Weekly Non-MCU Review for New Year's Eve

Another week, and more non-MCU news!  This is another week without anything strictly MCU-related, but there’s a little bit from Carrie Fisher’s passing.

Sadly, Carrie Fisher passed away this week following her heart attack last week.

Somewhat fortunately for the franchise, Carrie Fisher had finished her Episode VIII filming already.

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Weekly Not-MCU Review for Christmas Eve Day

Merry Christmas!  There really isn’t a lot of news this week, but Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is still making bank.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Star Wars news!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the least Star Wars-like Star Wars movie I think I have ever seen.  The emotional weight and tone share much less in common with Star Wars: A New Hope than they do with Saving Private Ryan.  Rather than exude the kind of hopeful optimism you see in every single Star Wars movie (even the darker ones—Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of the Sith—end with a hopeful note and contain all kinds of hope throughout), Rogue One contains very little in the way of hope and optimism for its own main characters.  In fact, of all the Star Wars movies so far, Rogue One is the movie that most closely fits into the category of a tragedy.

I say this not because Rogue One is a bad movie, but because the above actually makes it—after one viewing—perhaps one of my favorite Star Wars movies.  It is not the best by any stretch of the imagination, but all the non-Star Wars elements make it something of a breath of fresh air for someone as steeped in Star Wars lore as I have been.

Weekly MCU Review for 12/17

Another week, and more MCU news!  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came out yesterday, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot became available on Tuesday.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot feels like something of a proof-of-concept:  Marvel Studios and ABC are interested in finding new and innovative ways to produce and present their content, and Slingshot offers a chance to see whether or not a short series (the runtime is less than a TV episode) fleshing out a side character is a viable option for presenting content.

Personally, I think the “gamble” most definitely paid off.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot EXPECTATIONS

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The six (short) episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot become available on abc.com and the ABC app today!  This is Marvel Studios/Marvel TV’s first foray into the wide world of digital media.  What do we expect from this series?

Weekly MCU Review for 12/10

Another week, and more MCU news!  Easily the biggest news this week is the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 8, "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Last night’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. midseason finale was pretty awesome.  It wrapped up all of the important plot points for the first half of the season.  It set up what will happen in the second half (third?) of the season.  It effectively set up a potential Ghost Rider spinoff series/movie.  Oh, and it was also really good in its own right.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 8, "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics" EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues tonight with “The Laws of Inferno Dynamics” (4x08) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Weekly MCU Review for 12/3

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not a ton at the moment, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is back for another week, and we are in December, meaning that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is just around the corner.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 7, "Deals with Our Devils" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Before getting into the actual review, let’s quickly talk about Doctor Strange.  Last night’s episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the first new episode since the movie came out, and in the past there has been something of a tie-in with the movie in the following AoS episode.  Some of those tie-ins (particularly with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron) are relatively big and can spoil the movie’s ending.  This is not one of them.  In fact, there is no mention of Doctor Strange anywhere in the episode—and that’s a good thing.  The events in Doctor Strange were big and potentially universe-shattering… but they occurred in such a way that S.H.I.E.L.D. shouldn’t really know anything definite about them.  Coupled with the major, potentially universe-shattering events S.H.I.E.L.D. is already dealing with, and there’s no reason for S.H.I.E.L.D. to really get involved with the minor events they could be aware of.  The fact that they don’t try to shoehorn a Direct Tie-In into the episode shows that the showrunners are confident enough in their series to let it stand on its own and not try to take advantage of the connective tissue marketing ploy.

Having said all of that, there is still a very small Thematic Tie-In between Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Doctor Strange.  It’s not much of a spoiler for either.  Both play with the concept of the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse—something Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actually (may) have done in season 1!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 7, "Deals with Our Devils" EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues tonight with “Deals with Our Devils” (4x07) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 6, "The Good Samaritan" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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So this review is incredibly late—sorry about that!  When the episode first aired I was dealing with computer trouble, and since then I’ve had a whole lot of other stuff going on.  Hopefully I will be able to get back into a consistent routine now, at least for the next two weeks (the final two episodes of the half-season).

Considering how tardy this is, I will keep it pretty brief and try to offer something of a refresher so you’re ready for tomorrow’s new episode.

Weekly MCU Review for Thanksgiving Weekend (11/26)

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not a lot of excitement this week, but Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Weekly MCU Review for 11/19

Another week, and more MCU news!  There’s a new kid on the block in MCU TV, Doctor Strange is still making bank… and that’s about it for this week, considering that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is still on hiatus.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

The Inhumans Has Been Announced for ABC!

