Iron Man RETRO-REVIEW

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Last summer I went back through and reviewed all the episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter that came out before I started this blog.  I actually enjoyed doing that, so I’m going to pick something else to go back and review each summer.  This summer, it’s the MCU movies.  And what better way to start than with the little film that started it all, Iron Man?

When you first saw Iron Man, did you know that this movie was going to spawn a franchise with thirteen movies to-date (and an additional eleven scheduled), five short films, five TV series (and counting), and a whole bunch of tie-in comics?  I have to admit, the first time I saw this movie I had no clue that it was going to come from it.  And I didn’t realize just how much it had expanded until about 2 months before The Avengers premiered when I discovered that all these Marvel movies I hadn’t seen yet were connected to this other Marvel movie I’d seen back in college!  I probably wouldn’t have been so caught off-guard if I’d actually seen the Iron Man post-credits scene… but I hadn’t.  And I mean, who stayed for the credits back in 2008???

Obviously I stay through the credits these days.

But now, down to business:  Iron Man.

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 10, "The Man in the Box" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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At this point in Daredevil season 2, it’s pretty clear what is going on:  Daredevil and Elektra are facing off against a Hand conspiracy which threatens to unleash chaos on New York (and possibly beyond).  Punisher is trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of his family’s murder.  Matt and Foggy are having major fights over Matt’s inability to balance his vigilantism with their law practice.  Oh, and there’s also a major conspiracy behind the scenes which Karen is attempting to sort out.

And most of these plots continue on through “The Man in the Box.”  After this episode there will only be three left to review.  Consequently, we aren’t exactly seeing the conclusion of any plots in this episode, but from here we can see how they might conclude.

Weekly MCU Review for 5/28

Another week, and more MCU news!  Not a ton happened this week, so the news is pretty light.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Captain America: Civil War Follow-up: The Mighty Avengers

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After watching Captain America: Civil War, we now have a very good idea exactly where this thing is going over the next few years as the MCU ramps up for the Infinity War in 2018 and 2019.  Each hero who appeared in Civil War received a satisfying arc, and at the end of the movie each of them had a definite trajectory of where their next appearances will come.  So let’s talk about where these heroes will be going from here!

I’m going to break this down into five articles based on the teams that we see established by the end of the movie, as well as additional articles to discuss special cases.  Last week I talked about the members of the “Secret Avengers.”  This week’s subject is the members of the “Mighty Avengers” (I’ll explain that name in a bit).  Next week I will focus in on a specific element for the “Mighty Avengers.”  The following week I will discuss the characters that don’t fit into either category.  Finally, the last article in this series will talk about Zemo.

Without further ado, let’s get started on the Mighty Avengers!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Finale Unanswered Questions

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Last week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season finale brought most of the season’s plots to a satisfying conclusion.  However, the final few minutes also brought to light a number of new plots which look to become significant in a few months when S.H.I.E.L.D. returns with its fourth season.  We will have plenty of time to break all of these down over the summer, but for now I just want to lay out what I consider to be the unanswered questions from the finale.  What unanswered questions do we have after the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season finale?

Note that there will definitely be spoilers.

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 9, "Seven Minutes in Heaven" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Sorry for the unexpected week off last week; as I said before, I signed up for Marvel Unlimited last weekend, so since then I’ve read my way through probably a couple hundred back issues of comics (some I really enjoyed, but there were a couple of Inhumans-related runs that I just really didn’t like).  Some of that will probably make its way into articles over the summer, particularly with regard to Freeform’s announced Cloak and Dagger series.

But we’re not here to talk about me making Marvel Unlimited pay for itself ten times over in the space of a week.  No, we’re here to talk about Daredevil season 2 and the major reveal of “Seven Minutes in Heaven” which helps start setting up the Punisher’s future in—what else—The Punisher (his already-announced spinoff series).  And what an episode this is!

Weekly MCU Review for May 21

Another week, and more MCU news!  Civil War has passed the billion-dollar-mark, we're learning more about the upcoming movies, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 is officially in the books.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episodes 21, "Absolution," and 22, "Ascension," REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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So it’s three days after the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season finale and I finally managed to watch it!  And all I can say (at least without spoilers) is:  “WOW!”  I was surprised by just how well-done that was.  It really didn’t feel like 2 episodes of a TV show; it felt a lot more like watching a movie (aside from the fact that I needed to fast-forward through the commercials).  The acting—on the whole—was very good.  The CGI and fight choreography was better than normal TV quality.  And it was a very fitting send-off for the eponymous “Fallen Agent.”

