, and I think plot-wise they could easily make this kind of thing work:  Thanos wants to destroy the world, and last I heard that includes Hell’s Kitchen!  Having said all that, however, I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to have the Defenders and S.H.I.E.L.D. show up in Avengers: Infinity War, but it is definitely necessary for them to be involved in the Infinity War (which is going to span a full year, with 2 direct movies, 2 movies between, and a full season’s worth of TV).

Jessica Jones has only been out a couple weeks, and we’re already getting news about the next series on the release slate:  Daredevil season 2.  They showed some footage at a Comic-Con in Brazil, and from the description it sounds pretty awesome:  Daredevil vs. The Punisher!

Well, huh.  Frank Miller is apparently not a Daredevil fan.  Too bad, considering that the Netflix series actually did his character justice—and will probably do the same with his other character, Elektra, in season 2!

And just like that, we now know more about Iron Fist than we’ve known about it since Marvel announced the series:  Scott Buck is going to be the showrunner and we now have our first official synopsis:

Returning to New York City after being missing for years, Daniel Rand fights against the criminal element corrupting New York City with his incredible kung-fu mastery and ability to summon the awesome power of the fiery Iron Fist.

The synopsis sounds great:  they’re not straying away from the mystical elements as some of the rumors suggested, and they are definitely going to make him unique by comparison with Daredevil.  What do you think?

News from Around Geekdom

Anything not related to the MCU that I find interesting

What do you think of this first X-Men: Apocalypse trailer?

Tying in with the trailer release, Marvel announced its new “X-Men: Apocalypse Wars” comic book.  This is the first time in quite a while that Marvel has actually tried to promote a Fox movie property in their comics!

I’m kind of confused by this article.  You see, I could’ve sworn that they announced the Flash for Batman vs. Superman a while back.  Maybe that was a semi-confirmed rumor and this is confirmation.

Do you want to see Will Smith’s Deadshot in the Batman solo film?

So, do you agree with Stephen Amell that Green Arrow could beat Batman?  I’m not going to dismiss the possibility out of hand like many, but I think it only happens under very specific circumstances.  Namely, it can only happen if Arrow is sniping him from a distance and Batman doesn’t know he’s being targeted (or that Arrow is even there).

Another in a long line of DC Comics characters to appear in the DCTVU:  [SPOILER].

Huh.  So The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow are starting/returning January 19, 20, and 21, respectively.  For some reason I thought Legends of Tomorrow was supposed to be a midseason-break-series, and that Arrow and The Flash would return after it finished.

 

Do you want a USB car charger shaped like the Death Star with Grand Moff Tarkin’s voice?

So apparently December 18 is going to see a tear form in the space-time continuum:  the trailer for Star Trek Beyond is going to run before Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  I feel like those two can’t actually share a screen together…  Also included with Episode 7 are Captain America: Civil War, Batman v. Superman, and Deadpool.

What do you think of the TMNT 2 trailer?

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 10, "Maveth" REVIEW (SPOILERS!)

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Last night was the midseason finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and it really didn’t disappoint.  There wasn’t nearly as much superpowered action as I was hoping to see, and the 2 biggest twists of the episode could be guessed pretty early on, but it more than made up for it with the other twists!  This was a majorly-twisty episode, and I think it is pretty safe to say that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra are not going to be the same again after what happened in this episode.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 10, "Maveth" EXPECTATIONS

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns tonight with “Maveth” (3x10) at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Jessica Jones Season 1, Episode 3, "AKA It's Called Whiskey" REVIEW (SPOILERS!)

Image Courtesy www.screenrant.com

One of the great benefits of the Netflix model is the fact that episodes flow into each other almost seamlessly.  At the end of the previous episode, “AKA Crush Syndrome” (1x02), Jessica and Luke were in the process of discovering each other’s powers; “AKA It’s Called Whiskey” (1x03) begins with the continuation of that discovery.  This paves the way for our first real in-depth exploration of the relationship between Jessica and Luke, but this episode is far more than a vehicle for relationship drama; more of the significant characters are introduced, and one of Jessica’s major motivations for the series comes into sharp focus.

Weekly MCU Review for 12/5

Another week, and more MCU news!  Now that the Captain America: Civil War trailer is out, we're getting a ton of new information about that movie.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Loose Ends and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

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Let’s talk about loose ends.  Every Marvel offering has had them; after all, you can’t build a Cinematic Universe without leaving some loose ends for the sequels to pull on!  Every comic book-based movie or TV series has left a few because there’s always the possibility of a sequel—though some of these loose ends are more obvious and hopeless than others (*cough*Sinestro*cough*).  Every TV series leaves at least a few loose ends, unless it is given the opportunity for a final season—and even then there may be a few plot threads left open-ended to allow for fan speculation.

However, when it comes to loose ends—or cliffhanger endings—no one seems to do them quite as well as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  After all, this is the series which concluded its second season with a main cast member getting sucked into a giant stone Monolith and still announced her as a returning main cast member!  Last year’s midseason finale ended with the death of a major character and the shocking revelation that a main cast member was no less than an important comic book character as well as the audience’s “in” to a world of superhumans which we did not expect to see explored before 2018 at the earliest (and more likely 2019, when their movie is scheduled to come out).  Whoa!

And next week is the midseason finale for season three.  After the episode airs we can spend months discussing all the loose ends left for the second half of the season to explore.  This week, however, I want to run through all of the loose ends left at the end of “Closure” (3x09), which really didn’t give closure to anything.

Obviously, there will be SPOILERS!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 9, "Closure" REVIEW (SPOILERS!)

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

You know, I’m kind of tempted not to publish a review of “Closure” (3x09), because I only review an episode after I’ve seen the whole thing, and clearly this episode still isn’t over!  I think we can safely say that this episode is one of—if not the—biggest cliffhanger of the entire series.  In fact, I kind of think that “Closure” and “Maveth” (3x10) could just as easily be the 2 halves of a TV movie as 2 separate TV episodes.  But this is just a review of the first half, which contains some wild twists en route to that cliffhanger ending.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 9, "Closure" EXPECTATIONS

Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns tonight with “Closure” (3x09) at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?