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The Inhumans are one of those properties that has intrigued me ever since Marvel announced The Inhumans movie in 2018 as part of their Phase 3 press conference.  After all, this is a whole race of people with naturally-occurring superpowers, which has lived distinct from humanity for millennia.  The idea of ancient aliens experimenting on early humans in an effort to create a super-powered army only to have that army turn against them is a very interesting premise for a team of superheroes.  The courtly drama of the Royal Family (and the “Royal Black Sheep”) is a very cool take on a common theme (cf. Thor and Loki).

Then two years ago Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started exploring the Inhumans with the reveal that Skye was actually Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. Quake, and an unknown Inhuman.  Not only were the Inhumans appearing sooner than expected, but they seemed poised to offer the first tangible tie-in going from the small-screen to the big-screen.

So imagine my disappointment when Marvel removed The Inhumans from the release schedule after pushing it back twice to make room for Spider-Man: Homecoming and Ant-Man and the Wasp.  Kevin Feige said that he was still interested in the property, but I was worried that they would remain relegated to the small-screen with no hope of seeing the Royal Family mix it up with the Avengers.

And that’s what makes this week’s announcement so exciting:  the Royal Family has been confirmed to headline their own miniseries on ABC!

That’s not the same as getting their own movie, but it might actually be better.  Below we will talk about what we know so far about this miniseries, followed by rampant speculation about what it may mean for the MCU moving forward.

Luke Cage Season 1, Episode 5, "Just to Get a Rep" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Sorry for the late review this week—and sorry in advance that it is shorter than usual.  We went to see Doctor Strange again last night, this time in 3D.  The 3D experience is certainly worth it, particularly for the multiverse and fight sequences.  There is something to be said for 2D making it easier to see details of what’s going on, but the 3D definitely makes everything “pop” more.

But we’re not here to talk about Doctor Strange; we are actually here to discuss the fifth episode of Luke Cage, “Just to Get a Rep.”  After the previous 2 episodes, in which Cottonmouth made a direct attack on Luke, we see some of the fallout of that decision as Cottonmouth goes after Luke’s reputation in the community.  This episode is a lot of fun, particularly for the indirect ways in which Luke and Cottonmouth fight each other.

Oh, and this is also when Claire Temple shows up.

Weekly MCU Review for 11/12

Another week, and more MCU news!  Doctor Strange has been out for a week, we have a new President-Elect in the U.S., and there’s all kinds of exciting things happening with Marvel TV… even though Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on a 3-week break.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Doctor Strange SPOILER REVIEW

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www.twitter.com/DrStrange

So finally I’m getting around to my spoiler review of Doctor Strange.  I haven’t seen it again since writing the non-spoiler review, so there isn’t a ton of new insight into it.  However, we may go to see it in 3D sooner or later, and if we do that I will at least update whether or not the 3D experience is any good.

For now, let’s just talk about Doctor Strange, what stands out about it, what doesn’t work so well, and how this will affect the MCU moving forward.

Before moving into spoilers I should probably address whether or not there is a need to see it before the next Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which is still 2½ weeks away).  The answer to that question is:  I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.  Though there are some very global events in the movie, I don’t think S.H.I.E.L.D. will really have to get involved in any of them.  If there is any sort of tie-in (beyond the thematic tie-in of Ghost Rider and the Darkhold) I think it will be closer to the Ant-Man tie-in (a passing reference to the weird things going on around the world) than to the Avengers: Age of Ultron tie-in (which showed clips from the movie in the form of news footage).  I could be wrong on this, but I (obviously!) don’t think so.  But if you’re worried, just see the movie already.  It’s amazing and you won’t regret it.  Besides, you’ve got 2½ weeks to do it!

With that out of the way, let’s dive into the movie.

Doctor Strange NON-SPOILER REVIEW

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www.twitter.com/DrStrange

I am (admittedly) late to the party with Doctor Strange.  After all, the movie came out on Friday and it’s already Tuesday!  However, I did finally watch it yesterday, and I have to say: it was worth waiting for.  There is a ton of good stuff in it to comment on, but I will save most of it for my next review which will have spoilers.

For now, we’ll just have to content ourselves with this.