Captain America: Civil War Follow-Up: The Secret Avengers

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After watching Captain America: Civil War, we now have a very good idea exactly where this thing is going to be going over the next few years as the MCU ramps up for the Infinity War in 2018 and 2019.  Each hero who appeared in Civil War received a satisfying arc, and at the end of the movie each of them had a definite trajectory of where their next appearances will come from.  So let’s talk about where these heroes will be going from here!

Obviously, there are spoilers ahead!

I’m going to break this down into three articles based on the teams that we see established by the end of the movie, with a couple extras thrown in for good measure.  First we will deal with the members of the “Secret Avengers” (more on the name in a bit).  Next week I will talk about the members of the “Mighty Avengers” (I’ll explain that name next week), followed by an article dealing with the special matter of the shield.  I will discuss the couple characters that don’t fit into either category the following week.  Finally this will conclude (maybe) the week after with an article about Zemo.

First up is Cap’s team of “Secret Avengers.”

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3 Finale EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. its third season tonight with “Absolution” (3x21) at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific and “Ascension” (3x22) at 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's massive, epic two-hour season finale?

Movie/TV Crossover Possibilities

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This week the writers of Captain America: Civil War, who are also writing Avengers: Infinity War, talked about the challenges associated with working TV tie-ins into the Marvel movies.  And really, it makes a lot of sense that there would be challenges associated with including TV characters in the movies.  After all, a movie production schedule requires an enormous level of advance planning—much further in advance than a TV schedule even allows.

For comparison’s sake, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 comes out in May 2018, and the writers are working on the script right now.  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been renewed for its fourth season (2016-2017), which is probably being mapped out right now but won’t be written until much closer to when it films.  Marvel TV doesn’t even know yet if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be renewed for the season when Infinity War Part 1 premieres—let alone the one after that when Part 2 comes out!  They can roughly map out when the announced Netflix shows will release, but they can’t know if they will receive future seasons until they are released, and they can’t be sure of spinoff shows until they are ordered.  Even projects over a year in development such as Marvel’s Most Wanted are not a sure bet to even get a single season.

Long story short, Marvel won’t know until next May which shows will be airing in May 2018, let alone what characters will be on them or what the shows will be doing.

So putting together a meaningful TV tie-in is not an easy prospect, particularly not this early in the movie’s production process.

That being said, there are still several ways for the Infinity War movies to include the TV characters.  Here are a few examples.

Weekly MCU Review for 5/14

Another week, and more MCU news!  Captain America: Civil War has been out for a week, Black Panther has started casting, and we got some disappointing news on the TV side of things.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

The Hero-vs.-Hero Movies: How Do They Compare?

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Are the comparisons between Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War valid?  Both movies came out the same year—they were both originally scheduled for the same weekend!  Both movies feature the major heroes of their respective comic book universes going at it.  Even the motivations are similar in some cases.  So can—or should—fans compare these two movies to each other?

Personally, I don’t see any issue with comparing movies to each other as long as it is understood that how the movies stack up against each other is independent of each movie’s individual merits.  In other words, I can compare Batman v. Superman to Civil War all I want, but at the end of the day I need to also be able to watch each movie by itself and examine how it does as a movie without the comparison.  If you’re looking for how each movie succeeds on its own merits, check out my reviews (BvS and Civil War).

The value of the comparison becomes all the more true when you are talking about two movies which share so much in common and which are released so close together.

Let me just get this out of the way now:  I know that I am comparing a DC movie to a Marvel movie.  I know that I am doing this on a blog called “Mostly MCU Reviews.”  I know that sort of makes me a “Marvel fanboy.”  That doesn’t mean that I am going into this wanting to rip DC apart; I actually was really hoping that Batman v. Superman would be an amazing movie and pave the way for more amazing movies in the future.  If I sound like I’m favoring Civil War over Batman v. Superman, it’s (mostly) because Civil War did everything right that Batman v. Superman should have done.

Note:  There are spoilers beyond this point!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 20, "Emancipation" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Overall, the penultimate episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3 (counting the 2-hour finale as a single episode) definitely did its due diligence in setting events into motion for the season finale.  The battle lines between the two sides are drawn.  Hive’s plan is now in perfect focus.  If Hive succeeds, it is clear that that would mean the end of the world—or at least the end of the human race’s dominance on this planet!