Luke Cage Season 1, Episode 4, "Step in the Arena" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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A massive Cinematic Universe with over a dozen movies, two network TV series, a couple dozen tie-in comic books, and three (and counting) Netflix TV series is prone to a number of dangers.  For one thing, there is always the fear of oversaturation:  between Marvel Network, Marvel Netflix, DC Network, and the DCCWTVU, and other comic properties, there is an enormous number of comic book-based TV shows on the air today.  Then there is also the risk of continuity errors (such as Luke Cage name-dropping Obama, though that’s easy enough to explain away as Obama also existing as a popular politician in the MCU).  But the one I want to talk about in this review is the danger of repetition in storytelling.  Something I noticed in both seasons of Daredevil as well as Jessica Jones season 1 is that the flashback episode revealing the hero (or new hero)’s origin came in episode 7.  I was curious if that would continue into Luke Cage (not necessarily a problem, but it does make the show predictable), and fortunately it does not.  Instead, we get Luke’s origin a little sooner, in the fourth episode.

Doctor Strange Expectations

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www.twitter.com/drstrange

A little tardy to the party, but Doctor Strange just came out in the U.S. on Friday.  I haven’t seen it yet, so what are we expecting from this movie?

Weekly MCU Review for 11/5

Another week, and more MCU news!  Doctor Strange is out, and there's a lot going on with The Defenders, which is now shooting.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 6, "The Good Samaritan" EXPECTATIONS

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Sorry for not posting a Luke Cage review yesterday.  Unfortunately while I was in the middle of writing the review my computer died!  So that is going to change my publishing schedule (among other things) quite a bit until I get that situation resolved.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues tonight with “The Good Samaritan” (4x06) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Weekly MCU Review for 10/29

Happy Halloween!  Another week, and more MCU news!  Not too much of note, though Thor: Ragnarok finished filming.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 5, "Lockup" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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First off, I am sorry for the long delay in publishing this review.  If you (still) play Pokémon Go, you probably have some idea what I’ve been doing since Tuesday that has kept me distracted from this!  If you were playing Pokémon Go and stopped, this might be a good time to return during the first Pokémon Go event.  In essence, between now and Tuesday you receive twice the candies for hatching, catching, and transferring Pokémon, and your buddy Pokémon earns candies four times as fast.  So I’ve been cycling through eggs and buddy Pokémon as quickly as I can since Tuesday!  Good thing I just got new shoes…

However, I didn’t want to just let this review fall by the wayside, so here is my (belated) review of this week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Lockup.”

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 5, "Lockup" EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues tonight with “Lockup” (4x05) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Follow-Up to Luke Cage

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No review today (busy weekend), so instead, you get my thoughts on the follow-up to Luke Cage.  Obviously there are spoilers for the whole season.

Now that Luke Cage has been released and we’ve had some time to digest it, there is a lot to unpack as far as where these characters will go from here.  Luke Cage was unique when compared to the other Netflix shows in that this one ended with the least definite resolution.  Daredevil season 1 ended with Matt in a very good place in both his personal and superhero lives.  Jessica Jones season 1 ended with Jess still about as broken as ever, but in a position to begin healing and helping.  Daredevil season 2 ended with a bit of unresolved tension, as Matt revealed himself to Karen and the Hand began the process of resurrecting Elektra, but the primary conflict did end with the Hand defeated and Frank Castle walking around wearing a skull on his chest.  Compare that to Luke Cage, and Daredevil season 2 practically wraps it all up with a bow!

In other words, we’ve got a lot to talk about as far as where things will go from here!

Obviously there will be spoilers for Luke Cage ahead, and obviously there will be a ton of wild speculation as far as Iron Fist and The Defenders are concerned.

Weekly MCU Review for 10/22

Another week, and more MCU news!  We’re getting closer and closer to the Doctor Strange U.S. premiere, and more movies and Netflix shows are entering or nearing production.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 4, "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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One benefit of a comic book-based TV series or movie is the opportunity to see radically-different characters interact with each other.  You wouldn’t expect a science-based hero like the Hulk, a technology-based hero like Iron Man, and a magic-based hero like the Scarlet Witch to work well on screen together, but put them into an Avengers movie, let them fight robots, and they’re all right at home.  That is a definite benefit of placing all these characters into a universe together in a logical fashion.

This episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire” (4x04), is a prime example of both the benefits and problems with putting radically-different characters on-screen together.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 4, "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire" EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues tonight with “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire” (4x04) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Luke Cage Season 1, Episode 3, "Who's Gonna Take the Weight" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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After the excitement in the last episode, “Code of the Streets,” you would think that Luke Cage needed to take a moment to reflect on what happened to Pop and Chico.  However, that is absolutely not the case in “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight,” as Luke gets right back into the action.  There’s plenty of exciting action in this episode, but that doesn’t mean it’s all action; there is still plenty of intrigue, as well as a few moments for reflection.

Weekly MCU Review for 10/15

Another week, and more MCU news!  There’s a lot going on with the Marvel Netflix shows, with shows finishing production, entering production, casting…  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 3, "Uprising" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues its very strong fourth season in “Uprising,” as we see both the dark side of the Sokovia Accords (and attendant Inhuman Registration) and the dark side of human nature at work.  This episode feels like it has been a virtual necessity ever since Captain America: Civil War introduced the concept of the Sokovia Accords—a document which all enhanced individuals must sign, under which they are registered and monitored by the governments of the world.

And along with this exploration of the Accords—and why Steve Rogers didn’t like them in the first place—we also get some very strong development from our main characters.  These last few episodes have actually felt a little more like what I think people were expecting from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when it was first announced:  a show set against the backdrop of enhanced people running around but which focuses on representatives of the massive international peacekeeping agency tasked with keeping the enhanced people in line.  The cast is spread out all across America, and all working on different pieces of the same puzzle, with the Director (officially named “Jeffrey Mace” for the first time on the show) as the only real connecting link.  This makes S.H.I.E.L.D. itself feel bigger while the (extremely large) cast feels a bit smaller and more manageable.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episode 3, "Uprising" EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues tonight with “Uprising” (4x03) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Luke Cage Season 1, Episode 2, "Code of the Streets" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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After the first episode of Luke Cage introduced the instigating conflict, things really start moving in the second episode, “Code of the Streets.”  Up until this point Luke is content to largely stay out of the way, keep to himself, and keep his unbreakable skin out of everyone else’s business.  However, events take a turn decidedly for the worse, and Luke can no longer stay on the sidelines.

The episode is very serious, but there are also a few fun moments, particularly having to do with Turk Barrett, who it seems decided to take a break from being Daredevil’s go-to punching bag in order to visit some friends in Harlem.

Luke Cage Season 1 (Second Half) NON-SPOILER REVIEW

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Last night I finally managed to finish Luke Cage season 1 after a lot of being busy—and a lot of Internet and Netflix frustrations.  Consequently, here is my (non-spoiler) review of the second half of the season, episodes 7-13.  If you missed the first half, here it is.

If you’re looking for a quick verdict of whether or not to see it, the answer is:  Yes.

Luke Cage follows in the tradition of Daredevil and Jessica Jones by offering a good, character-driven series that mixes in strong super-powered action.  The character beats his extremely well, particularly with the main characters.

Weekly MCU Review for 10/8

Another week, and more MCU news!  Just about everything exciting is on Netflix: Luke Cage is out, The Punisher is filming, and The Defenders is close to starting filming.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Captain America: Civil War RETRO-REVIEW

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So unfortunately there was no new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. last night because the Vice-Presidential Debate between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence took precedence.  So, like any good, patriotic American, I turned on my television to watch two men, one with red in his suit and one with blue in his suit, coming from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum in terms of the security-vs.-freedom debate, fight it out on an international stage.

That’s right:  I watched Captain America: Civil War.

(What, you thought I would actually watch the Vice-Presidential Debate???  Come on!)

Consequently, this seems like as good a time as any to look back at my original review of Civil War from May and see how time and repeated viewing (and deleted scenes) changes/improves opinions of the movie.

Luke Cage Season 1, Episode 1, "Moment of Truth" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Apologies for the late update; I was at a meeting most of the day.

Marvel Netflix continues its strong streak with Luke Cage, a series about the hero of the same name, who receives super-strength and unbreakable skin from a sabotaged experiment and eventually decides to use his newfound abilities for good.  In the comics it is a long road for Luke to move from fugitive escaped convict to “Hero for Hire” and from there to become an Avenger.  The same looks to hold true for the Netflix iteration of the character, who began on Jessica Jones as a fugitive escaped convict who decided to leave Hell’s Kitchen after his entire world got turned upside down by Kilgrave.

Luke Cage Season 1 (First Half) NON-SPOILER REVIEW

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Marvel continued its Netflix programming yesterday with the release of the 13-episode Luke Cage season 1.  As you should be aware by this point, Marvel and Netflix entered into an agreement several years back by which the two companies would jointly produce 4 13-episode character-based series, which would all culminate in the 8-episode miniseries The Defenders.  Luke Cage represents the third of the four character series, and the fourth season overall (Daredevil season 2 was released earlier this year).  Next year Iron Fist will be released (probably late winter or early spring, and The Defenders will finally arrive sometime over the summer.