At the same time, “Emancipation” also succeeded in presenting the natural tie-in between Captain America: Civil War and this show.  It made perfect sense in the context of the show, and the position taken by Coulson and his team fits with both what we know of their characters and the events of the show.  It isn’t as game-changing as the Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie-in from 2 years ago, but it does set S.H.I.E.L.D. on a new path moving forward as they consider how best to address the government’s desire to register and document all enhanced individuals.

This episode does just about everything it needs to do, and it does it all quite well.

Warning:  There are spoilers for both Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America: Civil War in this review.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America: Civil War Tie-Ins--Are there Spoilers?

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 So I just finished watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Captain America: Civil War tie-in episode and, as promised, here is my verdict on whether or not you need to worry about spoilers.

Answer:  you really don’t need to worry about it.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 20, "Emancipation" EXPECTATIONS

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns tonight with “Emancipation” (3x20) at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 8, "Guilty as Sin" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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We’re over halfway through season 2 of Daredevil, and we now know that we will get a follow-up series in the form of The Punisher (though little more is known than that).  Conveniently, this episode sees the conclusion of the “Trial of the Punisher” arc in Daredevil, which segues next episode into a Punisher which is vastly more intense than we got in the origin arc.  Oh, and this episode also gives us a ton more information on Elektra, the Hand, Stick, and “the war.”

Captain America: Civil War SPOILER REVIEW

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If you read my spoiler-free review a couple days ago, you know that I thought this movie was pretty much amazing.  The characters are all handled very well.  The motivations are clear and consistent.  The plot makes sense.  The villain is kind of one-note, but that’s really all he needs to be in this movie.  The emotion of seeing the Avengers at each other’s throats was huge.   All in all, this is an incredible movie, one that you definitely need to see.

If you’re looking for more than that (and don’t mind spoilers) keep reading.

Weekly MCU Review for 5/7

Another week, and more MCU news!  So Captain America: Civil War came out this week, and it’s already made its budget at the international box office.  Put some ketchup on your eggs, and catch-up on your Marvel news!

Captain America: Civil War SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

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Let me just start off by saying WOW!  This movie is absolutely incredible!  Pretty much everything works, from the story to the characters to the motivations to the action.  If you are looking for a recommendation of whether or not to see this movie, stop right here:  GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Captain America: Civil War EXPECTATIONS

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Captain America: Civil War has already been out in a lot of countries for a week, but it will be released in America this weekend, with some theaters showing it tonight and the rest beginning tomorrow.  Who else is excited for this one?  I know I am.  I’ll definitely see it at least once this weekend, and perhaps more than that!  But before getting to that, what do we expect from the movie?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 19, "Failed Experiments" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Before starting in on the review, I want to thank ABC for finally getting it right in terms of their coverage of today’s primaries.  Instead of interrupting the show midsentence, they simply put a box at the bottom of the screen to read.  That is definitely the way that I prefer for them to offer that information during a show I want to watch.  In the future, ABC, please just do that!

Now, on with the review!

This episode gave me just about everything I was hoping for:  background on Hive, character development, and even a thematic connection to Captain America: Civil War.  Next week will see much more in terms of Civil War tie-in, but this was a respectable way to kick it off in my opinion.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episode 19, "Failed Experiments" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns tonight with “Failed Experiments” (3x19) at 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific.  What do we expect from tonight's episode?

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 7, "Semper Fidelis" REVIEW (SPOILERS)

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Here we are:  the second of the three episodes which can be considered “The Trial of the Punisher” arc.  Before we get started, we should point out that this is actually an adaptation of a couple comic book arcs:  “The Trial of the Punisher” (2013—Castle was not defended by Matt Murdock) and “The Trial of the Century” (“The Trial of White Tiger”) (2002-3 , one which Charlie Cox himself indicated he was interested in exploring), as well as several other arcs in which Matt Murdock must defend costumed vigilantes in court.  This is a really interesting concept, and something which I was really hoping that they would explore in Daredevil season 2.  And this is an interesting arc:  the challenges and stresses of the trial have some powerful effects of Matt and Foggy, and Frank’s response to the trial is pretty epic in the third episode of the arc.  However, I was a little disappointed with how the trial actually went.  But that’s getting ahead of myself.